Score

by Zoe1105

Syaoran Li, captain of the Tomoeda High School soccer team and, according to him, soon to be professional soccer player. He had everything. A good and loyal fandom, the perfect girlfriend, and an outstanding future in what he loved the most... soccer. Everything was right till he made a decision that would change his life completely.

6. Chapter 6 - Back to Basics

"If someone comes into your life and has a positive impact on you, be thankful that your paths crossed. And even if they can't stay for some reason, be thankful that somehow they brought joy into your life, even if it was just for a short while. Life is change. People come and go, some stay, some don't and that's okay. Remember the good times and smile that it happened." – Brigitte

Chapter 6
Back to Basics

An alarm clock could be heard from one of the corners in the room. Syaoran slowly opened his eyes and looked at the time. It read 4:30 am which only meant it was time for him to get up. He never had problems waking up at this time as long as it was for training. His body automatically moved towards the bathroom. He turned the water on and let the water running. Instead of quickly getting in, he brushed his teeth and waited till the water warm up. He took his normal quick shower and dried himself with the towel before putting it around his waist and walking out of the bathroom to get dressed.

It was still dark outside. He dressed himself with a blue sleeveless tank and black knee length shorts. Last but not least he tied up his running shoes before grabbing his phone and earphones as he walked out of his room and headed out of his house for a jog. Since he would be taking the weekend off, he decided to push extra hard these last couple of days to make up for lost time thanks to Meiling's great idea. Although after hearing that Sakura had agreed to accompany them he couldn't feel more appreciative towards his cousin.

Since the town wasn't that far away from his parent's house, he decided to jog to the park and then back. That would be a good hour and a half run before hitting the weights after. He enjoyed the peacefulness of jogging into town while listening to his music blasting through his headphones. He thought about the game they had just had against Italy. Although most of his teammates were in great shape and they had won the match, he still felt they still needed to improve their game if they wanted to win the Cup. He started going over the game in his head while entering the park.

He stepped to one of the several trails the park had to walk through it. Some of the trails led to the inside of the park, kind of like a maze, while others just went around the park. He usually ran the outside before running the inside. Spending most of his childhood in China he still remembered his way around the inside of the park. During the day, the park was regularly very busy. People could be seen walking, jogging, or even running their bicycles around but since it was so early he didn't see many people on it. Probably the only ones at this time in the park were early risers like himself that were conscious of their health and had made it a habit of coming early in the morning to start the day in a healthy way.

He turned around in one of the curves and spotted a very familiar person jogging along these early risers. He increased his speed a little but decided to stay behind her and enjoy the view. Her pace hadn't changed much from back in the days. As she took another curve, he noticed how her thoughtful face hadn't changed from being completely focused on what she was doing. Couple of minutes later, she reached the middle of the park and stopped. She kept walking slowly before finally stopping in front of the lake and start stretching. Syaoran took this chance to finally approach her.

"You still jog this early in the morning?" he casually asked.

She jumped after hearing his voice and turned to confirmed it. He was standing arrogantly behind her in his damped tank. She didn't miss the drops of sweat falling from his wet hair all the way to his face which made her heart jump even more than it was when she was running. There was no way she could deny she still felt something for him. Suddenly she felt grateful for being out of breath after running. She could easily hide her flushed face under the pretence of been doing exercise. She fought the temptation of running her hands through his face and instead casually asked, "Since when have you been there?"

He smiled, "Just a couple of minutes." He didn't indulge a lot on his answer and instead started stretching at her side.

She looked around the park, "I'm surprised your loyal reporters didn't follow you here."

He smirked, "No. They're probably still staring at my unmoved car parked in my parents' house."

She relaxed and chuckled before also starting to stretch. "You sneaked away then… Wait, did you jog all the way here from your parent's house?"

He nodded.

She raised a brow, "Are you okay?"

He looked at her confused by her question and nodded. "Yes, why?"

"That's a pretty long jog for anyone." She simply answered.

He chuckled and nodded, "Well, I'm not just anyone, am I?"

She shook her head and smiled, "Whatever."

"I'm surprised your little puppy is not around you this morning."

She scoffed, "You really won't stop calling him names will you?"

He smirked.

She rolled her eyes at him, "Jun doesn't like exercises."

"What? Too much for him?" Syaoran jokingly asked.

"No." She quickly said before defending her boyfriend, "you know, not everyone enjoys doing exercises the same way you do Syaoran."

"Or you apparently." He easily pointed out.

"If you must know I feel better this way."

He smirked, "Why? The less time you spend with him the better?"

"That's not what I mean! Don't put words into my mouth to say whatever works for you. As it so happens I like it better because it helps me clear things up in my head."

He scoffed. "And you couldn't do that while jogging with me before?"

"It's different." She had to admit, she walked right into that one. Ignoring his little question she took a deep breath before quickly saying, "So, I heard you were interested in buying a soccer terrain from Li Corporation."

He lost his smile and narrowed his eyes, "I see my sister can't keep her mouth shut."

Sakura smiled, "Actually it was your father the one that told me." His stare was hard to keep but still she kept her eyes on him, "what are you thinking?"

He looked away, "Are you asking as a friend or as my father's employee?"

She stared at him. Getting an answer from him wouldn't be easy. "I didn't know there was a difference."

Syaoran noticed the first rays of sun starting to loom over the mountains. He walked past Sakura towards the wooden fence behind her and reclined himself in it to watch the sun rise. Memories of his childhood came back to him as he remembered how much he enjoyed playing with his cousins around the park till the sun sat through the mountains in the afternoons. "I can't believe I've been away from this place for almost eight years."

Although she didn't show it to him, she was taken aback by his sudden change of subject. Part of her hurt from knowing he didn't trusted her like he used to but she knew it wasn't his fault. "I'd say eight years worth of been apart," she said.

He looked at her as she reclined against the fence at his side to admire the first rays of sun as well but instead of looking at them by the mountains she enjoyed the sight from the lake's reflection. She felt a little nervous as she felt his stare but tried to explain her answer, "You're living your dream and right in your home town. Can't ask for more than that can you?"

"I've missed you." He softly said.

She could hear the regret on his words and took a deep breath before turning to face him and sadly smiled. "Is that what the terrain is for?"

If it would've been anyone else, he could've tried to evade the question again or simply didn't answer it, and yet when it came to Sakura he knew he just couldn't do it. "I wanted to invest in something that would have meaning to me."

"A terrain will keep been a terrain if you don't have time to develop it Syaoran."

He was slightly hurt after hearing her words considering they were almost the same words his mother had uttered him a couple of days ago. "You don't think I can do this?"

She shook her head, "That's not what I'm saying. You can do it if you really want to. I have no doubt about that. I just don't see you having enough time after the cup to actually put your plan in motion."

He nodded, "I feel like this is something that I must do. Some of those kids could actually make it in the future if they have the correct facilities and resources at their disposition. And I can help them with that. So why shouldn't I?"

