A/n: Hey! It's me again. So I'd just like to thank you guys for your many reviews for the first five chapters, I really appreciate it. Anyway, like I said before I'll try to update every week and it's starting to prove itself as a challenge as I am still struggling on writer's blocks every now and then. This chapter is the longest chapter I have written ever since chapter one, so be prepared. I do hope you guys like this chapter; here goes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura.

Strictly Professional

Chapter VI:

Great Marks

The faint tapping of the end of a pencil filled the silent space combining with the muffled screams and curses that were heard from outside the bold, red, walls of the large room. The white eraser of the mechanical pencil continued to tap on the clear sketchpad, as the holder struggled to think of an idea of what to sketch on the blank piece of paper. It was proving to be such a challenge because of the extra abettor screaming from the hallway outside. However, she had no right to complain, seeing as it was better to have all this screaming commotion going on for only fifteen minutes, rather than not being able to get proper business talks with your affiliate because of a certain employee.

The pencil holder's amethyst eyes quickly fell on the roughly opened doors as she saw her friend's jet black hair twirl in a whipping motion, as she quickly turned around screaming, "No, and that's that!" Her friend's preposterously loud scream was followed by the ear-deafening banging of doors which shook the whole room, or rather the whole level. Her pale hands quickly stopped the tapping sounds with her pencil as she grinned at her friend's furious expression which turned into great relief once she let out one long breath that she had probably been holding for a long time, since her face almost turned as red as her ruby coloured eyes.

"Sorry about that Tomoyo," she apologized with a face that showed a lopsided smile, which appeared kind of funny. "It had to be done!" She exclaimed, her fist shooting high up in the air with a look of desperation and relief. Her eyebrows furrowed as her ruby eyes glittered, staring up at nothing in particular, her balled fist still up in the air, and her stance still in that weird position that seemed rather comical.

"I agree Meilin," Tomoyo tried not to laugh at her friend's rather pathetic way of expressing success. "She knew too many different definitions for words found in the dictionary," Tomoyo explained, as she expressed the evident look of disgust in her face. "It had to be done!" She mocked her friend, who only grinned at her in response.

"Oh yeah, let's just say that my secretary always likes to screw things up." Meilin shuddered at the thought, and at the image that replayed in her head when she had red-handedly caught her secretary doing things that involved two specific digits. No, we wouldn't want to talk about that.

"Anyway," Tomoyo started, scooping her long, wavy, dark purple locks and placing it over her right shoulder.

"Go on," Meilin urged her to continue, walking over to the black leather chair behind her wooden desk. "Why'd you come over?" Meilin questioned her ruby eyes staring directly at her friend, and business partner who sat comfortably on one of the black chairs in front of her desk.

"Oh you know," Tomoyo started, reaching for her bag which stood from the ground with support from the metal foot of the chair. "Just friendly visits that I've been desperately trying to arrange for the last three days because of no apparent reason," sarcasm was obviously present in this reply, as she grinned widely at her friend who simply grinned back at her. Yes, those were the little grinning moments in their friendship, which they had apparently established for a whole month.

"And by no apparent reason you mean?" Meilin asked, placing her elbows on top of the desk and intertwining her fingers together, forming an almost flat surface to rest her jaw on. She raised her eyebrow at Tomoyo while she dug her hands through her huge, black, shoulder bag.

"This," Tomoyo smiled widely, her amethyst eyes glowing in delight as she held up the orange folder in hand.

"And that would be?" Meilin asked as she looked curiously at the orange folder, trying to read the black letters printed at the front from her distance.

"I'd rather you go see for yourself," Tomoyo extended her arm, handing Meilin the orange folder which appeared seemingly thick.

Meilin took the folder in her hands and ran her fingers across the embossed black prints of the cover. Her eyes narrowed at the words and she took one silent breath, breathing it out as she opened to the first page of the folder. What greeted her made the sides of her mouth slowly turn up as she stared at the picture before her.

The picture revealed the two models representing both companies, Li Designs and Daidouji Modeling Organization. The picture was something that was taken a week and a day ago; during the first ever photo shoot that their companies collaborated in. The bold variety of dark colours emphasized the two main factors of the picture, Sakura and Syaoran. They both stood there in each other's embrace, illuminated by the light coming from the ripples of the sparkling stream. They blended perfectly fitting flawlessly in each other's arms. Both merged with the background, standing out but at the same time staying in the same colour scheme as the rest of the scenery with their red and yellow exquisite garments and accessories. The clear, indigo and violet sky was dotted with shining celestial bodies, and the dark red maple leaves which were slowly blown by the breeze gave a dramatic effect to the picture.

