Disclaimer: I do not own CCS characters.
It was pouring, raining very heavily. The skies were dark and dreary, a sudden haze eclipsing down on Japan. Close to a pillar, outside underneath a rooftop, a boy with eyes tainted like gold observed the rain in enamored callosity, his fingers trailing the wet raindrops as he continued to mope about his marriage arrangement to a spoiled Chinese princess by the name of Meiling.
He didn't quite like her on their first meeting, and grew to hate her on their second. She was a snobbish girl foolishly attracted to his staid, mysterious looks, condoning every snide remark he threw at her. She was like every annoying girl, ditzy and stoned. He grunted, stepping away from the balcony and reentering his room.
"Mother…" he acknowledged. "I've decided."
"And what is it you've decided?"
Syaoran turned his head in contempt. "It will be a no…"
"A 'no' to what exactly?"
"A 'no' to Meiling. I will not marry her."
His mother wasn't the least surprised nor disappointed by his final verdict. She knew he wouldn't follow as planned now that he became Emperor, which meant he had more power over her, as well as the rest of the kingdom as young as he may be.
She was seated in a chair not too far from him; her eyes were old and stern, expression naturally blank.
"Very well then," came her curt response.
Syaoran seethed his teeth in frustration, bothered by his mother's lack of regulation.
"Do you not care?" he ground.
"I do," she said, abruptly standing and crossing the path between the bed and Syaoran, "but I can no longer force my values on you. You can marry whomever you want. All that matters, really, is for you to have the next heir before time runs out. I will give you two weeks to find your bride."
Her words had left him in a stupor. 'Two weeks?' He shot his eyes across the room, his mother no longer there. All that stayed behind were the agonizing silence and the thundering rain from outside. He grimaced, folding a hand at the back of his neck. Wisps of feathery brown bangs shrouded his eyes. He looked up toward the rainy scenery, a heartless smirk forming on soberly handsome features.
"Don't you worry, Mother," he hissed. "I will have her here in two days."
"Otousan, you can't be serious. This can't happen to our unlucky Sakura. 'Tousan… I seek the truth."
"Touya, calm yourself. The truth, here, is stated in bold prints," Fujitaka replied, taking out a letter from underneath his sleeves.
Touya quickly scanned the kanji writing. He snatched the letter from his father's hand to look closer. "Kuso! That Gaki!" He crumpled and tossed the letter over his shoulder. "Why Sakura… all of a sudden? She's not as attractive as Tomoyo or the Chinese princess."
Fujitaka sighed. "It's not always about looks, Touya. Sometimes one would go for personality. And don't think so little of Sakura. She is like an exact replica of her mother, clumsy yet beautiful." His expression turned grave. "If we don't consent now, surely he will wage war against us until we do."
"But…"
"No buts Touya. We should be honored that the Emperor chooses our Sakura."
Touya clenched his fist. "I… She's my sister! My imouto!" he cried. "She's just a little girl… And… And how do you plan on telling her this?"
"Whichever way will not make her feel any differently, Touya."
A girl with yellowish green eyes turned her back to a wall, opposite to the room Touya and Fujitaka were in. Tears were cascading down her face, dripping to the floorboards. Her toes touched one another, and the back of her hands pushed away bangs that fell into her teary eyes.
"'Tousan!" Touya reasoned. "We should tell her now so she's better prepared for this."
"You're right."
Sakura closed her eyes, taking in slow, steady breaths, swallowing back a sob that seared her throat. She wiped away the tears and organized herself.
She scuttled to the door, "A-Ano!"
Her meek tone had caused Fujitaka and Touya's head to crane.
"Sakura!" they exclaimed, staggered.
"Otousan, Oniisan..." Her watery eyes shifted from Fujitaka, to Touya, and back. She snuffled. "For the sake of our Eastern land, the Kinomoto Kingdom, I will consent to the Emperor's request." The knots were twisting in her stomach, she could barely stand still.
Touya crossed his arms, glaring up at the ceiling, trying not to drop a single tear. His action may have looked terribly cold to Sakura, but all he was doing was covering up his own grief. As a brother, he worried for Sakura a lot, and here she was on the verge of tears and he couldn't do anything about it.
Touya furiously swiped away the tears that slipped from his eyes.
"Oi! Kaijuu!" he shouted. "Go back to bed!"
His voice broke at the last syllables, and Sakura knew right off the bat he was having a hard time coping with their newfound crisis.
"Don't you worry, Oniisan. I will be just fine."
"Hontou (Really)?"
She smiled with her best attempt.
"Hai. Hontou ne."
Syaoran sprinted down the corridors, irritation imprinted on his face.