"I understand you wanting to do something good for these kids Syaoran, and your plan sounds like a good idea but still having just a plan or a vision is not good enough to succeed."

"Well, I won't know that till I try, will I?"

She hated when he was so stubborn before thinking things thoroughly, "You don't need to try to know this. I am telling you it's not enough." She turned around and walked a couple of steps away from him before she heard him.

"Then help me."

She quickly looked back at him and shook her head, "You must be kidding me."

"Why not? It's for a good cause. Those kids deserve better sports facilities than the ones they have now and I can help them with your help."

"Oh and how do I fit in this whole picture Syaoran? I work for your father. Surely you must know that after he sells that terrain to you it stops being any of his concern or the company's what you do with it."

"I'm not asking you to help me as my father's employee."

She rolled her eyes at him and with her hand accentuated, "Oh, here you go again splitting up my persona."

He tried not to smile in her face as he remembered how much he enjoyed riling her up. Her sarcasm would up a notch along with her fast ramblings of complaints that would follow next.

"I don't know if you have noticed but I am as busy as ever too. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time either you know... I do have numerous business meetings and seminars I'll have to attend this year. So I think for both of our sakes that I will pass this idea of yours and avoid any more headaches."

"You know what? I think I have a better idea than that one."

Sakura dumbfounded stared at him. Had he not heard any word she had just said to him?

He chuckled as he noticed her raised eyebrow and impatient face waiting for his answer. If it still meant the same thing from years ago, it only meant that whatever idea he had better be good or she was out of here. So he quickly added, "and this one you might actually like."

"Really?" she sarcastically asked.

"How about we walk to the café on the corner and just discuss this over a cup of coffee?"

That actually sounded like a good idea to her. She loved coffee and the small café at the corner was a good place to have her morning coffee. She narrowed her eyes, "Are they even open?"

Syaoran looked at his watch which read 5:57 am. Clearly the café around the corner was not open yet but nonetheless he replied, "Yeah… they should be open by now." He turned her around and started walking at her side towards the café direction. "How about a race?"

She smirked, "Ha! Yeah, like I'm going to fall for that one." She noticed him stop walking beside her and turned to see what held him up. His questionable face made her chuckle.

"Why not? I'm being serious."

"Mmm… Well I don't know, let's see... Maybe because you're a soccer player who is used to running all the time? I'm not going to race you to the café at the corner. That's like a hundred meters from here. It is obvious that you'll –" she quickly turned around and dash over towards the café.

"Cheater!" he screamed before sprinting after her laughing inside at the same time. He beat himself up mentally thinking he should've expected that. She had always loved a good competition.

~ o ~

"Yes, that's what we need. Also, I need you to see if we can meet with Joe, I need to discuss something with him. Tell him I can have lunch today," she said while closing her car's door and crossing the street. Her determined steps on her way into the president's office showed renewed confidence even after losing one of the biggest deals for this project. She had already put in motion a backup plan to deal with Mr. Makimasi's absence in the tournament.

She heard Suri's confirmation and hung up the phone while opening the crystal doors of Li Corporation. She could hear her heals each time she took a step on the marbled floor of the reception as she walked straight towards the elevator. Several people greeted her on the way to Xian's office where he had set up a meeting to start about ten minutes ago. By the time she reached his office Xiefa, Yelan, and Xian were already sitting inside his office. She walked towards them and sat right next to Xiefa.

"You're late as usual…" Xiefa commented.

She cleared her throat before calmly saying, "I was taking care of some business." If Xiefa ever found out that she was late because of her dear brother that would definitely be the end of her. But her dear brother was who actually make her start her day in a better mood. She hadn't had one of these mornings in a long time where she got out of running feeling confident and light at the same time. But she wouldn't admit anything out loud. For now on she had to focus on the meeting so, before she could question anything else, Sakura keyed in her iPad's security code to unblock it and look up to let them know she was ready.

Xian nodded. "On to business then. Minerva has taken care of finding us the music equipment we'll be using. Sakura, get in touch with her to let her know which equipment you'll be using for the opener."

She nodded and took note of it before starting talking about her renewed plan. "I wanted to bring this up since Mr. Makimasi won't be working with us. I was thinking of getting some holographic projectors for the main entrance of the field. We could put some live footage in them, not long ones, I was more thinking along the lines of small clips like a goal or a save."

"That's not a bad idea." Xiefa nodded. "We can explain the idea to the different delegations and even ask them to cooperate by sending several clips of what they consider to be their best performance. That way we won't have to spend much time recording players once they reach China."

Sakura nodded. "I think we could increase the marketing of the tournament if we use these projectors. Not to mention the kids will love them and the soccer fans even more. As I was going through the stores the other day I saw one of these projectors and the idea suddenly came to me. We can have two big projectors, one in each side of the entrance, and have one of the projectors showing the clip from team A while the other shows a clip from team B."

"Yelan?" Xian asked.

"I like it." She replied.

Xian nodded and looked back at Sakura. "When you talk to Minerva ask her if she can get a quote on these projectors. I know she is working on the music equipment but she could also take a look into that or point us into the right direction."

Sakura nodded and wrote it down on her iPad.

"Xiefa, how are the hotel arrangements coming along?" Xian asked.

"Three of our hotels are completely booked for July and one of them is the Empire. After the team stayed on Xcape for their friendly match against Italy I guess reservations went off the hook because of the location."

"Does anyone know they are staying in Xcape for the World Cup?" Xian asked.

Xiefa shook her head, "No, but still Empire is one of the closest hotels to Xcape as well as the field. It's a central spot for any soccer fan."

"What about the Villas?" Yelan asked.

Xiefa nodded. "As well. It's completely booked."

Xian nodded. "Good. Make sure to market the rest of our hotels for this tournament."

She nodded, "I'm on it father."

"What about the welcome ceremony at Xcape? Is that taken care off as well?"

Sakura looked through her notes and nodded, "We are still missing a few things. I have the glassware choosing scheduled for next week. Do you want a specialized modification on them?"

"Do you think putting our signature on them would be a good idea?" Xian asked his wife.

"It's a way of marketing our company but I'm not sure if having it on all of the glassware it's a good idea. Maybe for it to look fancier we should leave the glassware without our company's signature and just have a small memorable item with our signature on it for each of the players and staff members attending the ceremony."

He nodded and looked at Sakura to confirm. "Good. Then do that instead. Yelan you're already taking care of all transportation and accommodations for each team so that part is covered as well."

"What will you do with Mr. Makimasi? Will you not say anything about him?" Sakura asked.

He looked at Sakura, "What is there to say? Leave him to me. There's no need to worry about that any longer."

Sakura nodded, "With your permission, I'd like to bring a chef from Japan for the opening banquet."

Yelan looked at her, "Do you have someone in mind?"

"I know a really good chef. He makes the most wonderful desserts. I was thinking we could even use him for the VIP rooms as well."