The two models stood in the middle, in a full body shot. Syaoran's hand gently cupping Sakura's other cheek leaning her forward, as the other hugs her close. His amber eyes were staring down at her with a look of warmth and tenderness. Sakura's hands were midway at being wrapped around Syaoran's neck, her emerald eyes slightly being closed. She leaned in forward, as he did the same. It was a frozen event, but if someone would simply glance at it, their imagination would take them not only to the picture but the actual scene which would have taken place. It was too bad that the designed scene didn't really happen in real life.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Tomoyo serenely smiled, her eyes glowing with a gentle touch, as she rested her right elbow on the side of the chair, and her chin rested on the palm of her naturally pale hand.

Meilin simply nodded her ruby eyes still glued to the picture. She sighed and flipped through the next pages of file. Her eyes widening at what she saw, her smile broadening at the sight before her, "We did it!" Meilin almost jumped off her chair in eagerness, "We did it, Tomoyo-chan!"

"The sales for your company have increased. The publicity status has increased in great amounts as well. It's good for both companies," Tomoyo smiled widely. "This photo shoot is indeed, a success!"

"We should do this more often," Meilin suggested with a nod, and a smirk. "And celebrate!"

"I agree!" Both ladies laughed along at their own enthusiasm, like little kids who were eager to play at the park every single day; jumping around with their unlimited amount of candy.

"So, do you think we'd still be needed in that picture?" Meilin questioned after their little laughing fit. She flipped back to the very first page, after scanning through the rest of the report; her eyes landing back on the picture giving off a sigh. She closed the folder, staring at the black embossed title once again.

"Like the cover says," Tomoyo started as she grabbed the orange folder that was handed to her by Meilin.

"Let's just… See Where It Falls."

0o0o0o0o0o0

The clacking sounds of heels sounded throughout the hallway as a lady carrying a clipboard ran around the thirty-first floor. Her layered, burgundy hair followed her every move as she continued to run towards the very end of the hallway, reaching the room that she had been rushing to. She halted right in front of the wooden door just before she smashed herself through it, panting. She stood up, her back straight as she took one huge gulp of air.

Her orange eyes stared at the room which read a person's name, Sakura Kinomoto. She smiled and brought her fist to knock on the door, but stopped once the door opened before her. She stood there for a number of seconds, staring at bright green eyes which were staring back at her.

"Hatomi-chan!" Sakura's surprised, muffled words came as she was munching on her mouth-filled yakisoba.

"Hello Sakura-chan," Hatomi greeted with a smile as she stared at the model who was happily masticating her food, as if she had never eaten her whole life.

Sakura gulped down the remaining noodles on her chopsticks, smiling brightly at the orange-eyed lady. "Sorry about that," she said as she placed her chopsticks on top of her cup of noodles, which she held with her other hand. "It's just that I never get enough time to eat in this stupid schedule of mine, so I tend to rush eating; running from one place to another," Sakura scratched her head, as she looked at the almost empty yakisoba bowl. "I almost choked more than ten times!"

The burgundy-haired assistant simply smiled back and nodded her head, "It's okay." Hatomi giggled, "That happens to me too." Both ladies stared at each other laughing as they realized their ridiculous similarity.

"So can I help you with anything?" Sakura smiled as she gesticulated for the burgundy haired lady to follow her towards the dining area of the floor.

"Well," she started pulling a piece of paper from her clipboard, staring at it before handing it over to Sakura. "I have another delivery for you from the person you claim that I must never-mention-the-name of."

The young model rolled her eyes as she grabbed a plastic cup on the counter and pressed it against the blue push button of the water dispenser. Obviously, the paper was from Li, again. "Oh great, what does he want now?"

Hatomi chuckled at Sakura's reaction handing her the paper, as Sakura placed the Yakisoba and the plastic cup on the counter. "He wanted to give you a revised schedule for today."

Sakura's bright emerald eyes scanned through the paper as she stared at the new schedule. She sighed in defeat as she realized that another meeting had been squeezed into her already hectic day. It was a meeting after the photo shoot which she was going to have in five minutes.

"He said that he'll meet you there right after your photo shoot," Hatomi continued as she stared at Sakura's exhausted expression.

"Wait," Sakura started as she heard Hatomi's last words. "He will meet me there?" Sakura questioned her eyes wide as she looked at the young lady's almost fire-like eyes.

