AN: I am so sorry for the long wait! It's been nearly two months, and I know that some of you have been really impatient to read this chapter. And I also know that a couple of you thought that the last chapter was the end, but there is still about three chapter to go, I think. Anyways, thank you all for the reviews. Keep them coming, because they make my day.
Rated: M for Mature do to sexual content and language.
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura and its characters belong to Clamp. Plot and original characters of this story belongs to me.
Geisha Girl
Chapter Ten
Syaoran was at work the next day, thinking of the woman who was in his apartment, when Mr. Totsuda came into his office. The associate's face was red, eyes glaring.
"She was supposed to be mine" he growled, slamming the door behind him.
Syaoran looked up and blinked, his face void of any emotion. "Excuse me?"
"Don't fucking sit there and act like you don't know what I am talking about, Li. Sakura was supposed to be mine. I was supposed to become her freaking danna today, only to be called and told that she was getting married, and my, my, what a surprise when I learned that it was you who she was marrying!"
Syaoran leaned back. "And what a surprise when she came running to me on Monday night, in tears, telling me that her future danna was close to raping her."
"Damn it, we were going to sleep together anyways! What was the difference?"
"Difference? Difference? How about the fact that she didn't want to have sex with you then, but you were forcing her anyways! Just be lucky I haven't fired you for nearly raping my fiancée, although I think I should."
"She wasn't your fiancée then, Li. Hell, you only asked her to marry you so that I wouldn't have her!"
Syaoran's eyes narrowed. "I wanted to protect her from you, Totsuda, yes, but I also care for her."
Totsuda snorted. "Yeah right, the cold Li Syaoran, president of Dynasty, cares for someone. Don't make me laugh" he said through clenched teeth. "You have no feelings at all. You only want to marry her just so you can have a piece of that ass while at the same time making sure that I don't get her."
"Get out of my office, Totsuda" Syaoran growled, resisting the temptation of beating Totsuda into a bloody pulp. "And if I hear you talking about my future wife like that again, I swear it on my father's grave that you will no longer have a job here, or in Tokyo!"
Totsuda clenched his fists, prepared to verbally attack his employer some more, but he swiftly turned around and left.
Syaoran sighed tiredly, falling into his chair. He should just fire Totsuda anyways, but he was a good employee, and what type of employer would Syaoran be firing Totsuda just because of personal feelings?
He looked at the papers he had been reading before swiping them away and leaning back against his chair. By now the whole office will know that he was engaged to be married. Not only by Totsuda, but without a doubt his secretary will be blabbing it to everybody as well. Syaoran wondered if it had been a good idea to tell his secretary about his engagement earlier, but he had been so happy and in such a good mood he couldn't keep the news to himself.
He smiled as he thought of Sakura, of how adorable she looked, sleeping in his bed before he left to work. Slowly his anger left him. He had never thought that he would enjoy having a woman in his apartment, especially after years of cringing at the idea of having another person living with him. But then again, he used to cringe at the idea of getting married, wondering how anybody could do it. And look at him now, a fiancée who will soon be his wife, living under his roof.
He hadn't thought he could ever feel so satisfied at the idea.
He picked up his phone, suddenly remembering that he should phone his mother about the engagement. He dialed as he smirked at the idea of how his mother would react to the news.
"Li residence" someone answered. "Li Yelan speaking."
"Hello, Mother. I guess you are healthy again, if you are answering the phone yourself" he said in Chinese.
"Xiao-Lang? My, this is unexpected. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"I am inviting you to a wedding."
"Oh? Who's?"
He grinned. "Mine."
There was a few minutes of silence before a shriek came. "What! You are getting married?"
"In three weeks, Mother. I was thinking of having the wedding here in Japan but I supposed it'll be best if the wedding is over there in Hong Kong, considering all the relatives I have."
"Who is she? Who are you marrying? Where is she from?" His mother asked excitedly.
"Her name is Kinomoto Sakura, and she is from here."