"Wouldn't it be better to find someone from China?" Xiefa asked. "Many of the chefs in here are good as well."

Sakura smiled, "That's because you haven't tried Yuki's food. I can assure you he won't disappoint us one bit."

"If you're confident in his abilities then speak to him. Let him know we want to try some of his plates so we may consider him." Yelan said.

Sakura nodded. "Very well then. I'll tell Suri to book me a plane ticket for Japan to leave today and bring him over this week."

Xian nodded, "I think we've covered everything in the agenda. We'll meet again next week." He stood up from his desk and grabbed his suitcase. "I have a meeting out of the office. Any new developments call Yelan," he said before leaving his office.

~ o ~

Suri grabbed her desk phone and dialed a familiar number. She waited until the other side responded to say her greetings. "Hi Joe, I'm calling in behalf of Sakura. She needs to meet you. Is there any way I can schedule lunch for today?"

Mmm, is it really urgent? I have to take care of my nephew today and tonight I leave for Japan. Do you think she can schedule for the weekend?

"No. According to her calendar she's already booked for the weekend."

Actually, tell her I can meet with her today but I'll bring my nephew with me. Is there any way she can bring Li with her? My nephew is a big fan of her friend.

"I'm not sure that'll be possible. Li has his own agent who handles his entire schedule for him Joe."

Just let her know and text me her answer.

"Okay. I'll let you know. Thanks." Suri hung up the phone and stared at it. Sometimes she found her job a little tiring even if she knew that working under Sakura was a great opportunity not just anyone had. She sighed before texting Sakura his answer. After hitting the send button she looked up to find the captain of the China team looking at her with a couple of other teammates on his side.

"Are you Suri?" He asked her.

She wearily looked at him and snapped her answer before she could stop it, "Depends on who's asking."

Mark smirked, "We're here for the photo signatures we're supposed to be doing. Our coach has told us to come in groups of four."

She opened her eyes. "Oh! Sorry. Yes I am Suri. Follow me please."

He chuckled. "Sure." He signaled the rest of his teammates to follow him. "Are you always this moody?"

"Not really. Sorry about that. It's just… I'm having one of those days," she said as she showed them towards their conference room. "Say… by any chance is your teammate Li coming in today as well?"

"Don't tell me you're one of his fan girls…" he asked.

She smiled at him, "Would you tell me if he's coming or not today if I say I am?"

He chuckled again and shook his head, "I really don't know how he does it, but you don't seem like the type of person who would fall for his charms."

She didn't answer Mark. Instead she opened the conference room door for them. Several boxes were placed in the long table. "On the table you will find the boxes with the posters inside. Each box has the name of the player it belongs to. You need to sign all the pictures inside them. Also, everyone needs to sign the team pictures." She moved towards the right corner of the conference room where a couple of boxes were placed on the floor. "Those are all in this corner. Sharpies are in the table as you can see. If you need anything, I'll be at my desk," she simply said before leaving them signing the posters.

She walked back to her desk where her phone was ringing and picked it up. "Li Corporation, how can I help you?"

What do you mean he wants Syaoran to go with me? Did you tell him Syaoran has his own agent?

"I told him that Syaoran has his own schedule." She heard Sakura sigh on the other side of the phone.

I need a plane ticket for today. I leave for Japan. Also, let Joe know I'll meet him there.

"For what time do you need it?"

Anything after three hours from now is good. I'm heading over to my apartment to set up my bag and leave for the airport. Text me the details once you find it.

"Another thing, some of the guys are here signing the posters so I'm taking care of that."

Good! Perfect. Make sure to tell their coach that all of them must have those posters signed by the end of this week. Also, the France agent called saying they'll be here in three weeks to start practicing. Make sure the printing company has their posters ready by then.

"Okay, on it!"

Suri hung up the phone and looked up again to find Mark smirking in front of her yet again. "Can I help you?"

"Is this why you need to know about Li?"

"You know… is not a good thing to eavesdrop on people you just met."

He smiled and casually sat in the corner of her desk, "So you're not part of his fan club?"

She crossed her hands on her chest. "Much less to judge people you barely know."

"Well, I can fix that. Give me your phone number."

She raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Give me your phone number so I may get to know you better."

She scoffed, "Are all soccer players this arrogant?"

"Ah… so now who's the one judging?" He smirked.

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Do you need anything that has to do with the poster signing?"

He chuckled, "Do you want us to put the posters back in their box or do you want us to leave them on the table?"

"No, please put it back on their respective boxes."

"Sure, no problem," he said and winked her way before walking back towards the conference room.

She looked at his retrieving back. 'What the heck just happened?' she thought before turning towards her computer and search for Sakura's plane ticket.

~ o ~

Sakura went straight to her apartment after the meeting and started packing up for her trip to Japan. A small bag was splattered open in the middle of her bed while she picked two outfits from her closet. She folded them nicely before setting them down on the bag. Then, out of her drawers she picked the rest of the clothing she needed for her trip. Since she was only going for a few days she decided to just take enough for two entire days just in case but she was flying in today and leaving tomorrow at night. That would give her enough time to come back to China and prepare for the famous cabin weekend she had been dragged to by none other than her friend Meiling. She could still remember the discussion she had with Jun about this one.

"Why this weekend Sakura? You know I have to go to Shanghai till Saturday. I mean, can't they do it next weekend? Or better yet, just do it Friday thru Sunday. Why must it be since Thursday?"

She put her book down and watched from the bed as her boyfriend paced around the room and ran his hands through his hair. She had just told him about the trip and obviously he wasn't taking the news too well. "Baby, they start practices next week. They probably want to spend as much time as possible in a calm refreshing environment before starting with their hectic schedules once again."

He stopped and defiantly looked at her. "Fine, then don't go. You're not in a too hectic schedule that you need an entire weekend away, specially starting Thursday. Is it too important that you go?"

"That's not fair Jun. I already said I was going. You told me you didn't have anything this weekend so I just agreed with it. It's not my fault that now you have this last minute trip to Shanghai."

"So, you'll go without me. Typical." He exasperatedly threw his hands in the air and turned around while pacing in the room.

"This isn't the first time I have stayed in places without you Jun. I don't see how this is any different. You can just catch us there when you get back."

"Oh, off course. You know, I don't mind your independence Sakura but honestly you're going to tell me you don't see a problem to going away for the weekend since Thursday and spending two days with your ex-boyfriend while your real boyfriend is away?"

"Honestly, no! I don't see any problem with that. I believe I was very clear to you when I told you nothing is going on between me and Syaoran."

"That's not the point!"

"Really…? Because as far as I'm concerned you're been irrational about this."

"This is not about jealousy Sakura. Don't you think that out of respect you should at least wait for me before heading over?"

