Disclaimer: All normal disclaimers apply.
AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm SORRY it took me so long to update!! Blame it on schools… it's finals for High Schools this week, you know. XP That's my excuse. But really, I've been working hard. I've started a few other fics in the past month. So if you know Rurouni Kenshin or some other animes be sure to check them out!!
Enjoy my not-as-good-as-I-wanted chapter!!
Ice Queen
Chapter Twenty-Eight
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"K-Kinomoto-sama!!!" Sakura turned towards the voice calling to her. It was the servant boy again… hadn't she told him to leave? "Kinomoto-sama! I'm very sorry for disturbing you, but-"
"Yes you are disturbing me. This had better be good. What is it?" Sakura interrupted him impatiently, raising one eyebrow in a questioning manner.
The boy wrung his hands nervously and bit his lip before continuing, "Um… the master wished for you to choose a proper gown for tonight's celebration… the celebration of y-your return actually, Kinomoto-sama."
She rolled her eyes before dismissing the boy with a wave of her hand, "Very well. Leave." When he seemed hesitant and stood there indecisively, her voice became dangerous and icy, chilling him to the bone, "I said. Leave."
"Y-Yes ma'am!!"
Sakura glanced over her shoulder and looked at the back of the boy who was walking away, dejectedly. Inwardly, she cursed herself for having a weak resolve. Back at Tomoeda High it would never have been like this, she would not let it have been like this… but they boy was just so…. "On second thought. Come."
He turned around abruptly, looking around nervously before pointing to himself in question when he saw that no one else was around.
"Yes you," she sighed and nodded. "What's your name, boy?"
"H-Hattori…"
"Very well, come Hattori. I'm going to go shopping," Sakura turned on her heel and began walking briskly and unemotionally out of the room, her presence brushing past him as cold as ice.
"Y-Yes ma'am!!"
Emerald eyes blinked as Sakura regarded the store Hattori had brought her to. This was… so… not her style. Everything was absolutely… pink, and she was certain that if she stayed there any longer, she would go crazy.
"Not this store, Hattori. We're going to the one down the street," as she began to exit, her servant gulped and meekly pulled on the edge of her shirt.
"E-Eto… How do I say this… the M-Master wished that you bought a dress specifically from t-this store, Kinomoto-sama…"
Sakura glared at him and her arm swung down. Fast.
A trembling hand touched its owner's red cheek, and Hattori looked down at his feet, unsure of what to say. His face was throbbing, and the icy air suffocating him wasn't helping either.
But he… he had to obey what his Master had said, and his master had wanted Kinomoto-sama to purchase a gown from the shop. If she didn't… how would he tell the Master?
"Go pick something out. Something random. Then give it to me. Hurry up. I don't like this place… it is so… pink. I'm utterly disgusted by its owner," she stepped over to the changing room and her eyes bore into him, expectantly.
Stumbling towards the racks and racks of pink frills surprised, he grabbed an outfit and handed it to her before she changed her mind.
Sakura groaned when she realized exactly what he had chosen. Not wanting to waste any more time… not to mention spend any more time in the frighteningly pink store, she went to check that the… thing… Hattori had grabbed fit.
"Go pay."
"A-Ano… Kinomoto-sama… why are we here? Didn't you already buy a dress?" he looked about him nervously. Was she planning on returning the dress?
"Am I not allowed to buy anything else? I don't feel like wearing pink all day long," Sakura's hand felt through the pile of clothing in the black store and grabbed a few articles of clothing.
"Go pay."
As the boy rushed to comply with her wishes, Sakura walked outside and looked upwards, staring into the large, cloudy sky. It was going to rain. How very odd… and yet… how very fitting for how she was feeling.
"Syaoran… I wonder… how are you doing…?"
"EH?! You can't be serious!!" amber eyes stared frustrated at the computer screen. There was just no way that all the flights could be booked until the next month… there just could be no way! He had even snuck onto the school computer just to see if he could find a plane to Hokkaido… it looks like someone really didn't want him to go there… or could it just be a coincidence? He had to find out.
Firm and slightly cold (he's picking up from Sakura) expression setting on his face, Syaoran stood, knocking the chair backwards and onto the ground. Without another word to the surprised students, he ran off to where he knew Eriol was… the teacher's lounge.
Ignoring all the indignant remarks by all the other adults as he barged into the room, Syaoran began looking around for the ever-popular Hirizigawa Eriol. That smiling, glasses-guy just had to be here somewhere… There.
"Eriol-sensei!" Syaoran's hand slammed onto the table, causing a few more murmurs and stares to be thrown in their direction. "I checked all the planes for Hokkaido and they-"
"Yes. Yes. I know all about it, but do keep your voice down, I know you're concerned, but I'll have everything taken care of. We must speak after class today, understand? Now go. Shoo," Eriol hushed his student and waved him away with an air of authority around him.
As Syaoran turned to give him another glance as he walked stiffly out of the room, what he saw was a look on Eriol's face to be recognized as 'Don't forget. After class.'
Syaoran shot him a glare that said, 'I won't forget, so you better not. This is important.' If the high schooler had just looked back for a few moments longer, he would have caught the sad glint on the other man's deep, sapphire orbs. Ones that told of unseen wisdom, and painful recognition.
The bell rung and students began pouring out of Syaoran's homeroom, but he himself was standing against the wall, eyeing the entrance warily. As Eriol appeared at the doorway, the younger man surged forward, grasping his teacher's hand and leading the two of them to a more deserted area.
"All the tickets have been bought, and you cannot find a plane to Hokkaido," Eriol spoke before Syaoran even opened his mouth. "I should have guessed."
