"The Contract"


The water in the shower felt so good against her skin that it was almost addicting. There was the right amount of pressure that it had that made her muscles relax whenever the water would slap against her skin. She came to the conclusion that everything was heaven in this hotel.

Syaoran had given her another phone call earlier, telling her to be ready earlier than six o' clock today. He never mentioned the plans though. He only told her to dress casually, so she came to the conclusion that they would not be going anywhere fancy like they had the other day with Xing.

For some reason, that piece of information relieved her a bit, making her feel like there would be no expectations.

As usual, he had been rude and hung the phone up on her again before she even had the chance to respond, but it was sad to say that she was beginning to become used to it.

She lathered up the shampoo in her hair while massaging her scalp, humming a familiar tune that brought back pleasant memories.

For some reason, crying herself to sleep last night lifted her spirits tremendously today. Maybe crying and sleeping afterwards was the best medicine to cure a broken spirit.

A smile formed on her lips as the water rinsed out the shampoo slowly, running down her body. Today was going to be a great day and she was going to allow nothing to bring her down anymore. She knew her father and Touya would not want her down and upset about anything that life threw her way, so she refused to let it. Besides, the least she could do was remain her cheerful self for their sakes after everything they had done for her.

She stepped out of the walk in shower and grabbed the towel on the rack, wrapping it around her body tightly. She walked back into the hotel room and dried off before slipping her bra and panties on. After towel-drying her hair, she slipped on some shorts and a casual blouse quickly before blow drying her hair.

She heard a knock on the room door at 2:00, just as Syaoran told her she would. She ran to the door and opened it, seeing the same big, buff man from yesterday.

"Hello, sir…" she said, stepping to the side so he could come in.

Despite her experience with her landlord yesterday, she felt like she could trust this man with everything even though she had just met him. She was not even the slightest bit scared whenever he came around.

"Just call me Kenta because you are going to be seeing a lot of me from now on. I'm with Mr. Li almost 24/7 as his body guard."

Her eyes widened in shock at the realization of that statement. "How are you going to guard him if you're here with me?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "He doesn't necessarily have to have me around all the time. He chooses me to come around when it's necessary. He's at the company most of the time, so there are guards there who can make sure he is in safety. He wants me to be of assistance to you right now, so I follow his orders."

She gave a slight nod, taking in everything he just said. It did make her wonder how well-known Syaoran is around the city. She had not even heard of him before until just meeting him the other day. She smiled at him and held her hand towards him to shake. "Well, since our meeting was not as…pleasant yesterday, considering the circumstances, it's nice to meet you Kenta. I'm Kinomoto Sakura. If you're going to be around as often as you say you will, please call me Sakura."

He took her hand and shook it, with a smile on his face. "Just to let you know, Mr. Li does not tolerate tardiness, so you might want to speed up a little bit."

"Oh—right. I just have to do my hair." She rushed to her bag and took out the flat iron, plugging it up. "So…how long have you been working for Mr. Li?" she asked while straightening her hair.

"It's going on about 15 years now."

At that answer, she wondered how old Syaoran was, but could not think of an appropriate way to ask. "Wow, he must really trust you then, huh?" she said after finishing her hair, then putting half of it up, leaving out her bangs to frame his face.

"15 years is a long time. That's over a decade of his life so you could say he trusts me by now."

She looked at him through the mirror to see him smiling at her. She returned the smile before turning towards him, presenting herself to him. He smiled at her and nodded approvingly.

"It is. How long has he been in the business industry?" she asked, just wanting to make conversation.

"Have you never heard of the Li Corporation before?" he asked, standing from the chair after he saw her finish.

She shook her head slowly. "No. I haven't always lived in Tokyo though, so that may be the reason why."

"Oh, Tokyo isn't where the Li Corporation originally came from. Mr. Li isn't even from here, but he has to be the one to take over the main company here in Japan for the mean time. He's actually from Hong Kong, but his mother sent him here to take care of some business. He normally jumps back and forth from here to Hong Kong though."

That was right; Xing did mention something about them being from Hong Kong, she remembered.

"We should head out. Mr. Li has waited long enough."

Kenta led the way out of the hotel, and she followed closely behind him.