She was pissed. She got out of bed and started to walk towards the bathroom but before getting in she turned to face him again, "You know, perhaps if it wasn't because of your overreaction to this whole situation I would have at least given you that. But your reasons are not good enough. You can meet us there on Saturday if you still want to go. I'm going on Thursday." With that said she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

Sakura sighed. She had known breaking the news of the invitation to Jun wasn't going to be easy but she was actually looking forward to staying an entire weekend out of the office for once. She was packing her last minute clothing when the bell to her apartment notified her of a visitor. She went to the door and opened it. All she felt was a strong embrace from the person that came to visit her before finally seeing the face of Syaoran's youngest sister in front of her.

Sakura smiled, "Feimei! When did you get in?"

From the looks of her appearance she could tell it wasn't long ago but she still asked. Her long light brown hair was held in a messy bun that clearly screamed last minute fix while her casual graphic shirt and light blue jeans gave the appearance of someone who had just landed not too long ago. Out of all of Syaoran's sisters, Feimei was her favorite. She was the most carefree when it came to thinking about her own future.

When she first met Feimei seven years ago she was only fifteen and going through a rough time having her first relationship breakup. At the time, Sakura could identify with her and so as both of them found things they could relate to they became really good friends. By that time, Sakura also found out how her brother's decision to leave China had affected her. Growing up with the almost absence of her father in the house, Syaoran had been like a hero to her until he decided to leave for Japan. And yet, after he left, she had been able to develop her own persona and pull through those difficult teenage years.

Feimei squealed and warmly hugged Sakura. "My flight landed two hours ago. I'm so excited!" She invited herself in, no surprise as to whom she learned that from, and threw her purse on the couch.

"I see! How long will you be staying for?" Sakura closed the door.

She thought about it before saying, "Oh, I'm not sure yet."

"Mmm, that doesn't sound like an assistant schedule to me. So, are you going to give me good news?"

Feimei chuckled. "I just got my first assigned project and that IS really good news. You are looking at the new project manager for the new convention center downtown."

Sakura excitedly hugged her again. "That's great Feimei. Congratulations!"

"Thank you! I know! We need to celebrate this."

Sakura nodded and walked towards her kitchen. She opened a bottle of red wine, poured two glasses, and handled her one. "So, what's the estimated time for the project development?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet. I will probably need to leave town to start negotiations later on but I still don't have a specific date. We'll be having a meeting tomorrow to discuss the budget and probably the timeline."

"I hear you. That's really great. I mean, you just started in this company seven months ago and you already have your own project. Wow." Sakura brought her glass up and nodded her toast. She took a sip from her wine cup before coming to the question that worried her the most when Feimei was involved, "So, now to my second question, which I am absolutely sure you knew it was coming but, have you talked to your brother lately?"

Feimei sighed, "Sakura, don't spoil this for me."

"Feimei, you need to talk to him. I am very happy for you about your first project but your other news aren't so easy to hide and I am pretty sure Syaoran won't take them too lightly. Now, it's better if he finds out from you before it's too late."

"I know…" Feimei sighed, "Look, mother tells me you guys are going to the cabin this weekend. I promise you next week I'll talk to him."

Sakura nodded, "Good. Now, when are you finally going to move in with us here at the company?"

Feimei smiled, "You know I can't do that. I just got my first break of being a project manager in Saki, Inc. I doubt I'll be going anywhere now. Besides, I never saw myself as walking behind your shoes or my sister's for that matter…" she said rolling her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't love her big sister but in her opinion she felt like her sister had become some sort of family puppet. Once her father decided to retire it was most probable that Xiefa would take his place and stay with the company. It was one of the reasons why she decided to go her own way and follow her brother's footsteps instead.

Sakura chuckled.

Feimei took another sip from her wine before looking around the apartment. "Ah… where are you going this time?"

"Japan. World Cup recruit."

Feimei chuckled. "Oh, you must be happy. Recruiting is one of the best parts of this profession," she sarcastically said.

"Right… you say it and have no idea yet but you will." Sakura put her glass up once again. "Here is to you and your much awaited promotion finally arriving."

"Actually, I want to add something to that toast." Feimie said.

"Okay." Sakura casually answered and waited for her to continue.

"To old flames never dying." Feimei put her glass up and drank from her cup. She waited for Sakura to drink from her cup too before quickly finishing her thought, "I hope you hook up with my brother over the weekend."

Sakura almost spit back out her toast but quickly drowned it before saying, "Feimei, that's not very nice. I can't toast to that."

"Oh, sure you can. At least do it for fun. You can look at it this way... you would be helping out a friend."

Sakura scoffed, "How am I helping out a friend by hooking up with your brother Feimei? Only you and your twisted mind can actually see an opportunity out of something that doesn't even exist anymore."

"Sure you are! That way when I talk to him he will peacefully agree with me and I won't have anything to worry about."

Sakura shook her head and chuckled. "Only you really…" Out of all of Syaoran's sisters Feimei was the most optimistic and funny of them. Those who didn't know her well could easily pass her off as a flirt. Her natural cheery style gave her father headaches during her younger years since she attracted a lot of guy's attention with it. As she kept growing, her father became more and more protective of her or, as Feimei would call it, overprotective of her. Another reason as to why she decided to follow Syaoran's example and as soon as she graduated high school she decided to study in a university far from home.

"Oh come on Sakura, everyone knows Syaoran is still gaga over you. Whatever you say can have that man doing your bidding anyway you want it."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Well then in that case I'll let you know that you're in for a hard fall. I'm not hooking up with your brother over this weekend and you will talk to him if you really care for whatever happens to your boyfriend from now on."

Feimei chuckled but still nodded. "Fine you spoil fun. I was going to talk to Syaoran anyways next week."

"Just a little tip, I suggest you talk to him before practices start. Just, you know, give him a little time to digest the news…"

Feimei rolled her eyes, "I will! Don't worry." She smiled and drank from her glass still thinking that her idea of them hooking up would definitely be better than talking to her brother like he was right now but she kept her thoughts to herself this time.

~ o ~

"Aw come on babe, you've tried eleven pieces already!"

"I'm almost done! Just have a few left." She said loudly from the dressing room while looking at the other seven pieces that she had yet to try and smirked. After seeing the last Cosmo magazine she decided she needed to buy a new bathing suit. According to her, and the magazine off course, orange had officially just turned a color of last season. She adjusted the top part of the new bikini she was trying on. "Okay, coming out!"

He hated accompanying Meiling shopping. Actually in his opinion the word hate didn't do justice on how he really felt whenever she would drag him to the mall. "Weren't you here with Sakura and Tomoyo a couple of days ago?"

She walked out with the bikini number twelve and modeled it to her boyfriend. "Yeah but your my boyfriend. I thought you would enjoy this more than them. So what do you think? Does it make me look fat?"

He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Meiling, you're not fat and you won't look fat in any of these bikinis."

She turned to look at the mirror on the hallway, "you're only saying that because you're my boyfriend."