With a long sigh, the sapphire-eyed man leaned back onto the brick wall and moaned softly, "This complicates things. He is working quite quickly."
"He…?" Syaoran was not liking the sound of… of… however this he was.
"I'll… never mind that. We have to find when the next flight to Hokkaido is. There's no way we can get there without a plane."
"O-Oi!! Eriol-sensei! What do you mean? Sakura didn't book all those flights just to keep me from there, did she? She wouldn't right?" he sounded desperate… if he wasn't feeling as desperate as he sounded, Syaoran would have been extremely ashamed about how stupid and weak he appeared to be.
Pushing his glasses back up onto his face, the teacher turned to his students and mumbled, "I don't think so. But nothing is sure for now. My guess is… something big is going to be going on over in Hokkaido… even as an heiress, Sakura cannot possibly afford to spend so much money just to keep you away."
"Something big… you said…"
Sakura sneezed for what felt like the hundredth time. Someone had to have been talking about her… either that, or she'd acquired allergies she hadn't had before.
"That is all. You may leave now, Hattori," the clothes she had bought were spread all over her bed, and she was loathe to look at the… pink one… that she would have to be wearing later that day.
"Yes, Kinomoto-sama," he bowed respectfully and left.
Just as she sat down at the desk next to her large window, a knock came at the door.
Would no one give her peace in this place? At least at home Syaoran had-
Sakura rose and walked stiffly over to the door and opened it, staring frostily at the trembling maids who had dared disturb her, "What is it now? This had better be the last visit from you workers that I receive today. Make sure of it."
"Y-Yes ma'am… but… we're here with the… the changes you wanted for your room…" one of the women was a girl about Sakura's age, and she had short hair and a pair of glasses that made her look both smart… and slightly nerdy.
She gave them a silent acknowledgment as she turned and went over to her desk once again, "Make it quick."
She had to remember… Syaoran wasn't here anymore.
Her chilly eyes examined her room approvingly. The maids had indeed made it quick, and the only thing Sakura would have changed was… that they were still standing there.
"Why are you still here?" Sakura's voice was purposely harsh and hostile.
"W-We were also told… by Master… to help get you ready for the… um… the celebration…" the other maid spoke now. She looked a bit older than Sakura… not in size, but by the way she spoke and the mature air around her, the Ice Queen suspected that she was around nineteen.
Rolling her eyes, Sakura looked at them irritated. Obviously, their Master had wanted to make sure that she wore the idiotic pink dress instead of the other clothes she had. She folded her arms and spoke, "Very well. You may begin."
"I want to thank you all very much for coming. As Master of this great estate and leader of the Kinomoto clan, I am very pleased to bring forth, today, my heir. Heiress, actually. I will be handing over to her, rightful leadership of everything I own and posses. I bring you, Kinomoto Sakura!!"
Loud clasps roared throughout the large ballroom and echoed down the halls. A smiling young man was standing at the top of a small platform backed with a silky, white curtain. He had soft eyes and a gentle smile, and all the attention was focused on him, and yet, when a small, slender hand appeared from behind a slit in the curtain, all heads turned and waited, expectantly.
What they saw certainly did not disappoint them. From behind the white cloth came a beautiful woman clad in a delicate pink dress.
The gown was pale pink, and it hugged the girl's body in all the right places. The fabric at her chest cut down in a diagonal pattern, and there was only one sleeve that flowed down and past her right arm, just reaching her fingertips. On the other arm was a white ribbon that started between her shoulder and elbow and twisted loosely all the way down and tied itself at her middle finger.
The ends of the dress touched her white high-heels, and across the waist was a silver-white chain with cherry blossoms encrypted all over it. White petals circled around the dress in a smooth line and large, white blossom at her left hip bloomed and seemed to float there.
But what caught the eyes of all the wealthy nobles there was the mysterious girl's lovely, emerald eyes. A dash of glitter ran from her eyelid to around the outer rim of her eyes. Moreover, a tiny, magical smile graced her lips and all the audience was capture and listened intently to it as an… icy, chilling voice spoke?
"Really Yukito-san. You are too dramatic. It isn't a becoming trait," the small upward turn of her lips was now in a straight line, and mysterious, emerald eyes were now cold and unemotional.
The man turned to her and smiled, "Oh? You think so? Touya always found it amusing… but then again, that's Touya for you."
A flicker of… an indescribable emotion flittered through her eyes in an instant, and it was gone, "Really… Well, it's not like I would know too much about that, now would I?"
"Yes well… oh how rude of me. Let us begin the dancing!!" as the words left his mouth, music began filling the room, and a large cluster of men began gathering at the foot of the stage, all of them trying to ask Sakura for a dance.
Glancing sharply at the smiling man, Sakura hissed warningly, "Yukito-san… no one said anything about a ball…"
He merely smiled back at her, "No one asked…"
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To be continued…
Well…. I'm not particularly proud of this chapter. I kinda got rushed on it by certain reviewers who couldn't wait patiently enough for me to perfect it. Glares at certain people
Oh well. You wanted the chapter to come out, and you got your wish. I think I might go back a edit a few things later, but consider this an extremely rough draft for now…. Actually… all my work is rough draft so it doesn't really matter… never mind.
Look! Aren't I cool? I even brought Yukito into this! And Touya too! Do you want to know their connection with Sakura? And when is Syaoran finally going to get to Hokkaido?
Soon. I promise.
Ano – um
Eto – er
Quote:
If you are the flame, you can't be burned.
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To the world you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world.
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Cheer up! The worst is yet to come.
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Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.
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I like work. It fascinates me. I sit and look at it for hours. -