"Oh my God, I'm so happy! You finally fell in love!"
Syaoran lost his grin. "Uh, no Mother. I haven't fallen in love. I had told you that love doesn't exist, that it's an illusion."
Silence again.
"Mother, you know that I have never believed in such a silly illusion."
"But . . . You are getting married. Getting married is all about love . . . Why are you getting married?"
"Because I care for her. She's wonderful, spunky, stubborn . . . I want her. Love has nothing to do with it."
"Love should have everything to do with it. No love means no successful marriage, Xiao-Lang. You have to fall in love before taking that final step."
"But love doesn't exist" Syaoran answered tiredly, recognizing the angry tone. "Look, we are going to make this marriage work. She knows I don't believe in love, and she accepts it. She wants to marry me just as much as I want to marry her. And no" he stated firmly when he heard his mother about to speak. "She isn't a gold digger. She didn't even want me to get her an engagement ring."
"Oh Xiao-Lang . . . Marriage means love."
"You know, I find it interesting to hear you say that. Had you thought about that when you were busy finding women for me to marry?"
"I was slightly hoping that you would fall in love during the course of your marriage. But now I see that I was wrong. You should love the person before getting married."
"But I don't fall in love. Just be glad that I am finally getting you a daughter-in law." He sighed. "I will call later to discuss wedding details with you, all right? Good-bye." He hanged up before his mother could reply. He frowned. His mother should all ready know that he didn't believe in love. He wanted to marry Sakura because he wanted her with him for the rest of their lives, because he wanted her out of the geisha life, and because he didn't want Totsuda's hands on her. That was all there was to it.
What did love have to do with it?
- -
Sakura groaned and her eyes fluttered opened. She blinked at the empty spot next to her before smiling at the rose that was left by her pillow. She sat up and took the rose, along with the note that was left by it.
Had to go to work. Sorry I couldn't be there to hold you while you awoke, so I left this rose as an apology. See you later tonight.
Yours truly,
Syaoran
"'Yours truly'" she repeated, smelling the rose and wondering where he got it. "He's truly mine" she whispered with a smile. Of all the women in the world, she still couldn't believe that he chose her.
She got out of bed, completely nude, and was about to head for the shower when there was a knock on the door. She glanced down at the hallway, wondering if she should open it. She shook her head, figuring that whoever it was will go away.
But the knocking persisted, so with a frustrated sigh she grabbed the thin robe she had that was thrown across the chair and put it on. This was the only piece of clothing that was out while all her other clothes were still in the suitcase, since yesterday Syaoran had made her pack everything she had in the okiya and bring it here.
She tied the sash as she walked to the door. She unlocked it and opened it.
She blinked. "Ms. Tokumatsu . . ." she said, bewildered.
Leiko stood there, with her red hair tied at the neck wearing overalls, only that the pants-legs were cut off, showing off the young girl's legs. A tube top was under the overalls.
"Kinomoto" she stated, and without invitation she barged into the apartment.
"Come on in" Sakura muttered before closing the door.
Leiko looked the woman up at down. Her father and mother had gushed about the geisha so much the nineteen-year-old was sick of it. What was the big deal? She wasn't pretty at all. She glared at Sakura. "Syaoran was mine" she abruptly said, getting right to the point. "How dare you steal him from me."
Sakura blinked. "I didn't steal him from you . . ."
"Yes you did!" She crossed her arms. "I'm sitting at home today, minding my own business, when I hear my mother shout, quite happily, that Syaoran was engaged to you! Tell me, do you always go around stealing girls' boyfriends?"
"Ms. Tokumatsu, I swear, I didn't steal him. If you guys were dating-"
"If? There is no 'if' about it. We were dating!"
Sakura frowned, a little mad over the illusions the young girl was having. "No, you weren't. Syaoran didn't even want anything to do with you."
"He loves me, Kinomoto. He does. He was just playing hard-to-get until you showed up and stole him!" Leiko clenched her hands. "He doesn't love you, so what did you do to steal him from me?"