"Yup," Hatomi nodded with a sympathetic smile towards the professional model. She knew that Sakura didn't really like working with, and for her new manager. Nobody needed to know extremely advance rocket science to know that. She doesn't even like hearing his name. "He said to 'make sure you don't forget' to tell you this," Hatomi mocked Syaoran's words, chuckling as she did so.

"Since when did he go with me to a meeting?" Sakura questioned as she raised one of her eyebrows at the schedule in front of her.

"It's expected ever since last week; now that you two have been considered-" Hatomi was cut off as Sakura finished her sentence for her, still staring down at the white piece of paper in front of her. Her emerald eyes landing on the two words that were printed in bold at the column which had a time that read twelve-forty.

"Business Partners."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"No mother," he replied as he paced back and forth his room, his amber eyes glaring down at the files in his hand, not able to concentrate because of the woman who had been bugging him for the past eleven minutes and seven seconds.

"Syaoran," a stern female voice came from the speaker phone as Syaoran still tried to read the rest of the file in his hands, not bothering to give his full attention to the lecturer. "You do know what I am talking about, do you not?"

"Yes mother," Syaoran flatly stated as he saw an important content in the paragraph, highlighting it with a bright yellow marker.

"If you do know what I have been talking about then you should have realized that you have had enough time. You should have been-" Li, Yelan's words were cut off as Syaoran slammed the folder and his highlighter on the wooden desk, annoyed at his mother's constant ramblings.

"Mother, I already know and understand what you are trying to say!" Syaoran raised his voice, his face fuming as he glared at the speaker phone on his table.

"Xiao Lang!" Yelan yelled obviously offended by the fact that her only son had raised his voice at her. "You must learn to watch your temper; you are not to raise your voice when you are talking to your superiors."

Syaoran sighed in frustration as he sat down on his black leather chair, grabbing the phone from the receiver. "Mother, I understand what you are trying to say." Syaoran stated, trying to calm his rage, but it seemed to be highly impossible as he was definitely far from being calm. "All I'm asking is for you to do is to give me some space and time."

"I have extended this hold for two years now Syaoran," Yelan stated, her voice filled with seriousness and disappointment. "It has been almost a whole year and you are still doing nothing about it."

"I am trying to do something about it mother," Syaoran said, as he leaned back on his chair, transferring the black phone from one ear to the other. He ran his fingers through his already messy, chest-nut hair, frustrated.

"It sure does not seem like it," Yelan sighed at her son's continuous reasoning which she had been hearing for the past years. "You have made no progress ever since I have given you this extension."

"Mother," Syaoran stated trying to sound more calm, giving off a sigh of fatigue. "There are just a lot of things that you cannot force in this life," with that final statement, he quickly placed the phone back on the receiver, hanging up on his mother's ever-so continuous harangues.

You of all people should know that.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The sounds of tinkling bells rang as the glass doors opened to the vibrantly lit, almost completely packed restaurant. The pale, cream coloured floor shone with outstanding cleanliness, reflecting the objects that stood on it. The peach coloured walls stood tall, connecting with the great depth of the ceiling, lit with many different lights. The yellow-orange tables were even more illuminated by the golden lampshades which fell a meter above them, giving the customers additional clarity to see each other visibly through out their conversations in a sunny day; while they sat on the comfortable looking, yellow chairs and corner seats. The aromatic smell of fresh food filled the atmosphere of the restaurant, adding to the great temptation of eating the served food.

Two ladies stepped inside the place, looking around the almost completely occupied restaurant.

"Irasshaimase!"(1) a waitress with straight, shoulder-length, light pink hair, bowed down in courtesy, greeting them as they entered, holding a circular tray against her chest with both hands.

"Hey Itsumi-chan!" Meilin casually greeted back, smiling cheerfully at the nineteen year old waitress who wore an adorable looking, ribbon and ruffle-dominated uniform.

She looked back up, her clear pink eyes blinking as she caught sight of the person in front of her. Her eyes suddenly brightened with cheerfulness as she looked at the familiar raven-haired lady. "Meilin!" she exclaimed, tightly hugging the temporary CEO excitedly. She then let go only after hearing Meilin's numerous protests about turning blue, and not being able to breathe. She smiled sincerely as she saw the amethyst-eyed lady standing beside her, gesturing her hand to the inside of the adorable looking restaurant, indicating both the ladies to go inside and follow her.

"Welcome to Oka-shi-rui Ikken…"(2) Her voice faded, expecting Tomoyo to finish the sentence for her.

Tomoyo simply smiled at the pink-haired girl as Meilin and she followed closely behind. She gladly finished her statement as the young waitress glanced at her, anticipating for a continuation to her greeting, "Daidouji, Tomoyo."

