Here's the 4th chapter, everyone! I finished it really fast 'cos the story's getting me excited. haha! I don't have everything planned out yet, so I'm still choosing from a range of options as to how the story is gonna turn out. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter!

To Shadowkeeper113, thank you SO much for pointing that out! I actually put separators when I was writing the story, but I didn't notice that when I uploaded it, they all disappeared! I fixed it up now!

Chapter 4: A Night Out

Syaoran went to the basement parking level of his apartment building and hopped into his car. Yes, he had a car, but seeing as how the university was just a few minutes walk from his place, he usually preferred to just walk. It was 7:45, so he had 15 minutes to get to their meeting place. He didn't really bother dressing up much. He wasn't out to impress anyone, after all, so he just wore a brown collared short-sleeved shirt and jeans.

He got to their meeting place a few minutes early, but he saw that most of the other guys were there already. He parked his car, got out, and walked to where Yamazaki and five other teammates of theirs were hanging out.

"Hey, Syaoran's here!" Yamazaki grinned and slapped him on the back.

The five other guys were surprised to see him. Syaoran couldn't blame them. He rarely ever went out, anyway. He greeted them and turned to Yamazaki to ask about what they planned to do.

"I dunno.. It's still kinda early. What do you guys wanna do?"

One of the other guys, Hatoshi, spoke up. "Why don't we play some billiards first before hitting the hot spots?"

All the other guys agreed, so Syaoran just shrugged. They walked through the busy streets and went inside a pub to play billiards and get a round of drinks. Syaoran, being the boy who was good at practically everything, beat them easily. They killed time playing billiards, talking and joking around, and drinking. Around 10pm, Yamazaki glanced at his watch and asked the others if they wanted to go someplace else.

It seems the other guys had plans of hooking up with some girls that night, so they decided to go to the nicest bar/disco where a lot of cool people hang out. At least it was near the area where they parked their cars. If anyone got too drunk, they wouldn't have to be dragged so far. Syaoran sighed. It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying himself, but the last time he went to such a place he spent almost all night warding off incessant females asking for a dance or simply trying to flirt with him.

They entered and sat down at the bar. After a few minutes his companions started disappearing into the crowded dance floor one by one, scantily clad women in their arms. Already, a few women had tried getting his attention with less-than-subtle glances. He leaned back and just watched the dance floor as he took a swig of alcohol. Yamazaki was still beside him, scanning the area and thumping his fingers to the music.

"Havin' fun?"

Syaoran shrugged. "I'm good."

"You know, you should go dance with someone! Just look, so many cute girls!" Yamazaki said while pointing to the dance floor.

"No thanks."

"Come on, man! You gotta lighten up!" Yamazaki scanned the room, trying to find some cute girl for Syaoran. Suddenly, he raised an arm and pointed at someone on the dance floor. "How about that girl over there! The one wearing the purple dress! She's got some nice moves!" Yamazaki narrowed his eyes to take a better look at the girl he was talking about. "And if I'm not mistaken, she goes to our school!"

To try and stop Yamazaki's pestering, Syaoran looked at whomever he was pointing at. He took another swig of his beer and was going to tell Yamazaki he wasn't interested when his eyes came upon the other girl dancing beside the one in the purple dress.

He almost choked on his beer.

x-x-x-x-x

Sakura stared out the car window in deep thought, hearing only bits and pieces of Eriol and Tomoyo's conversation. Her thoughts were on a certain amber-eyed boy.. For the past few days since she saw him, she found her thoughts always straying and picturing him in her mind. She couldn't help it. If he truly was who she thought he was (and she was almost a hundred percent sure she was right), then her long wait was finally over…

That night she met him, she didn't really leave after she disappeared from the alley. She had followed him back to his house, making sure she hid her aura and staying out of sight. She found out that he lived in an apartment not far from Tomoyo's school, so she assumed that that was where he studied. She was meaning to ask Tomoyo if she knew him, then she suddenly realized that she didn't even ask for his name! She didn't know if his name was still Xiao Lang. How stupid of me! And so she postponed asking Tomoyo about him for another time.

She visited him again once during the week, very late at night. She dropped down onto the metal railing of his balcony without a sound, and hid behind the curtains that were drawn halfway. She took a peek inside Syaoran's room only to see him crouched in front of his computer, fast asleep, books and papers scattered all around him. Sakura smiled and stared at him for a while. She would have loved to go inside, but the sliding glass doors would create too much noise. And so she just stayed there staring at him for a few minutes, then she left as quietly as she had come.

"..was really delicious, wasn't it, Sakura?"

Sakura snapped out of her thoughts as she heard her name and turned her head to face Tomoyo. "What?" She blinked.

Tomoyo giggled. "You were spacing out! I was saying, the dinner Eriol cooked the other night was really good, wasn't it?"

Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. Anyway, yeah, Eriol's a really good cook, you know!"

Eriol grinned. "I guess I should cook more often, then!" They reached an intersection and had to wait for the stoplight to turn green. "So anyway, where exactly do you two wanna go?"

Tomoyo tilted her head and placed a finger to her cheek, thinking. "Well, there's a nice place near Temple Bar called Red Loft. Great crowd and great music. Wanna go there?"

Sakura nodded. "If you say it's nice, then sure! Let's check it out."

They parked their car and entered the bar. Already, some guys were eyeing the two beautiful women, and Eriol glared at them and unconsciously placed a hand at the small of Tomoyo's back. Tomoyo blushed at that, but thankfully the lights were dim so no one could see.

The moment they entered the place, Sakura was surprised to feel his familiar presence nearby. She didn't think at all that she might see him here tonight. She smiled to herself. I guess I'll finally get the chance to introduce myself properly.

They found a table near the dance floor and ordered some drinks. While the two girls got tequila shots, Eriol ordered a bottle of beer for himself. As Sakura and Tomoyo downed their shot, the music changed to a song Tomoyo really liked. She took Sakura's hand and dragged her to the dance floor. She invited Eriol to dance, too, but he declined. And so she and Sakura went to the middle of the dance floor and danced. They were both very good dancers, and very beautiful at that, so it was natural that some guys would try and dance with them. However, the two girls just told them off and giggled to themselves. Since they were having a lot of fun, they kept on dancing to a few more songs.

It was while they were dancing that Sakura suddenly felt intent eyes on her. She knew it was him.

She scanned the dance floor but didn't see him, all the while still dancing with Tomoyo. She looked around the tables, then the bar…

…and their eyes met for the briefest moment, and Sakura knew he recognized her. She turned back to Tomoyo and continued dancing, a knowing smile on her face.

x-x-x-x-x

"Hellooo? Earth to Syaoran!"

Syaoran blinked and turned his head to face Yamazaki, who was waving a hand in front of his face. "W-what?"

"You ok, man? You spaced out there!"

Syaroan nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Anyway, I'll go see what Kyo's up to. You coming?" Yamazaki said as he picked up his drink.

Syaoran shook his head. "I'll stay here."

As Yamazaki left, Syaoran returned his gaze to the dance floor, but he could no longer find the girl anywhere. If he wasn't mistaken, she had seen him, too. Where'd she go..? He tried scanning the bar for any sign of her or her friend, but the place was too big and there were too many people. He sighed and took another gulp of beer.

"I didn't think I'd see you here." He heard a soft, angelic voice speak from beside him. He knew that voice. Surprisingly, he could hear her soft voice clearly despite the loud, blaring music.

Syaoran turned his head to look at her, and for a few seconds all he could do was stare. If he thought she looked beautiful that night they met, tonight she was simply mesmerizing, with her auburn locks framing her delicate face and that heavenly smile set upon her lips. Maybe it was something vampires could do to humans – entrancing them the way he knew he was at that moment. However, she looked and acted just like any normal girl, and no one in the bar would ever have thought they were in the presence of a vampire.

He snapped out of his thoughts and spoke to her. "I don't come here often." Despite all his thoughts about the girl in front of him, his features remained passive and blank.

"Really? Me too." Sakura stood beside him and stared at the people on the dance floor. It seemed Syaoran wasn't going to say anything, so she decided to finally introduce herself. "By the way, my name's Sakura. Kinomoto Sakura." She held out her hand to shake his.

Sakura.. Cherry blossom. It suits her. Syaoran thought.

He looked at her outstretched hand and took it. Her hand is so cold. "I'm Li Syaoran."

Sakura's eyes widened a bit when he said his name. "Li? You're a Li?"

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why? How do you know about us?" Could she possibly know about our magic?

He's from the Li clan, the descendants of Clow Reed.. I didn't know.. She didn't know if she was going to be thrilled or worried about this new piece of information. However, she couldn't show him that. Thinking that it would be okay to ask about his clan since Syaoran knew about her secret, she said, "The Li clan is very influential and powerful. And I'm not just referring to your businesses and wealth."

I knew it. She knows something about us. With this new information, Syaoran suddenly turned cold and glared at her. "What do you want with us?"

Sakura blinked, noticing Syaoran's change in attitude, and waved her hands in front of her. "I don't want anything from your clan! I just know that you and your family have had a long line of sorcerers. You're magic-wielders, right?"

He took hold of her arm in a tight grip, but she didn't flinch at all. His amber eyes burned into her emerald ones as he stared at her, trying to find answers. "Who told you this?"

"You shouldn't be grabbing me like this in such a place, you know." Syaoran looked around and saw that a few people were staring at them. He let her go, but didn't stop glaring at her. "Now. Tell me. Who told you about our clan?"