"No. I'm saying that because you're a six and that's skinny enough." He sighed. It always worried him whenever they had to have this talk. Her stupid profession always tried to push her to be skinnier than she was so he had to be careful about what he said. She was specifically very sensitive about this topic.

She kept looking at the mirror but went back to her dressing room after a couple of turns and said loudly, "I don't like it."

He sighed and waited for her to change once more into another piece of bathing suit. He watched her walk out again with a blue one and asked, "Do you like that one?"

"I don't know. I don't think so." She said still looking at the mirror.

He rolled his eyes trying to hold his anxiety in. "Why don't you like that one?"

"Mmm…" she looked herself on the mirror, "Don't you find it too plain?"

"It looks good to me."

She half turned in front of the mirror so she could see how it fitted from another point of view and shook her head. "No." She walked back into the dressing room.

Kyu covered his face with both of his hands. How much more of this he had to take? "Meiling, baby, just pick the one you like the most. They all look good on you!"

She quickly walked out of the dressing room wearing another bikini and put her right arm on her hip. "You mean to tell me you don't like one of them better than the others?"

He quickly dropped his hands and stare at her. Mistake number one… never tell her all of the bathing suits look the same on her. "No! I mean I liked the red one."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Which one? I modeled for you three and you didn't say anything."

'Crap!' He quickly thought how to get out of this one. 'Come on, think!' He thought about the red bathing suits before saying, "The one with the flaky stuff on the bottom."

She looked at him surprised, "How could you like that one? I didn't like it. I looked chubby on it."

He sighed, stood up from the small couch, and walked towards her. "Baby," he hugged her from behind making sure she could clearly see him in the mirror as he spoke, "you're not fat so stop. I love you the way you are. And even if you were fat, I would still love you the same."

She loved whenever he talked to her like that. It made her heart jump from emotion. She smiled, "Are you sure you're not saying that just to get me into your bed mister?"

He chuckled and smirked, "Could be. Still, get the red bathing suit and let's get out of here." He kissed her neck as she smiled nodding and left him to change.

~ o ~

The next day, Xiefa as usual arrived at Li Corporation. She walked out of the elevator with the intention of getting to her office when something on the corner of her eyes caught her attention. She stopped as she watched her dear brother flirting with one of the receptionist in the floor and raised her brow. Since when was her brother so interested in one of the receptionist in her office floor? This wasn't the first time he had been flirting with that same girl. She had known about the time when he had come to speak to their father. But it wasn't until his third glance towards Sakura's dark office that she finally figured out his little game.

She smirked as she walked towards her dear brother. The girl laughed at something he said but stopped immediately after seeing Xiefa stand right next to Syaoran with her hand on her hip and not looking very pleasant at the moment. "She already left if you must know."

Syaoran looked at his sister and decided to play dumb with her, "What are you talking about? I'm just talking to this lovely lady here." He looked back at the girl and winked at her.

Xiefa scoffed and smirked, "Off course you are. Just thought I'd save you some time by just letting you know that she's not coming back today. She's in Japan, but in any case you're really here for this girl then just get her phone number and decide to flirt with her out of office hours. You don't want to cause her to lose her job for flirting with the president's son, now do you…?"

The girl quickly looked down and started writing something on her computer. Syaoran looked at his sister and narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you treat everyone the same way?"

"Oh don't get me wrong, all this talking was for you. I still haven't started with her." Xiefa turned around and decided to continue on her way towards her destination before it was interrupted by her brother. She felt Syaoran following her and confirmed it once he closed the door to her office after getting inside.

"Really, there's no need to scare her like that," he simply said.

Xiefa turned around and crossed her hands in her chest, "Don't you ever get tired of looking for Sakura in the office?"

He decided to ignore her question, "You don't have to fire the girl. Everything was my fault."

"Syaoran," she put a hand up to stop him from continuing, "spare me your apologies. I am one hundred percent sure that you know that every time you walk into this building almost every girl falls head over heels for you. That also means that whoever you pick to be your next victim would gladly flirt back with you. So, it may have been your fault but they are equally guilty of letting themselves be caught up flirting with you during office hours."

He looked at his sister. There really was no way of fooling her. "I won't do it again. Please don't fire her."

"Isn't it better to just ask Suri if Sakura is coming?" she smirked. She loved to torture her little brother.

Syaoran narrowed his eyes at her and turned his head. He hated having to admit something on his personal life and much more when it was to Xiefa. "Suri is not even on her desk."

Xiefa smiled, "Right… Maybe Suri already woke up from her little daydream of flirting with you…"

He took a deep breath annoyed at the fact that Xiefa would probably not let him off this one and looked at his sister's satisfying face, "I need to speak with Sakura."

Xiefa scoffed and smiled. "You do know that Sakura has a boyfriend."

He was growing anxious with his annoying sister's questions, "What does that has to do with any of this? I just need to speak with her."

Xiefa smiled knowingly, "Sakura's in Japan for today. She'll be back tomorrow so whatever you wish to know from her you can ask tomorrow."

"Fine." He turned around to leave but before leaving he turned around towards his sister, "Please don't fire the girl."

Xiefa scoffed pleased that he was feeling a little remorse after her words earlier, "I'll think about it."

Syaoran turned around and left her office pretty certain that his sister wouldn't fire the girl. After all, the way things were looking in the building his sister was way too busy to have time to interview a new receptionist.

As he was walking down the hallway from his sister's office he watched Suri returning towards her desk while talking animatedly with one of her coworkers with a bottle of water in hand and a sandwich in the other. He waited until she got to her desk and the coworker walked away to approach her.

She set several documents that were on top of her desk to one side and tried to clear as much as possible her desk before finally sitting down. She was about to open her sandwich when she spotted Syaoran walking towards her and frowned. "You're here again?"

Syaoran made sure that only Suri was able to hear him before replying to her, "Look I'm sorry if I was a jerk to you before."

"You're apologizing? Oh, wait! You should have said that after I ate so that at least I may die in complete peace."

'What is this? Is every woman in here on their period or something?' He thought while staring at her not too fondly of her answer but nonetheless he politely told her, "I need to speak to Sakura. Can you please tell her to come see me when she gets in tomorrow?"

Syaoran looked at Suri who in turned decided to slowly start to show the beginning of a smile. But it wasn't a normal happy smile, no! It was more like one of those smiles people usually use when they were about to get their vengeance on someone. In fact, it reminded him of the times Sakura would usually use it whenever she was about to get her way with him in the past. He found it amusing that out of all the things Suri could learn from Sakura she would learn this.

"I guess you need my help in getting in touch with Sakura? Let's see." She placed aside her lunch and opened a calendar on her computer. "I must tell you she is very busy all this week and most of next week as well. The closest appointment I may schedule for you may be in three weeks. Would that be okay with you?"

He stared at her pondering which way to act. His little flirting wouldn't work on her anymore and his sister had made it perfectly clear that she would fire any girl who would flirt with him back. So he had no choice but to try to deal with Suri in the calmest possible way especially if she had also acquire part of Sakura's bad mood. "Suri I just need to see her. It's really important. Please just tell her to contact me when she gets in."