The nineteen year old stopped in her tracks and completely turned to face the vice-CEO, "Daidouji?" Her eyes were wide as she questioned the young lady who stood in front of her, "The future owner of Daidouji Modeling Organization, Daidouji?"

"I think," Tomoyo smiled helplessly as she stared at the young girl's stunned face. "Tomoyo would be fine."

"Yamada, Itsumi," Itsumi grinned as she introduced herself with a courteous bow. "Itsumi-chan is fine, and it's a pleasure to meet you Tomoyo-chan!"

"Where's Hiro today?" Meilin questioned as they continued walking towards the table.

The young nineteen year old huffed as she glared up at nothing in particular, "He's inside as usual, leaving us to all the work," Meilin simply chuckled at the waitress' expression.

The three ladies continued to walk over to the end of the hallway, making a turn as they were led to the very end, and seemingly biggest corner table of the restaurant. A woman with brown hair and strawberry-coloured eyes waved at them, smiling as she saw their figures approaching. Meilin simply smiled and waved back as Tomoyo stopped for a short moment, a bit taken aback at the sight of the person who had been waving her arms excitedly. The brown-haired lady seemed to notice her stare and her arm suddenly stopped its overly hyper waving as well. She looked up at Tomoyo as the three ladies stood right in front of the table.

"Tomoyo-chan?" The lady, who seemed to be in her mid-twenties, questioned in astonishment as she looked up at the amethyst-eyed vice-CEO.

"Nakuru?" Tomoyo's voice faded as she stared at the familiar looking person who sat on the yellow couch-like corner seat.

Meilin and Itsumi simply looked at each other confusedly, shrugging as they glanced back at the two females, who stared at each other with a blank expression.

Meilin had finally decided to cut the awkward silence that had built up between the group and sat down diagonally across from Nakuru, "You guys can stop staring now."

Both ladies seemed to snap out of their trance as both of them smiled widely at each other. Nakuru instantly jumped up and hugged Tomoyo, "Tomoyo-chan! I haven't seen you for so long!"

Tomoyo simply smiled at Nakuru once she let go, nodding her head as both of them sat down in front of Meilin. Meilin simply stared at both of them and scratched her head, sighing as she leaned back on the yellow corner seat in a relaxing position.

"You guys can just call for me when you think of your orders and when everybody gets here," Itsumi smiled as she ran away from their table, quickly approaching a couple who seemed to be waiting for service at the other end of the hall.

Meilin looked at both ladies interestedly, as she placed her elbow on the table and leaned her chin on her palm. "I was going to introduce Tomoyo-chan to you," Meilin said as she looked at Tomoyo who only looked at her apologetically. "But seeing as you guys already know each other I don't think there's a need for that," Meilin grinned as Nakuru laughed heartily.

"This happens all the time," Nakuru said as she looked up thoughtfully, tapping her index finger on her chin. "It all roots back to Touya-kun," Nakuru said as she continued to tap her index finger against her chin.

"Touya?" Meilin questioned as she shifted uncomfortably, moving her elbow off of the table. "You mean Sakura's brother?"

Tomoyo noticed Meilin's uneasy position and narrowed her eyes at her ruby-eyed friend. "Yeah," she answered as she looked at her with an extra sweet smile. "Why?"

Meilin become aware of Tomoyo's instant look, and she defensively waved her hand in front of her, signaling that it wasn't much of a deal. "It's just that I never knew Sakura-chan knew you too."

Nakuru who seemed to be oblivious of what just happened, as she was still seemingly staring at the ceiling, nodded and grinned, "Sakura-chan was a part of that root too!" Tomoyo looked at Nakuru and sighed, deciding to let the former situation pass.

"Oh, and don't forget my little cousin!" Nakuru exclaimed excitedly, as she mentioned the fact.

"Little can also be a substitute for annoying," Tomoyo mumbled under her breath as she rolled her eyes. However, Meilin heard Tomoyo's words as she raised an eyebrow at her dark-purple haired friend. Like Tomoyo, of course she wouldn't let a suspicious event like this pass.

"Hiiragizawa-kun right?" Meilin questioned, as she smiled curiously back at her strawberry-colour eyed friend, who seemed to not notice the little glint that had appeared in the ruby-eyes of the questioner.

Nakuru nodded with a smile unaware of the little exchange of sly curiosity from Meilin and Tomoyo, "Yeah."

Meilin turned back to face her purple-haired friend's bothered expression. "I didn't know you were friends with him," Meilin said as she batted her eyelashes sickeningly sweetly at Tomoyo. "You guys rarely talked after the meeting two weeks ago."