"I did not steal him!" Sakura exclaimed, exasperated. "You guys weren't dating. Whatever relationship you think you had with him was all in your head."
Leiko growled. "I will-" She broke off abruptly, seeing the glimmering engagement ring resting on her rival's finger. It was so beautiful . . .
Sakura, seeing Leiko looking at her ring, hid her hand behind her back. Leiko's eyes slowly rested on Sakura's face. "You are sleeping with my man, aren't you?" She hissed, fire in her eyes.
"That's none of your concern!" Sakura snapped. "And he isn't your ma-" She was slapped across the face.
"You bitch" Leiko growled, before throwing herself on her and taking her down to the ground.
Sakura was completely shocked, but another slap across the face slapped her out of her shocked state, and she began to fight back. She took a swipe at the girl's face, and her nails dug into her neck. Leiko screamed, and Sakura heaved her upper body up in order to push her off. Leiko fell on her back and she gasped in surprise when Sakura threw herself on her. "I don't want to fight you!"
Leiko fisted her hand and tried to punch the geisha, but she only nipped the chin. So she kicked, and it landed squarely on Sakura's stomach, and Sakura fell back against the couch in the living room. The couch slid and hit the side table, making the lamp on it fall and shatter.
Leiko was on her swiftly, wrapping her hands on her throat, angry enough to choke her to death if she had to. No one took her man and got away with it.
Sakura felt the hands wrap around her neck, and she clawed at them, bucking her body. But when she realized that wasn't going to work, she bent her knees and kicked as hard as she could with both feet. Leiko went sailing back, shrieking, and hit the table that was next to the wall. The table fell, spilling all the contents on the floor. Leiko grabbed the hardcover book that had fallen, and threw it at Sakura.
Sakura was coughing, holding on to her throat, when out of the corner of her eye she saw the book heading towards her. Without even looking at it, she bounced off her knees and slid across the floor to avoid it. The book hit the couch before clattering on to the floor. Without thinking, she grabbed a statuette that was sitting nearby and threw it at the young girl, forgetting that this was Syaoran's apartment and not at all concerned that they were making a mess. All she thought about was to protect herself from the nineteen-year-old.
Leiko scrambled on her feet to avoid the statuette, and yanked the whole phone, making the cable tear out from the wall, and immediately threw it. The phone hit its mark.
Sakura cried out as the phone hit her on the side of the head. The pain surged throughout her head, but she had no time to feel the damage because Leiko threw herself back on the her, screaming with outrage, her nails extended like claws. She swiped at her, sitting on her stomach, trying to cause as much damage as possible.
Sakura blocked all the blows, using her hands to protect her face. "Get off me!" She screamed, and without thinking punched Leiko right in the face, hitting her mouth.
Sakura gasped with surprise when Leiko screamed and immediately scrambled off of her.
Leiko backed up, taking away her hand from her swollen lip and seeing blood on her fingertips. She looked at Sakura, who slowly rose from the floor and placed a hand over her throat, which was rapidly getting sore.
"Let's see if Syaoran still wants to marry you after he finds out that you hurt me" Leiko whispered. "You'll get yours." And she stalked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.
Sakura winced as she touched her throat. She'll most likely get bruises. She couldn't believe at the juvenile thing that she had gotten involved in just now. She was twenty-three, for heaven's sake. She should know better than to fight Leiko, who was only nineteen!
She looked at the mess that was made, and nearly burst into tears. A lamp was shattered, the statuette was broken, and glass was everywhere from a broken vase that had fallen when Leiko hit the table next to the wall.
"I have to clean this up" she whispered, and immediately set to the task, ignoring the pain from when the phone hit her and ignoring any other kind of pain. She had to clean the apartment up, before Syaoran got there.
Would Syaoran still want to marry her after learning that she got into an immature brawl with Leiko?