"Is this urgent? If it is then just tell me what's about and I'll text her."

He took a deep breath but said, "If I wanted to text her I would have already done it. I just need to speak with her personally."

She watched that he was at least been polite and decided to give in. "Fine. I'll let her know you came by and asked for her when she gets in."

"Thank you." He said relieved that at least Suri would tell her. "Enjoy your meal. I need to run. See you later," he said before walking away leaving her to her lunch.

~ o ~

She walked inside the unforgettable café. Pictures of the owner along with famous people that had visited the café were still hanging on the walls. He was wearing casual attire in most of his pictures as the people that knew him knew he was a very easy going, friendly, and social person. His bright smile hadn't changed with the years. Yuki had become a friend of them back then. She really enjoyed coming to this place when she was in high school.

She kept looking around at some of the new pictures on the wall till she saw one that made her smile. Syaoran, Eriol, Kyu, and Takashi were all smiling brightly at the camera as if no care in the world could've changed their mood. She remembered the moment quite well.

"Sakura… you're cheating baby!"

She rolled her eyes at him and chuckled, "Oh please Syaoran. You're only saying that because I am beating you at this game."

They were playing a Spanish card game in one of the tables. He was straddling a chair in front of her while she simply thought about which card she would use to beat him. Her calmness in playing the game and her way of stalling was something that would always unnerved Syaoran. And yet she loved to see him agitated whenever she waited to make a move. It always gave her control of the game.

"Babe, just play a card."

"No! This requires strategy thinking." She quickly said.

He rolled her eyes at her and scoffed, "Come on, you're going to tell me you still don't have a strategy? How much time do you need?"

"Oh, stop your whining. I can't think clearly."

"Syaoran!"

He looked behind Sakura and saw Kyu approaching with Meiling on hand.

Kyu smirked, "Don't you ever get tired of losing against Sakura at this game?"

Meiling laughed as Syaoran threw a murderous gaze directed towards her boyfriend. Sakura took the chance to play her card and won the hand.

"Shut up Kyu!" he said as he watched her play a new card.

"You're asking the wrong person Kyu." Eriol chuckled from the side. He was playing darts against Takashi on the side while waiting for Kyu to arrive. "You should actually ask Sakura if she doesn't get tired of beating Xiaolang at this."

Kyu chuckled as Syaoran lost yet another hand and sighed.

"Wow Sakura… you're really good at this!" Chiharu said from the chair next to her.

She chuckled, "Either that or my boyfriend is really bad at it."

They all laughed at her comment.

A young man around the age of twenty 24 with black hair approached the table with a plate on one hand and a tray with several beverages on the other. He placed the plate on Sakura's side and smirked. "You should have seen the last game… It was almost a flawless victory," he added while putting the drinks down on their table.

"Thanks Yuki! You too? Need I remind you that you still don't have my picture on that wall?" Syaoran asked. Since Yuki had pictures of every famous person that would visit his store on the walls, he had been asking for a long time to take a picture with the guys to add to his collection.

"Hey, is not my fault that you still haven't given up," he said while putting his hands up to defend himself.

Sakura chuckled while getting a dango from the plate. She savored the sweet dessert on her mouth. In her life she had tried this dessert in several restaurants yet none where so good as Yuki's. "Mmm these are so good Yuki."

"Why thank you, I'm glad you like them," he politely said. "And now that Syaoran mentioned it, boys don't forget about my picture."

"You're still on with that Yuki?" Kyu asked. He hated taking pictures. For him it was a monotonous way of spending time. Worst when it involved women behind the camera. They took forever to be satisfied with a simple picture.

"Hey, I need one before you guys graduate and leave this place."

"I'll tell you what Yuki, if you bring me one more of these I'm going to make a deal with Syaoran right now." She looked at her boyfriend and smirked. "If I beat you in this game you have to take a picture with Yuki." His narrowed eyes gave her the satisfaction of knowing that this was indeed annoying him. He hated taking pictures as well and she knew this well enough to take advantage of the situation.

"Really?" Yuki looked from Sakura to Syaoran.

"You know he's going to be famous one day. It's better to secure a picture now before it's too late, wouldn't you agree?"

"Well, I'm not too sure you're boyfriend likes the idea," Yuki slowly said a little intimidated by Syaoran's mood.

"Oh nonsense!" Sakura turned her gaze from Yuki to Syaoran and smiled. She knew she had already won this battle but just in case and knowing he could never back down from a challenge, she confidently added, "Unless you think I'm too much for you on this…?"

He scoffed. "Five hands, the one with the highest points wins."

"Ooooh this has just gotten interesting." Tomoyo said while grabbing a chair from the side to enjoy the little challenge.

"Yuki, you might want to start looking for a place to hang this picture." Meiling smirked.

"Don't listen to her Xiaolang. You can do this man!" Kyu cheered him from the side.

Yuki smirked, "Trust me, I already have it."

The girls laughed while the guys started to give support to Syaoran. He grabbed all of the cards and shuffled them before dealing the cards to each other. "Ladies first..."

Sakura took her three cards from in front of her and looked at them calmly. The trump card was swords and in her hand she had the king of swords card, the number two gold card, and the seven gold card. She started by playing one of her gold cards, the two.

Syaoran smirked while throwing the number ten of gold and taking the first hand. The guys all cheered for him as he took another card from the stack in the middle and waited for her to take one as well. He threw the stick knight and waited for her to play.

She looked at him and tried to analyze his move. Why would he throw a knight? The card was worth three points. She looked at her cards again and decided to take his knight by dealing her king of swords card. The girls cheered while she took her new card from the middle stack. She got the Ace of Swords but didn't give him any indication that would make him think he had lost already. She threw the seven of gold and waited for him.

He smirked again and threw the three of gold which was worth ten points to take the hand. "Do you still think you should've challenged me baby?"

"I've actually never seen you so close to winning Syaoran," Eriol commented.

He scoffed and took his next card. He threw the ten of sticks and waited for Sakura's move. She threw the four of sticks and he arrogantly smiled thinking that he had beaten her for the first time in this game. He took his last card and threw the three of swords. "It's over baby!"

She looked at him and smirked, "You're right," she said before throwing the Ace of swords and arrogantly looking at him.

He stared at her card on the table. She had just won 21 points in just one hand. How was that even possible? He was winning this game!

"I believe you owe Yuki a picture," she confidently said before adding, "Baby!"

The girls cheered on as well as Yuki while the rest of the guys where all astounded.

"You know what? I think all of you should take a picture with Yuki." Meiling said.

Kyu quickly looked at her, "What? Why should we all pay for Syaoran's loss?"

"Weren't you cheering for him?"

"A deal is a deal. Come on Yuki, let's all take your picture." Syaoran stood up from his chair and stretched. "I promise to come back once I sign my first professional contract to sign this picture as well."