"It seems like they're pretty successful if they have one here and in Hong Kong," she brought the topic back up. She wanted to find out as much about the man before they actually met up today. She had a feeling that he would not cooperate with her and tell her anything she asked.

"They have one in England, America, and 6 other countries actually. They are, indeed, successful."

"Is Mr. Li over all of them?"

"Yes. After his father passed, everything was handed down to him, but he does work alongside other business men to keep them running. Ultimately, he has the responsibility of keeping them all running though. "

She felt a little sympathetic for him, thinking about all the stress he must be under a lot.

"How old is he?" she finally asked because it was the perfect opportunity. "He doesn't look too old to be taking on so much stress in his life," she added, just in case he got the wrong idea about her question.

"He just turned 23 a couple of months ago, but his father passed away when he was 17."

She looked at him surprised. "How is that even possible for a 17-year-old to take over eight companies?" she asked, thinking about how it would be too hard for her to do that.

"Well, he didn't really have much of a choice with this. He did all of his college at home during his late junior high and high school years. He didn't take over until his 18th birthday when the elders deemed him mature enough to." He opened the car door for her when they reached it.

"Would it be okay for me to sit in the front with you?" she asked, smiling at him. She felt much more comfortable around him now. Plus, she wanted to continue the previous conversation they were having.

He gave her a small smile and opened the front door for her. She smiled at him, silently thanking him before getting in the car, buckling up.

"Mr. Li is forced to keep up with the companies then?" she asked after he settled in, in the passenger's side of the car.

"Well, he didn't really have much of a choice to do anything else, so take it as you may. In the Li Clan, the first son in the family is the one who has to take on all of the responsibilities of the previous owner."

"So…Xing would have to take on everything after Mr. Li passes?"

"That's correct. That is the reason that Mr. Li and his previous wife had Xing."

She frowned at that new information because it sounded so selfish and cruel. People should be allowed to choose their own paths in life. "What if Xing doesn't want to do that though?"

"It's not really much of Xing's choice right now. Besides, the boy just turned four, so he doesn't know anything that he wants right now, aside from cake and ice cream. As he gets older, he will be led towards that path and learn to love it eventually."

"That just sounds so unfair. What if he wants to be a teacher? Or maybe even a lawyer? Shouldn't he have that right like everyone else does?" she asked sadly.

"Well, it's not something you should stress over, Sakura. He will learn the way of the Li and accept it. He will turn out just fine like his father has."

The tears behind her eyes automatically vanished at the mention of the man. "Excuse my bluntness, but I hope that Xing does not turn out like his father. He's so rude and bossy all the time," she said, not able to hold back from talking freely to the man.

Kenta chuckled and shook his head, keeping his eyes on the road. "Mr. Li isn't so bad once you get to know him. He puts up this facade around others, but there's a really soft side to him. It's just hard to reach that side of him sometimes."

She made a slight hum sound, to let him know that she heard him. She did not believe him one bit though. She had more than one encounter with the man and he was extremely rude each time, even when he was the one who created the encounters with her several times.

When they pulled up to a beautiful park, her nerves began to jump all over the place. She wondered why Syaoran would want to meet at the park. Maybe Xing was going to be here. She hoped so, at least.

Kenta came to her side of the car quickly before she could open the door herself and opened it for her. She grabbed her small bag and stepped out of the car. She looked around the park, admiring how beautiful it was until her eyes spotted the chestnut-haired man, sitting on a bench with sunglasses on. He was dressed slightly casual, but he still looked a little too nice for the park. He had on dark jeans and a white, long-sleeved, buttoned-down shirt, but his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and he had on really nice shoes.

She felt nervous all of sudden, seeing him sitting there look so calm. Her eyes started looking around for any signs of Xing, but he was nowhere in sight, sadly.

"This way, Sakura," Kenta said as he started walking towards Syaoran, giving her no choice but to follow behind him.

Syaoran said something in Chinese to Kenta when they stood in front of him before Kenta nodded.

"You may leave," he dismissed Kenta.

She had the urge to follow him back to the car to escape the man too.

"I hope that you are aware that I don't tolerate tardiness," Syaoran said sternly.