- -
Syaoran couldn't believe it as he parked his car and raced up the building. Tokumatsu had just barged into his office at noon, and exclaimed that Sakura and Leiko got into a fight at his apartment. Syaoran had no doubt that Leiko started it, because he knew Sakura wasn't the kind of woman to get into a fight unless she was defending herself.
To his surprise, Tokumatsu had no doubts that his daughter had started the fight as well.
Syaoran didn't remember leaving the office, or driving like a maniac to get to his place. When he tried to call his apartment and no one picked up, all he thought about was getting back to his place and making sure Sakura was okay.
He reached his door and barged in, nearly knocking the door off it's hinges in his haste to enter his apartment.
"Saku-" A crash sounded in his bathroom connected to his room, and he practically ran to it. The door was open and he froze in the doorway, seeing his fiancée on the ground, with pill bottles all around her. Blood was plastering her auburn hair to her skull. She suddenly looked up at him.
"I didn't know I was bleeding . . ." she whispered and he rushed to her side, kneeling on the floor and bringing her to him. "It hurt, and I came to get some aspirin or something and then I saw the blood in the mirror."
"Oh, baby . . ." he whispered looking at the wound in her head. "Fuck" he muttered, and mentally called Leiko every foul name he could think of. He picked her up in his arms. "I'm taking you to the hospital, sweetheart" he murmured as he walked out of the bathroom.
"You're not mad?" she whispered, looking up and him with blank eyes.
He gave her a bewildered look. "No, Sakura. This isn't your fault. I know Leiko started this." He looked over at her face, seeing the red marks on both cheeks as they started to swell. He noticed the bruises on her throat, and something in him just shattered over the fact that Leiko tried to choke her.
Oh God, what if she had been killed today? Sure, Leiko was only four years younger than Sakura, but the wound on Sakura's head and the bruises around her throat told him that Leiko was a nasty fighter, and that she had no qualms of killing his woman.
Jesus, for the first time in his life, he was scared. Scared for Sakura, scared that he could have lost her. The moment he saw her on the ground, the blood on her head, fear had seized him.
The hospital ride was a short one, and the wait to get a doctor was even shorter. Syaoran didn't leave Sakura's side at all, concerned over her pale face, at the way she stayed quiet, at how her emerald eyes were blank pools, no longer sparkling but dull.
Sakura was glad Syaoran wasn't mad at her, but she couldn't meet his gaze as he spoke to the doctor, who told him she will need stitches for the wound. When asked how she got the wound on her head, she dully explain how Leiko threw the phone at her, and those were the only words she spoke.
She just couldn't stop thinking over what Leiko said, over the one thing that was true: He doesn't love you . . .
No, he didn't love her. Sakura wished that he did, but he didn't. She looked at her engagement ring. Was she doing the right thing? Or was she making a big mistake by settling for anything but love? She was no longer sure of her decision, and she fretted about it as they did the stitches, which were above her ear.
When it was over, she looked up, still unsure, but when she saw the concern on Syaoran's face, saw how he cared for her in the depth of his eyes, she no longer worried about it.
He may not love her, she told herself, but then he didn't believe in love. Maybe caring for someone was as close as any woman could get from him.
She just wished that she could tell him how she felt.
"Are you all right, darling?" He asked her, helping her off the table when the doctor left the hospital room.
She nodded. "I'm just . . ." She shivered, and hugged him, silently asking for reassurance. He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm just shaken" she whispered. "I've never been in a fight, and we made such a mess . . ."
"How come you didn't know you were bleeding?"
"I needed to clean up the mess. I just kept repeating that to myself, ignoring the pain. The apartment needed to be clean before you got home. It wasn't until I walked to the bathroom, needing something to stop the pain because it was getting worse, that I noticed the blood on the sleeve of my robe. Then I looked in the mirror . . ." She trailed off, not needing to say anymore.