Yuki smiled, "Can't say no to that!"

They all got behind the bar with Yuki in the middle and with their hands around their shoulders smiled brightly towards Tomoyo's camera.

She remembered they were all in grade eleventh back then.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here? Sakura?"

She smiled at him and gave him a hug, "It's been a long time Yuki."

He laughed at her words, "Long time indeed. I thought I wouldn't get to see you again. How are things going with you?"

"I'm pretty good. Busy and working hard."

Yuki chuckled, "Well, I see some things haven't changed."

She nodded towards the picture, "I see you finally got their signatures on this picture."

He looked at the picture and smiled. "They all came one by one after signing their professional contract to sign this picture just like they promised. Ah, it seems like it was only yesterday you were all in here."

She sadly smiled but didn't say anything to his comment.

"Would you be having the same as always? What was it…? Ah, tea with sweet soy sauce dango?"

She sighed and nodded. After a couple of minutes he came back with her order plus a tea for himself and sat with her.

"It's amazing what you have done with this place. It just keeps growing and growing and yet the atmosphere feels the same."

"Ah yes, though I must say the company has changed. Once in a while a group of kids will come in to have fun and socialize but I still haven't seen one like yours so carefree and playfully irritating."

She smiled, "Is that so?"

He fixed his glasses and added, "Which is why it surprised me when the news came in that you had left Japan."

She sighed and looked down at her plate. Taking a stick of dango in her hands she took a bite of one of the rice balls. "Mmm I've missed this."

"I must say, he wasn't the same either."

"Sometimes people need a change of scenery to be able to grow up."

He nodded while drinking his tea, "You're right. He did grow up, just not in a good way."

She took a sip from her tea and another bite of her dango. "I don't see how you can say that. He seemed fine to me the last time I saw him."

He was surprised by her comment. "Have you talked to him?"

She nodded, "It so happens that I have to work with him for a couple of months."

"He lost the Asia Junior Cup tournament that year along with many other things."

"I think we both suffered a lot but I really don't want to talk about it."

"He still loves you."

She smiled, "I have a boyfriend now."

He slowly took a sip of his coffee before saying, "And you still love him. Otherwise why else would you come here…?"

"Actually, I came for another reason. I need a dessert chef for a ceremony and a VIP room. The first person that popped into my head was you."

He frowned, "Is it for a project you're working on?"

She nodded, "The World Cup."

He was surprise at the mention of the event, "I thought for the World Cup only people from China could work on it."

"Not in this case. I have the liberty of choosing the people that will work with me."

He widened his eyes but then smiled, "You've always known how to play your cards."

She chuckled and looked at the plate in front of her, "Your dango is one of the best in the world. It would be a shame if other people couldn't taste it. I still haven't forgotten about these. It's also a good way of promoting your business too."

"I need to think about this."

She frowned.

Her face made him chuckled, "I've never taken my food outside of Japan."

She nodded, "Think about it but I need an answer by this week. All of your expenses will be paid. Whatever you need you just need to mention it and it will be taken care of. I already spoke to my boss about you and they want to meet you this week if you decide to do this. The dessert chef is the only one I have left to fill."

He nodded.

A couple of minutes later the door to the café opened and in came her date for today wearing jeans and a casual simple white t-shirt. Joe smiled as he looked at her and walked towards her table. She stood up and greeted him with a kiss in each cheek before sitting down again on her seat. He took the sit in front of her and smiled. "How have you been?"

She smiled back at him, "Good. I must say I should thank you right now."

Joe frowned, "What for?"

"For agreeing to meet with me here. I haven't had one of these in years." She said while savoring her last bite.

Joe looked at her plate and then returned his gaze towards her face, "You're making me want to ask for one of those."

Sakura laughed, "You should then." She looked towards Yuki, "Do you mind bringing my friend here a dango as well?"

Yuki smiled, "Not at all." He stood up and quickly went towards the kitchen.

"Mind if I ask you who is he?"

She shook her head, "He's the owner of this place. He does these amazing desserts they're to die for."

He laughed at her comment, "It looks like you've been here before."

She nodded but only said, "I used to come here when I was in high school," and hoped he would drop the conversation. She hated talking about her past and much more when it was so closed to hitting the spot where Syaoran was concerned. She decided to drop the subject here before it was too late, "I wanted to speak to you about this new idea we have for the tournament. We still don't know for sure if we'll be able to pull this through but, just in case, do you think you can modify footage to be in a holographic format? Like putting several pictures or even small videos of specific plays for short periods of time? We are trying to get some equipment that could let us present short repetitive films in front of the field."

He looked up in a thoughtful way, "Well, I would have to see and ask around. I've never heard about doing that." He looked towards her again, "I mean you could easily put a projector with a wall behind it to do it for you."

She shook her head, "No, we're looking more for a holographic way of displaying the plays or pictures. Kind of have that live feeling when you see it outside."

He nodded, "I see. Well, I'm not too sure if there is but I'll find out and let you know."

She nodded, "Thanks Joe."

"So, are you Sakura's lovely new boyfriend?" asked Yuki who came in with Joe's plate and set it down in front of him.

Sakura laughed, "Oh, sorry I didn't introduced you guys earlier. Yuki this is Joe. He's my graphic artist and currently working with me on the tournament photos and videos for the various athletes. Joe, this is Yuki the owner of this café."

They both shook hands in front of her, "So, this is not the lucky guy then?" Yuki asked.

Joe grabbed a bite of the dessert, "Mmm… you're right. These are wonderful!"

Sakura chuckled and shook her head. She was about to answer his question and clarify his confusion when the door opened and in came a customer for Yuki that caught her attention. Wearing a tight but casual white knee length dress with polka dots and high tan heels that made her looked like a complete model was a woman she had seen before. Images of her red lips laughing as she openly flirted with Syaoran the night they had all went for Mark's birthday came flooding to her mind.

Katherine looked towards her left and the sight before her surprised her. On a table not too far from her Sakura Kinomoto was sitting with none other than Joe, the photographer who was lucky enough to have shot the pictures of Syaoran for the tournament. She faked a smile and walked towards them. She approached the table and nicely said, "Well, fancy finding you here. What a coincidence."

Sakura could see through her small façade and her fake greeting but nonetheless she smiled at her as well, "Katherine was it?"

She nodded and quickly turned her gaze to Joe. "I'm actually glad to find you here. I was wondering if we could get some pictures of Li from you. I've heard you were the photographer who took the shots for the Kahi tournament and wanted to ask if you had any you could spare."

Sakura frowned and asked, "Do you mind me asking if there is a specific reason why you need pictures of Syaoran?"

Katherine didn't miss the way Sakura used his first name but arrogantly smiled at her and said, "Well, our network has agreed on doing a personal shoot on him. We'll be airing a one hour special in a couple of weeks and having some of these pictures would help immensely."