"I've lived for a long time, Li. I've met a lot of people and I know a lot of things. A long time ago, I met some of your ancestors." She stared into his eyes and saw that he was debating with himself if he should believe her or not. She frowned. "Please believe me, Li. I never had any sort of quarrel with your family. Just because I'm a vampire with powers doesn't mean I'm out go get you and your family, you know."

He kept silent, and she pouted and continued speaking. "Besides, don't you think it's only fair that I know this bit of information? After all, you know my secret."

He still wasn't talking. He was just glaring at her, but Sakura wasn't about to back down. She smiled brightly at him, and Syaoran could see the sincerity and truth in her eyes.

"Trust me.", she said.

Syaoran sighed. "Very well. I guess we're even now."

"Thank you." Her smile brightened even more, if that was possible. "So, tell me, can you wield magic too, Li?"

"Yeah."

Sakura waited for him to elaborate, but she supposed he still didn't really trust her enough to disclose any more information to her. She understood how he must feel, so she ceased any more questions she had in her mind and left them for another time.

Silence came over them for a few seconds. Suddenly, he remembered the confusion he felt because of her words when they parted ways the first time they met, and he decided to ask her about it.

"Hey, Kinomoto, when you left that night.. you said it was nice meeting me again. What do you mean 'again'? Have we met before?"

"Oh.. Did I say that? No, I don't think you've met me before. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to confuse you. It's just that you remind me of someone.." He noticed her eyes soften considerably at those words. "I was probably mixing you up with that other person."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow. "Who? An ancestor of mine?"

"Actually, yes.." Then she added, "Oh, and you can call me Sakura."

"Okay.." Syaoran nodded, although her explanation only brought more questions in his mind. Did she have close relations with his ancestors? Why would she mix him up with someone who was dead? Whatever. That's her life. And why am I talking to her anyway! I have no business with vampires!

"So, are you here alone?"

Syaoran shook his head. "I'm here with some friends, but.." He looked over at a table and saw some of his friends talking and drinking with a group of girls. "..they're a bit preoccupied at the moment."

Sakura followed Syaoran's line of vision, saw the group of people he was looking at, and giggled. Syaoran sighed. His friends won't be finished flirting with those girls anytime soon. I might as well leave now. He took one last gulp of his beer and paid for it. He turned back to Sakura to say goodbye.

"Listen, I – "

"Since you're not doing anything, Li.." She suddenly grabbed his arm and started pulling him, which caught him off guard and surprised him. "..I'll introduce you to my friends!"

"What…?"

x-x-x-x-x

When Sakura said she had to go to the bathroom, Tomoyo went back to Eriol and sat down beside him. He smiled at her as she sat down and offered her a glass of water.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself a lot."

Tomoyo took a sip of water and leaned back on the chair. "Whew. Yeah, that was fun! How about you? Are you having fun?"

Eriol nodded. "Of course. I haven't gone out with you and Sakura in a while, and it was nice watching the two of you dance. You're a good dancer, you know."

Tomoyo blushed and started fiddling with the glass of water, suddenly finding it very interesting. "T-thanks."

Ever since Tomoyo started living in the mansion, Tomoyo had always looked up to Eriol. At first, when she was still a young teenager, she felt that it was just some silly crush she had for him. Just like Sakura, he was always there to help her out and cheer her up. Not only was he handsome and kind, he was very intelligent as well. Sometimes, he would spend the whole night inside the library reading books. All in all, he was just the kind of guy young teenagers like her got infatuated with.

However, now that she was older and more mature, she'd come to realize that her feelings for him had grown deeper than just a silly crush. She cared for him deeply, and she had never felt this way before for anyone else. Whenever he and some other vampires went out at night when they felt something was wrong, she would find herself pacing incessantly inside her room or the living room, hoping for their safety and waiting for their return even up to the wee hours of the morning. And when they did return, she would greet him with a look of relief, and he would walk up to her with that heart-melting smile on his face, pat her head affectionately, and say that she shouldn't be staying up so late just to wait for them because she had school in the morning.

She loved being with him, talking with him, hearing him laugh, and seeing him smile. She didn't care that he was a vampire. She truly liked him a lot, and lately, she'd been wondering and asking herself if these feelings she had were really just like, or love. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but she was afraid. Afraid that he would reject her. Afraid that he would tell her he thinks of her as just a sister, and nothing more. So she kept her feelings to herself, being content at the moment to spend time with him.

She was suddenly startled out of her thoughts when she felt Eriol's cold hand touching her cheek. She stiffened and stared at him wide-eyed with a blush forming on her cheeks, while he just smiled at her.