Her cheeks warmed, making her reprimand herself for feeling flustered around the man. "I-I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again," she said too quickly, not even caring how hard he was glaring at her.

"Have a seat."

She sat down on the bench as far away from him, as she could. She wanted to avoid any awkward physical contact with him because she might just faint if they did.

"Your background was clear. There was nothing found that could interfere with the proposition. How long have you been living alone?"

She felt exposed to him, not believing he had really looked through her personal information. "Just a few months." Her eyes stayed glued to her hands in her lap.

"Your brother passed a year and a half ago and your father passed some years ago. You probably can't even remember a single thing about your mother since you were just 3 when she passed. Why didn't you just tell me all of this the other day?"

Her fist clenched in her lap, feeling a little irritated with how he could just throw all of that information in her face without much care for it. It hurt being reminded of this kind of stuff. This was why she never spoke about it. She wondered if he had any ounce of humanity in that body of his.

"I didn't think that it was anyone's business. Plus, we had just met…" she said quietly, feeling the back of her eyes burn.

She could feel a heated glare directed towards her, making her body froze completely, fearing what he would do next. "You're going to have to speak up, Ms. Kinomoto. I specifically asked you about your parents the other day and you completely avoided the question." He sounded genuinely upset with her about her not wanting to share her business with him.

She knew the man had to be insane.

"I-I—"

"Whenever I ask you about something else, I expect you to answer the question honestly. Is that understood?" he asked harshly.

She frowned, feeling like a kid all over again. She knew he had a kid, but there was no way that he went around talking to everyone as if they were his kid. She looked at him with determination in her eyes. "Mr. Li, I would like for you not to treat me like a child," she said after mustering up the courage to defend herself. "That is my business that I don't have to share with anyone if I don't want to."

He stared at her for a few seconds, which she held his piercing gaze. She could not remember why her heart was racing again.

"You have to be honest with me, Ms. Kinomoto. I don't know any other way to say it to you."

"Okay, I will…" she said quietly. When she felt him glaring again, she said, "I-I understand, Mr. Li," a little louder this time so he could hear.

"How have you been making a living? Surely the government would have caught up with you by now. You're not 18 until April 1, so you should have been in the system by now."

She frowned hearing him talk about her as if he had known her for a while. A slight blush formed on her cheeks though. "Well, I had a job at the time my brother…" she trailed off, not being able to say what she had avoided saying for so long. "I was getting paid enough to pay rent before I lost that job."

"Why did you lose it?"

"I…was laid off," she said simply.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence that he did not seem to mind. This had been her expertise though. "S-so, where's Xing?"

"Home."

"All by himself?" she asked, not putting this kind of thing passed him since he had left him in one of his rooms at the job all day.

He gave her a questioningly look. "What kind of a father do you take me for?"

"One who leaves his son by himself all day while he works." Her hands covered her mouth, not believing that she had just spoke those thoughts out loud.

He raised a brow and immediately, she bowed her head apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Li. I didn't mean it like that at all. I was just a little surprised that Xing and I were able to spend an entire day together without any interruptions or anyone coming in to check on him. If I weren't there, Xing would have been there by himself all day."

"Xing is capable enough to sit in a room for a few hours, playing with all the toys in that room that I bought him. He does it every day and he's completely fine with it."

Xing was only four, so she was sure that he required a lot more attention than that. She would leave it alone for now. "I'm sorry, Mr. Li," she apologized. She was trying to overstep boundaries again in Xing's life. She knew she had no rights to tell him how to raise his own son.

Instead of responding, Syaoran just leaned his head back, enjoying the breeze that was currently present.

His disheveled hair flowed gracefully as the breeze kept blowing in their direction. She wanted to take those shades off so she could look directly in his amber orbs, but thought better of it. She did not even know where that feeling came from.

"W-would I have to watch Xing all the time? Vacation time will be over in a few weeks, so I will have to attend school. I am involved in some of the activities as well."

"Xing has a personal tutor during school hours right now, but I expect you to wake up early in the mornings and get him ready for his day, every single day. When you finish school and your activities, you come straight home and watch him for the remainder of the day. If I come in late, you are to have him fed, bathed, and put in bed at his bedtime. You are to watch him at any time that I tell you to. It is my house, so whatever I say, goes. Nothing inappropriate will be requested between any of us who stay in the house."