Syaoran frowned, steadily rocking her back and forth. He knew that cleaning the apartment was just her way of not freaking out. Surely the fight must have shocked her. He knew that since she was raised as a geisha, she never got into a fight, so getting into one must have been a shock to her system, especially if she had been nearly killed. He suddenly realized that all of this must be new to her. Getting engaged, sleeping in the same bed with him, the sex, getting in a fight over a man . . . All of it was new to her, and all of it was happening in such a short time. She was finally thrust into the real world, no longer able to hide behind a mask of paint, no longer able to hide behind the barriers of the okiya. She was now just a woman, no longer a geisha. Her whole life has suddenly changed, and he just realized how scary it must be for her.
He kissed her forehead, tightening his hold on her. Everyday, starting today, he will reassure her that there was nothing to be afraid of, that he was always going to be there for her in order to protect her.
He knew, without a doubt, that he will never leave her.
- -
"Leiko, it doesn't matter how much you pretend to sit there and cry, we know you started the fight!"
Leiko glared at her parents, holding an icepack to her lips. "Fine" she spat. "I did start the fight, but look at what she did to me!" She removed the icepack, showing them her swollen lip.
Tokumatsu glared at his daughter. "A busted lip is not as bad as what you did to Sakura. Li just called me, telling me that she has bruises around her throat, slap marks on both her cheeks, and stitches!"
Mrs. Tokumatsu looked at her daughter. Where had she gone wrong? Yes, Leiko was their only child, but she hadn't realized how spoiled she had become until she was sixteen, demanding all these things and throwing tantrums when she didn't get her way.
"Why, Leiko?" She asked her daughter. "Why did you attack Sakura?"
"She stole Syaoran from me, Mother! He was mine."
"Mr. Li is nearly ten years older than you. Why are you so obsessed over him when you can have guys your own age?"
Leiko stood up from her chair, unbelieving that her own parents weren't even comforting her. Instead, they are questioning her, caring about that bitch geisha instead of their own daughter!
"He was mine. That's all" she stated through clench teeth. "I'm going to bed." She spun around and walked away, stomping her feet.
She was fuming when she reached her room, slamming the door as hard as she could. Couldn't her parents understand that Syaoran was a man compared to the guys her own age? Guys her own age were so immature, while Syaoran wasn't.
And now she lost him, all because of that geisha. Leiko touched her lip and winced. "It's not fair" she muttered. "Syaoran was mine. I should have him. I should be the one in his home. I should-" She paused and then smiled. "Break their engagement."
Of course! She should break their engagement, and it will be so easy as the plan rapidly formed in her mind. She smirked, already feeling much better . . .
- -
Zen frowned as he went home, recalling the story that he heard at work about Leiko and Sakura getting into a fight in Li's apartment. Everyone was talking about it, enjoying the advantage of spreading gossip. At least he now knew why Syaoran ran out of the building and didn't come back along with Tokumatsu.
Well, he hadn't expected that event to happen in his plan. At least Sakura and Li were engaged. He hadn't expected that to happen so quickly, but nonetheless, he was very grateful that it did.
He wondered if he should tell his employer that he had planned on bringing them together. That he had deliberately introduced them the first time they met.
He smiled. Nah. Why should he? There was no point in it at all.
- -
Syaoran ran a hand down Sakura's cheek later that night as she described to him the whole fight, from beginning to end. They were sitting on his couch, and he frowned when she finished.
"Are you sure you are all right?"
Sakura nodded, but then winced when the movement caused a slight ache against the side of her head, where the stitches were. "I'm sorry about your statuette."
"Nah, I never liked that statuette anyways. Don't worry about it. Besides, at least you finally found a use for it" he teased, and Sakura smiled. "Come here."
Sakura immediately moved into the safe cocoon of his arms, sitting in between his legs as she leaned against his chest, his arms wrapping around her waist. She felt so safe, all her worries banishing.
"I'm sorry about Leiko" he apologized.
She slightly turned to look back at him. "You don't need to apologize for her behavior. You did nothing wrong."