"That's because we're not much of friends," Tomoyo said, as she smiled a sugary sarcastic smile.

"Oh nonsense," Nakuru cut in as she smiled brightly at Meilin, still seemingly unaware of the situation. "Tomoyo and Eriol have a long history together."

The three ladies seemed to be too caught up in their conversation that they were oblivious of the three young gentlemen who closely approached their table. One of them seemed to be smiling sweetly at Nakuru, his stunning silver hair and glass-framed olive-green orbs gave him a soft nature, a sweet atmosphere surrounding him. The person in front of them was wearing the restaurant uniform, his eyes the colour of syrupy honey and his slightly long, yet messy hair matched the hair colour of the man who stood behind him. That man had framed glasses which stood just in front of his vivid, sapphire eyes.

"Oh could it be a long history of…" Meilin smirked with malevolence at Tomoyo as she leaned both her elbows on the table, her fingers intertwined together, as she rested her chin on it. Her eyes narrowed as she said the last word mischievously slow, "Romance?"

Tomoyo simply looked away with a huff. "As if I'd ever have a romantic history with, of all people," Tomoyo paused and rolled her eyes, rivaling Meilin's evil smirk with a sarcastic smile, "Him."

The two lady's smirking contest seemed to have stopped as the guy with honey-like yellow eyes greeted interrupted them, "Itsumi said you were looking for me, and that you have the lovely Miss Daidouji with you." The guy smiled as he glanced at Meilin then Tomoyo, who seemed to only stare up at him once he mentioned her name. "Kobayashi, Hiro pleased to have you in our restaurant Daidouji-sama," he greeted, as he offered a hand to shake.

Nakuru then jumped up from the bench as she clung to the arm of the silver-haired man, "Yukito-kun!"

Meilin and Tomoyo then looked behind Hiro, as they were questioned by a familiar voice. One that Tomoyo didn't expect she'd hear at that very moment. No, far from what she'd ever assume to hear. The man that she hoped a voice she would never hear… Eriol Hiiragizawa's.

"A romantic history with whom?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

It was absurd and infelicitous. Yes, those were the words, absurd and definitely infelicitous.

Sakura was running six minutes late for the meeting because the zipper of the stupid dress that she was modeling with earlier got stuck, and her hair got caught with it. Such luck, don't you think?

The young model's short auburn hair freely flowed behind her as she ran as fast as she could towards the closing elevator, which was packed with multiple working people. Unfortunately, her heels were getting in the way, almost bumping into someone as she continued running towards the elevator. The sad fact was; she never makes it when she desperately runs for these elevators. Indeed, Sakura had bad luck with these modern day apparatus which elevates people to whatever level they wish. She always waits for them, and she always, always gets left by those damn contraptions. It was the poignant reality.

Sakura tapped her foot against the floor, as she repeatedly pressed the button which pointed up. If only she wasn't wearing those annoying 'professional' heels, she would've made it inside the elevator! She cursed as she pressed the up button with extra force, feeling her index finger turn numb from the pressure.

It was after two minutes that she had heard the glorious sound of the arrival of the elevator; she even swore that once the elevator doors opened the ringing sound was substituted by angels up in heaven singing 'Halleluiah.' She quickly rushed inside and noticed the great amount of people which had crowded the already small area; then again not all angels know how to sing on key.

She squeezed her way in and pressed the number forty-five, looking at all the other lit circular buttons. They were only on the twelfth floor and her eyes widened as she saw the amount of all the other numbers pressed. She noticed that she was the last person that would have to get off, for she was the only one who needed to be at the highest number that was lit.

The elevator was cramped and she hated it. Not that she was claustrophobic or anything, she was used to people and crowds, it's just that people in the elevator can never keep still. It was then that she felt someone step on her foot, gasping, as she tried to move away from the step. That's exactly what she meant! She could swear that her foot would probably die on its own if it can. It was overworked!

About five minutes have passed and finally, the last person who had gone out on the fortieth floor had left the elevator and Sakura was the only person left, as she waited for the long awaited few seconds of her arrival on the forty-fifth level. Sakura impatiently stared at the red, digital numbers which flashed on the screen on top of the elevator doors as she waited for the last three numbers to pass.

42… 43…What the?

At the forty-third level when Sakura had been anticipating the last two seconds of getting to the floor she was supposed to be in for the past thirteen minutes, the silver doors opened and revealed a huge number of business workers. They all filed inside the elevator, about twenty of them filling in the space as they all pressed the same number, forty-four.