She wanted to ask when he would be there to spend time with him.

"Is this understood?" he asked.

She nodded, deciding it might be best to keep quiet about that. Having a place to stay and money to spend on her own did sound like it was worth playing house with Xing.

"Here," He took out some papers in his brief case, which was beside him, and handed them to her.

Looking at them, she turned to him. "What are they?"

"Documents that I want you to read through and sign off that you agree to everything that has been said. It's just more in detail on the documents."

She was only 17 and she was already signing her rights off to some strange man. She knew she could not do this. Even though she knew this, she still skimmed through some of the sentences on the papers, seeing everything in details. She turned to the last page to see the last rule, which was number 64. Did he really type up 64 rules for this?

It was all the basic rules; the responsibilities that she would have to take up and what he expected from her as a person. What she was allowed to do and what not to do. She did not have a problem with any of the rules because for the most part, she was a good girl and never got into trouble. She did not swear a lot, do drugs, drink underage, or commit any crimes, so she was fine with all of the rules.

Nothing inappropriate was requested on the contract, so that made her feel relieved. There was one rule that bothered her on the contract though. It was rule number 56...

She pointed to rule number 56, which read 'You are not allowed to leave the house unless you ask for my permission.'

"Is this rule really necessary, Mr. Li? I don't mean to be disrespectful in any way towards you, but it feels more like you're trying to control me more than anything. There will be days that I have off, as mentioned on the contract, so why would I not be allowed to leave unless I ask for your permission?"

"I would like to know your whereabouts at all times. If something comes up, I will know where to go to get in contact with you. I need you available at all times, aside from your school and activities time, because things come up at the office. I need to know if you are getting into any trouble. I need you to remain a good example for Xing. I won't tolerate any type of inappropriate behaviors from you."

It was reasonable, but she still did not like it one bit because it seemed a little too controlling.

"If I'm agreeing to all of the other rules, doesn't that make this rule irrelevant?"

He glared at her, making her flinch back, a little, knowing she has offended him. "Are you insulting my rules?" he asked coldly.

Her eyes widened. "Of course not, Mr. Li! I didn't mean it like that. I just…it's a little weird for me is all. I've been living alone, without any adult supervision for the past few months, so I'm not used to letting other's know every move I'm trying to make," she explained, feeling ashamed for the rude statement.

"The rule will remain on the list," he finalized.

She frowned at that, knowing he would not change his mind about it. "They're my days off, Mr. Li," she tried reasoning with him again.

"That does not mean that you can run off and go get into any kind of trouble. The first rule clearly states that you have to remain a positive example for Xing."

She sighed, giving up on arguing with him because she knew there was no way she could change his mind. Despite her giving up convincing him otherwise, she decided that she would not follow through with that rule. No one was going to control her like it seemed like he was trying to do. If she was going to be working for him, she wanted him to treat her like he would treat all of his other employees. She was sure he did not need to know of their whereabouts at all times. Therefore, she would not "ask for his permission to leave the house" all the time.

They sat in silence for a while and it was killing her, so she turned to him shyly. "Would you like to walk around, Mr. Li? I've never been here before, so it would be nice to look around."

Syaoran looked around the park before nodding and standing up. They were at Yoyogi Park and it looked beautiful, despite it being close to fall.

She followed after him, goosebumps breaking out on her skin, feeling his eyes watch every move and reaction to the things she saw.

"How long have you lived here?" he asked suddenly, breaking her trance.

"U-Uh…just a few years. Touya and I decided to move here a year after everything happened with my dad. We wanted to get away because there were so many memories back in Tomoeda, our home town. Everything reminded us of him, so we came to the conclusion that a new place and setting would do us good."

A response never came, making her feel a little nervous. Whenever he was quiet after something she said, it always made her feel like she said or did something wrong, even though she had not.

Instead of letting the awkward silence remain, she decided to break it. "Xing is a really good kid from what I've experienced with him. He's very sweet and intelligent." A soft and warming smile formed on her lips, thinking about the little boy. She could feel Syaoran's eyes on her again. "You're doing a great job with him," she complimented.