"There's something on your face." He said as he wiped whatever it was away. She sat there, transfixed by the feeling of his touch. He was done wiping it away, but his hand stayed there, touching her cheek a second longer. As he removed his hand, the expression on his face changed, and he looked as if he wanted to say something to her.

Tomoyo waited for him to say something, but whatever he wanted to say he didn't get the chance to since Sakura came back at that moment, and both Tomoyo and Eriol had to raise an eyebrow in question when they saw her clutching the arm of a boy.

"You're back, Sakura. Who's your friend?" Tomoyo asked as she stared as Syaoran intently, finding him to be somewhat familiar.

Syaoran stood beside Sakura as she made the introductions. "Eriol, Tomoyo, I'd like you to meet Li Syaoran. Li, these are my two friends, Eriol and Tomoyo."

"Hi." was all Syaoran said as Sakura sat down and made him sit on a chair beside her.

"Hello, Li!" Tomoyo greeted happily.

"Nice to meet you." Eriol said to Syaoran as he stared at the new boy. A Li, huh? He glanced at Sakura with a questioning look.

Sakura saw the question in Eriol's eyes, so she said, "Li's the guy that helped me out a few nights ago. Remember the incident I told you about?" Eriol nodded his head and proceeded to take a good look at Syaoran. So he's the one.. And he's a Li. What a coincidence.

"Ooohhh.. So you're the knight in shining armor!" Tomoyo giggled softly and Sakura joined her, scratching her head. "Yeah, I guess you could say that.."

Syaoran, noticing that Sakura's two friends seemed perfectly aware of what happened that night, leaned closer to Sakura and whispered, "So are both of them also…?"

Sakura smiled, knowing he would ask that question. "Eriol is, but Tomoyo's a normal girl, right, Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo giggled. "Yeah, as normal as I can be considering I live with vampires." The three laughed while Syaoran just listened to them, surprised to hear that Tomoyo lived with them.

"You live with them..?"

Tomoyo nodded. "Yes, I do! I've been living with them for a few years now."

"I see.."

"You know," Tomoyo said, facing him. "you look kinda familiar. Do you, by any chance, go to Tomoeda University?"

Syaoran nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm a sophomore there. You study there as well?" Tomoyo nodded. "Yup! I'm a sophomore too! Too bad we don't have classes together." She suddenly snapped her fingers and pointed at him. "Ah! I know who you are now! You're that popular soccer player! The co-captain, right?"

Syaoran fidgeted in his seat at that, uneasy about the fact that he was the topic of conversation and Sakura was staring attentively at him with those bright emerald eyes of hers. "Uh.. yeah.."

Sakura spoke up. "Wow. You must be really good at soccer, then!"

He didn't know what to say to that, so he just kept quiet and stared at a glass of water on the table. He didn't want things to get any more awkward, so he stood up, the three of them looking at him as he did so.

"Look, I gotta go. It was nice meeting all of you." He started to leave when he heard Sakura call him. He turned around and saw that Sakura had stood up and walked over to him. He was surprised to see a hint of anxiety in her eyes.

"You won't tell anyone about us.. would you?"

Syaoran smirked, realizing why she looked a bit distressed. He shook his head. "I won't, as long as you don't tell anyone about my family. Besides, no one would believe me anyway."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Li. And I promise I won't tell a soul."

He nodded and left, leaving the three to stare at his retreating form. Eriol glanced at Sakura, and although her back was turned to him and he couldn't see her face, he knew she was still staring at Li as he said goodbye to his friends and left the place.

He didn't see the look of worry that passed through Sakura's eyes. I finally find him again, but… he's a Li. Why are things getting so complicated?

"So that's him, huh?" Eriol asked.

Tomoyo joined in. "He seems okay, although it would be nice if he talked a bit more."

Sakura turned to them with a bright smile on her face. "I'm sure he'll warm up to us soon."

x-x-x-x-x

A woman walked briskly but noiselessly through a dark, empty hallway and stopped in front of a large wooden door. She knocked three times and waited.

"Enter.", a deep male voice commanded from inside the room.

The woman entered, closing the door silently behind her. The room was completely dark, with only the moon visible from the window as the only source of light. There was a large desk at the center of the room, and behind it, a tall man stood facing the window with his hands crossed on his chest. The woman stood in front of the desk and never took her eyes off the man.

"My lord, I have done as you asked. The two are on their way and will be arriving in a few days."

The man didn't move at all. "Very well. You may leave."

The woman bowed and left the room.

The man was alone inside the room once again, and he continued staring out the window. He tilted his head up and gazed at the moon, which illuminated his blood red eyes. A small, wicked smile appeared on his face.

"Soon, Sakura…" He whispered. "I will take it from you."

x-x-x-x-x

AN: What's that guy gonna take from Sakura? And is Sakura hiding something? All these and more in the following chapters!