They took about twenty seconds to get in, and the doors took a long time closing, since occasionally it would still detect something blocking the doors. Seriously, who would have thought that people are that lazy nowadays! There are stairs! They are one level away, use the damn stairs! That's why they were made in the first place! But no, these people seemed to think that those concrete steps were only made for fire exists or when the elevators no longer function.

After two seconds, the doors to the forty-forth floor finally opened and fortunately, the people who took an agonizingly long time to get inside the elevator took half the time to get out. Sakura irately pressed the close door button, and huffed as the doors finally closed.

Once the metal, silver doors opened the young model quickly rushed out of the elevator, and ran towards the very end of the hall, towards room '459'. The people moved out of her way as she blindly ran towards the end of the hall. She didn't even get to notice the empty room as she passed through the glass walls. She quickly knocked three times and stepped in, apologizing with an immediate bow as she entered the room. Sakura was fourteen minutes late, and that was definitely not a good thing.

"Tardiness," a deep, unfeeling voice echoed through out the room as she still faced down, panting heavily as she waited for the people in the conference room to lecture her.

"My sincere apologies," Sakura stated firmly, trying to hide any signs of nervousness in her voice. She was usually late, but never this late without Tomoyo being by her side.

"It has consequences you know," the voice continued as footsteps echoed throughout the room, getting louder as they purged right beside her bent figure.

"I know," Sakura stated as she now found the voice familiar. "I'm really sorry, the zipper of the dress I was-"

"Look up," the voice commanded, cutting Sakura's previous excuse.

Sakura was determined continuing her excuse as she chose to ignore the words of the speaker, "modeling with got-"

"Kinomoto, Look up dammit!" The voice screamed.

Sakura cringed at the insensitivity of the words and slowly looked up, peeking her eyes open, and closing it once again, blinking multiple times as she found nobody else in the conference room. "Where's-"

Sakura was then again cut off as she looked around the empty room, a number of workers now looking inside the room suspiciously at the two models standing inside. "Where the hell do you think everyone is?" the man questioned loudly, grabbing Sakura's wrist as he harshly made Sakura turn to face him. "You were late for fucking too long, and the supposedly new client left; thinking that we were simply wasting their time!"

"It wasn't my fault," Sakura reasoned as she glared back at the man who towered in front of her, but at the same time trying to avoid his piercing amber eyes. "It was the elevator and the-"

It was then that Sakura's words were completely cut off, by the loud echo of an ear-splitting sound. Her eyes were wide in shock as they were no longer facing the tall chest-nut haired man in front of her, but the long wooden desk which centered the conference room. Her left cheek started to sting, and she felt it turn extraordinarily warm, slowly losing all the feelings on her cheek as her eyes started to water. Tears started cascading down her cheeks as she quickly, with all her remaining will, pushed the wooden doors, running as fast as she could without taking a single glance at the person who had caused her such physical pain.

Kinomoto Sakura was just slapped by her none other than, her loather manager...

Li Syaoran.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Sorry to interrupt you guys," Tomoyo stated as she looked at her watch, watching as the long minute hands of her black watch moved to the number three. "I have to leave now," she continued looking apologetically at all of the eyes that were looking at her.

"Why so soon?" Nakuru questioned as she moved her gaze from Yukito to Tomoyo, her eyes pleading her to stay longer.

"Sorry Nakuru-chan," Tomoyo looked at her regretfully. "But, they might be looking for me."

Everybody stared at Tomoyo and sighed as they all smiled at her and said their goodbyes. There was only one person who didn't, as he continued to look straight at the amethyst-eyed beauty who sat across from him, "Would you need a ride?" Eriol asked as he saw her move out of the yellow corner seats.

"No need," Tomoyo answered coldly, avoiding Eriol's gaze and generous offer. She did just walk all the way to Li Designs earlier, since it was of a close distance. Plus, there was heavy traffic; she didn't really want to be a part of that.

"A walk back to DMO then?" Eriol continued questioning as he moved to face her, as she stood up, and dusted her navy pencil skirt.

"No," Tomoyo answered once again, with a tone not any different from what she had used earlier, grabbing her coat and quickly moving away from the table, passing Eriol's side of the corner seat.

"Are you sure?" Eriol questioned, as he turned to the side, grabbing Tomoyo's pale left hand before she can completely get away from the place.

Tomoyo quickly turned and stared back at his sapphire eyes, ignoring the worry that flashed through them. She quickly yanked her arm away from him and gave him a cold glare, "No, I can walk by myself." With that she quickly walked away from the group.

Eriol simply stared up at her, following her speedy walking figure before turning back around to face the table with a sigh.