"Wei!" he yelled. "It's the sixth day! Where is she, damnit?"
Wei stopped mid-step, looking over at Syaoran with raised eyebrows. "Shouldn't you be practicing your Martial Arts today?"
"I don't have to because I am Emperor now," Syaoran said with no trouble.
Wei frowned in more than disappointment. As Syaoran's personal instructor, he saw where he had failed Syaoran. Syaoran was supposed to grow up modest and kempt, and as gentlemanly as possible. But instead, he turned out to be a pretentious lad, rebellious on all levels, and very misleading.
Wei shook his head, sighing. "Yes, you are the Emperor."
Syaoran rolled his eyes, and in a wound up manner, asked, "So…? What about my bride?"
"She's resting in a separate chamber located three doors down from your chamber," Wei told him. "Apparently she did not obtain enough rest during her trip across Western Japan. But I'm sure she will be fine tomorrow."
Syaoran shuffled slightly. "Ne, Wei… Is she still beautiful?" he asked inaudibly, as if embarrassed to ask such a question.
Wei smiled, taking the hint. "She's as wondrous as a thousand jewels."
Syaoran, satisfied by the answer, nodded to Wei. "I will see to her now."
"Oi! Oi! Sakura-san!"
She was a heavy sleeper no doubt. How long had the trip been? Two to three days, at least? Had she not slept at all during those time intervals? Syaoran grunted.
He shook her with added pressure. "OI!"
The girl buried her head underneath the covers. "Just a couple more minutes… I'm too sleepy…" she groaned.
A smile unconsciously grew on Syaoran's face. Though he couldn't see her eyes, he remembered them being a shimmering jade color.
Sitting upright on her bed, he examined her, circumspectly, unable to get over the fact of how flawless her skin looked under the milky moonlight; it was of a delectable russet tone that was equally touchable and kissable, Syaoran was just too damn keyed up to have her sleep.
"Sakura-san, wakey, wakey!"
"I said a couple of minutes, BAKA!" As she was saying this, a mental image of Touya popped up in her mind. Touya had always been one to bother her in the morning. In fact, she was downright annoyed. Sakura sprung up into a seating position and thrust a fist outward, geared up on punching the living daylights out of 'Touya'.
But before her morning ritual was set, frigid fingers swiftly locked over her wrist, harshly pulling it down and pressing it onto the mattress.
Sakura let in a startled breath, green eyes fluttering open. Once she was accustomed to the darkness, she saw a boy with chestnut hair and scorching amber eyes.
"G-Gomen!" she cried. "I-I thought, um… Did I hurt you?"
Syaoran snickered in disdain. "Your advance was pathetically slow. I was able to stop you in less than a millisecond. I suggest one advice: get some pointers on self defense. You clearly need it." He eyed her quickly. "So… you're finally awake. How are you?"
Crease marks formed between Sakura's pencil thin eyebrows. "Yea, that was some rude awakening," she replied sarcastically.
Syaoran glared at her. "What is that tone WOMAN? Do you even know who you're speaking to right now?"
"Um… ah?"
Syaoran scoffed, disbelief catching in his eyes. "Fool! I am the Emperor. Not only that, I am your husband too."
"Hoeee!" It was as if reality had come crashing down on Sakura. She suddenly realized she was not in her room, that it was night, not day, and that the boy sitting next to her was anything but pleasant. Her first impression of him: cocky bastard indeed!
The messy hair youth looked at her in confusion. "Hoe? What does that mean? Is it some kind of Eastern language code I should know about? Oi! Answer me immediately! Don't fall back asleep, Sakura-san! As your Emperor, I order you not to fall asleep! Are you falling asleep on me?"
"I'm not sleeping FISH-BRAIN! My head is spinning right now, and I'm incredibly dizzy!"
Mischievous thoughts floated around in Syaoran's head. It was as if a magnificent scheme had arisen.
Chuckling, Syaoran plopped his head on the pillow. "You're dizzy, huh? I can help you with that." He still had Sakura's wrist adhered to the mattress, and took the opportunity to prod his arm backward.
Taken by surprise, Sakura lost all sense of balance and toppled on him, face smashed against his muscular chest, all the while, screaming her lungs out. Syaoran sighed happily, a sheepish smile on his face. "Feel any better?" he asked, voice gruff.
Sakura's cheeks were as red as a ripe tomato. "Hey! Let me go! This is rather uncomfortable," she stammered.
He folded his hands over the small of her back, ravishing the curves of her body. "How about now?"
Sakura scrunched her face, groaning. "You made it worse!"