"I believe that all of the reporters for the tournament were already chosen and yet I don't remember seeing your name among them." Sakura simply said.

"This interview is not for the tournament. It's an outside interview already approved by his manager. We want this little project to include things from his past. Things that no other channel has aired before like parts of his past that shows the beginning of that great player he is today."

Sakura smiled and sighed, "So you came here to find Joe?"

She shook her head, "Actually no! I came here to speak to the owner of this place. I heard that Li signed his first professional picture to this person so I'm assuming the owner must've known Li pretty well during his high school years. Finding Joe in here was just a benefit."

Sakura froze at her words but tried to hide it. Doing a shoot on Li would most likely mean that these reporters would probably try to dig information from his past… information that could eventually lead to her. No… Information that would definitely lead to her. She looked at Yuki and tried to silently pass a message to him to please not say anything. She felt relieved when he simply looked at her and nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry but I'll have to decline that request." Joe said. "I'm under contract. My pictures are strictly for the tournament. In any case, I believe Sakura would be the one you should be talking to if you wish to use any of them."

Katherine looked from Joe to Sakura, "I see."

Sakura quickly stood up from the table and grabbed her purse. "I believe this conversation is over then. If you need the pictures I will need a written request so I may run it with the president though I may not assure you anything. He's been really busy these days."

Katherine faked another smiled and nodded before turning towards Yuki. "So, can you tell me who the owner is?"

"Lady, you're looking at him."

She dropped her fake smile and simply said, "Oh! Sorry. Well, can you spare a couple of minutes to talk to me about this picture?"

He smiled at her, "Sure, come right this way." After letting her walk in front of him he quickly turned back towards Sakura and winked at her. She smiled and silently thanked him for his silence as she placed the cash to pay for her bill on the table. "Well, I must go. My flight leaves in an hour. I'll see you in China."

Joe nodded. "I'll let you know if I find something on the projector."

"Thanks Joe!" She smiled and turned around. Once she was out of the restaurant she quickly took her phone out and speed dialed her office. "Suri, get me Xiefa on the phone."

I believe she's in a meeting.

"Now," she simply said as she got into her rental car. A couple of minutes later Xiefa came into the phone.

This better be good Sakura. You know mother hates when meetings are interrupted.

"We have a problem. Aki Networks is doing a piece on Syaoran."

What do you mean? Aki is not part of the networks approved to do interviews for the tournament. You know that! And if they are, we can easily ban it. Now, is that all?

"Is not on the tournament Xiefa, is on your brother."

Are you certain? How do you know this?

"I coincidentally just found Katherine digging information on him here in Japan. She says she has his manager's approval for it." She quickly said. Her voice was already betraying her nerves already of what all of this could mean. "Xiefa –"

I know, calm down. I'll deal with this.

That was the last she heard from Xiefa before turning her car on and driving towards the airport.

~ o ~

After four hours of flight, she was finally back in China. She had tried to sleep a little on the flight since Jun was probably waiting for her in the apartment but her mind wouldn't let her be at peace. Between the tournament and this little new development of her life been in jeopardy of being exposed to the public eye, she spent the entire flight thinking about different ways she could stop the special feature on Syaoran from hitting the TV screens.

She took her car keys out of her purse and opened the trunk to put the small bag in it. After putting her bag down, she took her cell phone out of her purse and dialed his phone number.

Hey, you're back!

She got into her car and closed the door. "We need to talk."

Sakura, it's one in the morning. Don't you think it's better if we talk tomorrow?

"Meet me at the park in twenty." With that said she hanged up the phone and drove towards the park. She arrived a little early and waited for him. She had already called Jun to let him know she had arrived safely but had to take care of some business before arriving at the apartment. It wasn't that she didn't trusted Xiefa with the matter, it was more the fact that she knew Xiefa wouldn't go directly to the source on this and Xiaolang would probably ignore her on this matter with the excuse that she was butting on his life. She saw his car approaching and got out of her car to wait for him.

He parked next to her car and got out. It was obvious Sakura had waked him up as he was wearing his sweats and a sleeveless tank just the same attire she found him on the night she went to get the contract signed. Needless to say that out of the shower or out of bed he still looked as handsome as ever but Sakura reminded herself that she was here on a mission.

"Do you care to tell me what's so important that can't wait until tomorrow?" he simply asked.

"On my trip to Japan I had the displeasure of meeting one of your acquaintances. Did you honestly approve a special feature done on you?"

He stared at her analyzing how to carefully proceed with the subject. By the looks of Sakura's face he could pretty much deduct she was pissed about the whole thing. And dealing with a pissed off Sakura in the middle of the night was never good. "Do you regret being with me?" he asked her.

"No. But that doesn't change how I feel about this right now."

He nodded and sighed, "I tried to find you to run it by you first but Xiefa told me you had already left for Japan. I left a message with Suri but you didn't answer and Choi needed an answer yesterday."

She was surprised by his answer and quite frankly a little disappointed as well. "So you said yes… You didn't even consider that you might drag me into this whole media craziness with your answer?"

He sighed, "Is not even certain that you'll be involved in this at all Sakura."

"Xiaolang! I have been your only girlfriend since high school. Do you honestly think that no one will find out about that? That reporters wouldn't be digging for that sort of information?"

He threw his hands in the air and casually said, "Well, so what if they find out Sakura? That was seven years ago and you're obviously with someone else now so I don't see why you are so worried about this."

She shook her head, "You know, you may not notice but not everyone likes to be a public figure. I still like my privacy just the way it is right now."

"A lot of reporters have done these interviews on me before and your name has never been revealed in any of them. But, if the case is that they do find out then I think the best thing would be to just agree with it. The more you deny things, the worst it gets. So I'll just go along with it."

"Do you think it's wise to simply agree with this?"

He nodded, "Trust me. It was seven years ago Sakura and you have someone. If they ask you, just agree to it and keep moving on with Jun."

She scoffed.

"What?"

For a moment she stopped being mad at him and said, "That's the first time you call him by his name. What, ran out of options?"

He smirked, "Don't tempt me. I can easily find another name for him."

She went back to being pissed with him for the whole interview issue, "To tell you the truth, I was actually surprised to see your blond friend stating she got your approval for the interview."

"Why? Because I didn't give the exclusive to one of your reporters?"

"No! Because last time I checked there's no I on team. I'll see you tomorrow."

He sighed and put both of his hands in his pockets as he watched her get into her car and drive off. She was still pissed, he knew that much. Usually it could last a day or perhaps a couple of days depending on how truly angry she was, but that wasn't why he was feeling guilty right now. It was more the hurt he saw on her eyes when he told her that he had agreed to this whole interview thing what brought the remorse back to his mind. He needed to fix this.

Author note: Well, here's chapter 6. Hope you guys liked it. Thanks to all of you who have reviewed my past chapters. It truly helps me to continue with this story. So please read and review this one as well as I like to know what you guys think about each chapter.