Instead of responding, he just looked away with a hint of red to his cheeks before it disappeared. Maybe she had imagined it, she thought.

She looked up at him to see the displeased look on his face. She sighed and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Li. I can be very talky sometimes and speak my mind quite often. I don't mean any harm by it, so I hope that you can forgive me." She bowed slightly towards him.

"Lift your head up," he commanded with a less harsh tone this time.

She obliged to his command and smiled at him, apologetically. They crossed the bridge, which she looked over at the water, mesmerized by the reflection of the trees in it.

"You apologize too much," Syaoran stated, keeping his eyes straight ahead of them.

She smiled at him sweetly even though he was not looking at her. "I'm sorry. I just don't like for anyone to be upset with me."

Syaoran never responded as he looked around the park, appearing to be deep in thought. She wondered what he was thinking about.

"Xing told me that you guys weren't from here, so where are you guys from?" she asked after a while, even though she already knew the answer to that question. She hated the silence between them though. It always felt like a knife could cut through the thick tension.

"Hong Kong."

She hated his responses to everything. They were always short, brief answers that were even barely answers. It felt like he was trying not to have to interactions with her much, but she felt like she had the right to know him just as much as he knew about her. She wondered how he would feel if she were to do a background check on him too.

"Are you guys going to be here long?" she decided to ask after being silent for a few seconds.

"Yes."

"How long?"

"However long is necessary."

She sighed again, not even knowing why she was even trying with him anymore. She silently reminded herself to thank Kenta for everything he told her earlier.

"Have you told Xing about the arrangement yet?" she asked, testing to see if this would work on him.

"Not yet, but I plan to talk to him today about it. He won't have any problems with it though."

She smiled and nodded before looking up at the sky. Just as she thought, he spoke more whenever it came to their arrangement. He was all about business and that was okay with her. She could deal with that because she was only here for Xing anyway, she reminded herself. She vowed that she would give Xing as much attention as she thought he deserved if his dad would not.

"When will everything be settled then?"

"As soon as you sign that contract, it will be. I'll give you as long as you need in the hotel until you decide whether or not you want to do this."

She nodded, deep in thoughts about all of this. While she had agreed to watch Xing, she was not so sure about the whole contract ordeal.

"We should head back. Kenta should be here by the time we get back to the bench."

She nodded again and followed him back to the bench in complete silence.

When they arrived to their destination, Kenta was waiting there for her as Syaoran said he would. He pulled out the papers in the brief case and handed them to her. "Read over the rules again."

She took them from him and nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Li." She bowed her head politely.

He walked with her and Kenta back to the car, talking in Chinese to Kenta. She was slightly irritated because she did not understand anything they were saying. She knew that was the reason Syaoran chose to do so.

When they arrived to the car, Syaoran opened the car door for her and I got inside. He closed the door and motioned for Kenta to roll the window down, which he did.

"I will see you in a few days. Don't make me wait like you did this time. I expect you to be on time." He turned to Kenta, silently warning him as well.

"Yes, sir," they said simultaneously in a stiff tone.

Syaoran tapped the top of the car and Kenta drove off.

She let out the breath that she was not even aware that she had been holding around him.

"How was it?" Kenta asked.

She looked at him to see a small smirk on his face. "Do you want me to describe it in sentences or just one word?" she asked.

He chuckled. "Hmm…" he said as if he were in deep thought. "One word."

"Intimidating," she said simply, without any hesitation.

"Just the word I was expecting from you. He's that type of person, so get used to it if you decide to stick around." Kenta chuckled again.

She inwardly groaned.

She had been battling with herself all day if she was going to stick around after the whole contract deal. One side was already talking like it agreed to it, while the other was saying that this whole arrangement was insane. Which should she choose and what was the right thing to do? Was there a wrong or right move to this decision?

She groaned out loud this time and Kenta laughed, seeming to understand her inner battle that was going on in her head. The next few days were going to be a hell of a lot harder than she thought they would be.


A/N: I'm going to try and get the rest of the chapters out(with bits and pieces changed/added) and a new one before the end of the week because I realized that my writing improved as the story progressed :).