Syaoran couldn't help but smile. "So you can't sleep, can you?"
"Not like this!"
"Good."
Confused by his response, Sakura lifted her head to observe him furtively. His smoldering eyes were glazed and absent as if he was musing about some erotic fantasy, perhaps. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, wondering what could occupy his mind this very moment whilst he had her in a deadlock.
"Syaoran-sama…" she mumbled.
Syaoran's thoughts wavered, and he lowered his lids, fixing his eyes on her. He continued to wear that strange, flitting expression that made Sakura fidget, and her stomach twist and turn. A haughty smirk fell upon his lips. "Oh Sakura," he whispered lovingly. "Let's declare this night ours."
As his words sunk in, she found herself flipped over so that he was hovering above her. She stifled a cry as his lips came crashing over hers. She tried to push him off her but his legs fastened hers together, and his arms restrained her hands above her head. He started to plant brief kisses across her jaw line down to her collarbone, nipping lightly and softly at the delicate skin until it was splotchy from his love bites. He stretched her shirt out, and began to kiss her shoulder blade, moving gradually down.
He was making weird groaning sounds as his lips roamed her body.
Being a virgin, she felt panic and fear. She struggled more, only to have him moan louder, causing him excitement she wasn't aware of. She didn't realize she was triggering blood to rush to his manhood because of her constant squirming.
"Dame, dame (Stop, stop)!" she squealed. "I'm only fifteen!"
"Old enough!" Syaoran whispered huskily, gnawing at the buttons of her shirt.
Sakura bit her bottom lips, feeling a tingly, aching sensation forming near her lower region. "Please, I don't like this at all!"
The buttons snapped and her shirt loosened up. Syaoran opened the shirt further, pulling it around her shoulders. He was let down to see a pink bra concealing the pert nipples from his deprived mouth. He moved in closer, his index finger tracing the curve of her full, round breasts, instigating a slight quiver and moan from Sakura's lips.
He shot her a sketchy look. "You do like this. You're just embarrassed to admit it," he said, lowering himself to her lush breasts, licking the mounds as his eyes fixed steadily upon hers, almost laughingly. The sensation of his hot breath and teasing tongue in close proximity with her flustered skin brought her a bout of tingles.
She had no choice but to utter another moan, flushing intensely, surprised by how her body could react in such a way like never before.
He sneered at her. "I bet you want this more than I do." He sat upright, removing his shirt and unbuckling his trousers.
"Iie! Iie!" Sakura's eyes were bulging. "Please control yourself. Please! You're just a boy!"
An ardent look filled his eyes and he completely froze. Seeing this as a chance to knock him off, Sakura brusquely pushed him away in one heave, forcing him to roll off the bed and to the ground. She gathered the covers around her, and pulled her knees up to shelter herself even more. Syaoran cursed loudly for having his guard let down. He was breathing heavily, in the middle of recovering from his sexual haze.
Greatly infuriated, he shouted at her, "What was that for? You're not supposed to refuse me. I am your husband and you must obey me." He ran a frustrated hand through his ruffled, natural bed hair. "Whatever I do to you, I can do without your consent. Did you know that? Or should I teach you myself?"
Sakura muffled a sob, trying hard to look brave despite her disadvantage. "You're so serious yet so young. You're just a -"
Syaoran scoffed in annoyance. "I am not a boy! Stop thinking that! I am way older than you, surpassing you by a year, almost!"
Even though he was saying all this, Sakura was unconvinced. He was visibly a boy who had taken on a serious countenance of a burdened man. It would throw off anybody, but Sakura saw right through this hardened mask. Though it didn't appear so, Syaoran had his vulnerable moments too.
Perhaps taking role as the new Emperor to the Li Kingdom was too much for him, and that it stripped him of his childhood and happiness once the harsh disciplinary requirements kicked in. Sakura shivered slightly, as the golden orbs drew to her, narrowing in anger.
"What are you thinking?" Syaoran demanded.
"Why are you like this?" she rebutted with another question.
Syaoran gritted his teeth. "It's useless to explain. You will never understand. Nobody does! Besides, I don't have to answer to you if I don't want to." He immediately clambered to his feet and began to leave the room. Once he reached the door, he said silently, "I will see you the next morning," and then he left without a second look at her.
To be continued…
Author's notes: ORii-des. Ehh, watchu' think? Hm… Of course it's 1st chappie so far. And obv. questions will be answered in the next chappie or the followings. Come on, review. You are a wonderful person, I believe, if you offer feedbacks. It tells me that my effort and time put into this ficcy has been appreciated and a payoff. Y'know?
Published on September 24, 2006
Edited on May 20, 2007