"Oh my," Nakuru gasped as she stared at her own watch, watching as the minute hand ticked close towards the fourth number of the numerical scale. "I have to go too!" She said as she quickly stood up followed by Yukito. The couple quickly said goodbye to the remaining two as they rushed out of the restaurant.

After a few moments of silence, Meilin finally decided to start a conversation, remembering the current scene that unfolded before them. She turned to face Eriol and found him staring outside the glass window, staring at a familiar dark-purple haired lady, as she quickly crossed the street with the rest of the crowd, her hair tied up as her scarf and coat wrapped around her body. He smiled with a sigh once he found her out of sight, grabbing the straw of his iced tea and mixing it, the sounds of ice against the glass filling their ears.

"Hiiragizawa, " Meilin started as he looked at Eriol drink his iced tea with a straw. "Can I ask you a question?"

Eriol looked up at Meilin from his drink, letting go of the straw as he smiled at her. "Sure."

"How exactly did Tomoyo and you meet?" Meilin questioned boldly as she stared directly at his sapphire eyes. They seemed to have lightened at the mention of her name, smiling.

"I've known her ever since the start of middle school," Eriol stated with a warm smile, as he took another sip from his iced tea. "I don't think she'd like telling people about it though." Eriol continued with an unchanging expression. "You can call us childhood friends, I guess."

"Friends, huh?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Amber eyes blankly stared at his right hand which trembled due to the past action that it had done. He tightly grasped his right wrist with his left hand, trying to stop it from its hysterical quivering.

Syaoran had dismissed the rest of his meetings for the day, and Sonomi had requested a meeting with him once she heard about the incident. The walls in the room were clear glass after all, everybody that was there knew what happened, and it would definitely only take a few seconds for the information to reach the chief executive officer of the company.

The chest-nut haired manager still held his wrist tighter, guilt washing over him as he recalled what had happened back in the conference room. He knew that he was a serious businessman. If there was one thing he was really serious with, it was definitely his job but, never has he been this ruthless in his whole four years in his career life.

The reason of his violent outburst was most likely to be the stress. He had too many jobs; he was a manager, a co-model, and he's even assisting the whole Li Designs, Japan. He's also been having no time to eat lunch, not time to breathe, no time to sleep, and definitely no time to even think on his own. In addition, his mother had constantly been calling him, even more than she did before. Yet, it was all a lame excuse and he knew it. Stress was something that he was supposed to be able to take care of, something he can manage. It was not an excuse for what he just did.

It was at that moment that he had just apparently snapped, and at that time she was there. She just had to be there, a person who he was sure, already hated him with a great passion. Maybe if she came sooner or a bit later, then she wouldn't be there when he had snapped. Maybe if she came even before the meeting, or when he had already left the conference room, then he could have avoided harming her. She wasn't the one to blame; she probably had a legitimate excuse for being late. He simply chose to ignore it during that time. Even if she wasn't late it would have happened. He would have snapped. She just happened to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time.

These past three weeks, it's as if he was a totally different person. Then again, it might be just lack of strength of mind, too much stress, over-working just to forget things that his mother constantly reminded him of. He's just lost it.

He couldn't point the accusation on anyone else; it was his lack of self-control. He had to take responsibility since…

The only one to blame… is me.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Tomoyo entered the automatic doors of the modern looking building, watching as many people buzzed around, moving from one group to another, and seemingly forgetting their job; that was until they saw her pass by, suddenly running around back to doing their tasks. The vice-CEO simply chose to ignore the commotion, shrugging it off as she headed for the elevator.

The elevator was, as usual, packed; but now people seemed to be talking more instead of just concentrating on all the clothes, paperwork or other things in hand. It was then that the amethyst-eyed lady caught the general conversation between the workers. Her eyes widened at the fact as she quickly asked a female who was loudly talking to another employee beside her.

"Excuse me but," Tomoyo tapped the lady's shoulder as she tried to call the attention of the person beside her. "I couldn't help but to over-hear your conversation." The lady looked back at her as the person she was conversing with pointed at the amethyst-eyed lady.

She quickly blushed as she saw the dark, purple haired vice-CEO. "Daidouji-sama," the young lady stuttered, as she bowed her head in acknowledgment.

"Is everything alright?" She questioned worriedly, hoping that what she had been hearing wasn't true.

"Oh," the girl looked at her worriedly. "You haven't heard about it?" She questioned as she looked at her unsurely. "Li-sama and Kinomoto-sama…" The girl's voice faded as she sadly looked down.

Tomoyo raised her eyebrows worried at what could have happened, "Please go on."