"Yes I did" he spoke seriously. "I'm the reason you and her know each other. I hadn't known that Leiko was so possessive that she would fight over me. I shouldn't have taken you to the Tokumatsu's house that night for dinner."
Sakura smiled. "It doesn't matter. Whether you did or didn't, she still would have come after me. I don't think you realize just how much she wants you."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"When she was accusing me of stealing you, I saw hurt in her eyes, confusion, as if she couldn't understand why you chose me over her."
"She's just sulking, because I'm the man that got away. I'm the only man that resisted her."
"There's more to it than that, Syaoran." Sakura leaned back on his chest, staring at the wall across from her. "She wants me out of the way, and if it was just about sulking, she wouldn't have been so . . . determined to attack me, even kill me. I think she-" She cut herself off.
"You think she, what?" he asked when she didn't continue.
"I think she's obsessed over you" she finished softly, "Like a stalker type of obsession, you know?"
"So you think she'll start stalking me pretty soon?" he asked, clearly amused.
Sakura slightly smiled. "Yes, I do." Although it was true, what Sakura was really going to say was that she thought Leiko was in love with him. But what made it worse for Leiko, what made her dangerous, was the fact that she was spoiled, and losing something she loved was rare for her, because she always got what she wanted. To not get Syaoran, to learn that he was choosing another woman, probably broke the young girl's heart, up to the point that now she will do anything to get him back.
But Sakura didn't want to burden Syaoran with this. He probably won't believe it, or he just might shy away from it because she mentioned love. That was why she cut herself off.
"I have a question" Syaoran said after several minutes of silence. "Until Monday, when we first had sex, a little part of me always thought that you and Zen had sex the night we first met."
"What? I told you we didn't!" Sakura exclaimed, a little outraged that he hadn't believed her.
"I know, but I didn't completely believe it until I felt just how virginal you were. You were so tight that I knew that your first time had been the only time for you."
Sakura couldn't help but blush, her face going crimson.
"I know you are blushing" he stated, the amusement loud and clear in his voice. "You ears are turning red."
"Oh, shut up and ask me your stupid question" she muttered, making him chuckle.
"All right. I have been wondering what, exactly, did you guys do that night? I mean, you are no longer a geisha, so you no longer have to keep quiet about what you did with your clients, right?"
"True, but I'm still going to keep quiet. Just because I'm no longer a geisha doesn't give me the right to just blab to everyone what I did for my clients." She snuggled in his arms.
"So you'll never tell me?"
"Unless Zen dies, no."
"But by then I'll forget! He's healthy, and he might live until his ninety-something."
Sakura grinned. "Oh well." Syaoran didn't have to know that all Zen wanted her to do that night was play her shamisen to lull him to sleep. If Syaoran hadn't been paying so much attention to her that night, he probably would have seen her instrument laying on the bed.
Syaoran playfully growled. "Not fair" he muttered, but she could practically hear the smile in his voice.
They were silent again. It was a comfortable silence, where neither had to say anything. All they had to do was relax and hold each other.
"I hope" she suddenly whispered "that we will be able to be like this when we are married."
"Of course" he whispered back, kissing the top of her head. "And just know that I will always be here for you, and I will always protect you."
But there was still this nagging feeling in Syaoran that told him that he was going to lose her, and until they married, he knew that the feeling will not go away.
AN: How was it? I hope it was worth the wait. Sadly, this story is soon to be done. I have also reached a decision: This is going to be the last story I write on I have been doing this for the past four years or so, and although I wrote very little stories, I think I improved somewhat, if you compare my first story to this story. The purpose for this decision? I need to start working on original works with original characters. When I go to college I'll most likely be working on original works, so I need to really need to start working on that. I'll miss CCS, though. I enjoyed making both the cherry blossom and the little wolf fall in love.
Anyways, considering this is going to be the last story I write, I would really appreciate it if everyone reviewed. Please? This story only has three more chapters to go, so every review counts!