"There are rumors that Mr. Li slapped Kinomoto-sama," it was then that Tomoyo's eyes widened in shock, as she exited out the elevator doors which had reached the thirty-first floor, after saying thank you to the young lady who had given her information.

Tomoyo rushed as fast as she could towards Sakura's closed door which seemed to have a lot of spectators standing just outside it. They slowly vanished as they saw her approach, all moving back to their own cubicles. Tomoyo tried to turn the doorknob and found it locked, she knocked on the door and luckily somebody opened it.

It wasn't who she expected, as orange eyes greeted her as she was welcomed in, "Daidouji-sama." The girl nodded as she locked the door behind her.

Tomoyo looked at the barely lit room, her ears following the sobbing sounds which filled the silent room. Tomoyo switched on the lights, slowly walking over to where her best friend sat on the floor, her left hand covering her left cheek.

"What happened?" Tomoyo questioned Sakura as she kneeled down beside her, rubbing her back to comfort her dear friend. Sakura tried to talk but couldn't get the words out of her mouth, as she continued to sob, hiccupping every once in awhile.

Tomoyo turned to the burgundy-haired assistant, pleading for an answer. "What happened Hatomi-chan?" Tomoyo questioned as she continued to rub Sakura's back for comfort.

"Li-sama," she paused, finding it hard to say the next words that explained it all. However, the next words didn't need to be said as Sakura let go of her left cheek.

Tomoyo's eyes widened at the sight of Sakura's cheek. Her cheek was a bright red, contrasting with her light skin and comparable to the colour of fresh blood. It was like a huge circle of red airbrushed on her cheek. It was the proof to the rumors, as she stared at Sakura sympathetically. "Hatomi, can you please accompany Sakura back to her car," Tomoyo asked as she helped Sakura stand up from the floor.

"Will she be okay?" Hatomi asked as she helped Tomoyo lift Sakura up.

"Don't worry, I'll be there soon." Tomoyo stated as they helped Sakura steady herself on her feet. "I just have to take care of something, for a couple of minutes."

"Okay," Hatomi agreed, as she helped support Sakura to walk out the door, closing it behind her and leaving Tomoyo in the room by herself.

Tomoyo sighed as she dug inside her black shoulder bag, searching for the familiar silver phone. Once her fingers reached contact with the cold object, she quickly pulled it out and dialed a familiar number.

"Meilin," Tomoyo started as she heard a response from the other end of the line.

"I'm afraid we have some serious business to talk about."

0o0o0o0o0o0

A/n: Holy crap! That was long! It was even longer than chapter five! I finally finished it, the horrendously long chapter 6!

Notes:

Irasshaimase! – For the people who don't know what this means, it is a welcome greeting for the people who enter restaurants or shops in Japanese.

Oka-shi-rui Ikken – this is the name of the restaurant that I came up with combining three different words to form the first word. The first syllable of "okashi," which means 'sweets' in Japanese was used as the first syllable.

The second syllable of "sushi" is used as the second syllable in the name.

The second and third syllable of "menrui," which means 'noodles' in Japanese, was used for the end dash third of the first word.

The second word "ikken," means house in Japanese. So basically what I wanted to come across to you people is that it's the "Sweets, Sushi, and Noodle House."

I'm sorry if you guys were expecting something more romantic, but without this chapter it will never build in to the actual plot of the story.

Two more chapters after this, and the real fun begins! You guys just have to watch out for it. Another thing, I'm sorry if you guys thought this was too long, I thought that too, but whenever I thought of ending it, I always found it hard on how to squeeze the other scenes into the next chapters. I had major writer's block for this chapter, and now that I finally got over it, I'm still not as satisfied with the outcome. There's not much effect on how the scenes ended, I was kind of hoping on having more impacts to them, but I'm glad that I finally finished the chapter, even though it's four days late from the one week limit that I have given myself. I guess I can't update as fast as seven days; I tend to have extras.

Anyway, I would just like to say thank you for the people who continue to review my story. I will forever treasure your support:

Aimee Yumi, hello, chlei, Eternal-Longing, Alycia, dark.retreat, rukz, flush-pink, Snowy Azn Angel, ch3rryblossom-baby, jessemccartney808, Chat-Chan, moonstone-91, To.xy, pratyhi5, sweersakura4ever, Marine Brother Shran, Marine Brother Shran, yourheadphones, -Kori Kage Tenshi-, pyscho-pyro-shrink, Azurana K., Empyreal Entity, Weary Soulsearcher.

Thank you for reviewing guys! I do hope you lovely people continue this nice gift :)