Author's note:
This story is a figment of my (er dark) imagination. Similarities to any situation is absolutely coincidental. Please Follow and Review! Thank you.
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, Clamp does. I do not own the song Ever After, Bonnie Bailey does.
Thank you everyone for the likes and follows!
And your reviews? Wow they are the best! I love them! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!
Oh, and @GiannaFarah ! Thank you for your review! I also want to explain why I choose for Sakura to call Syaoran "Xiao Lang" frequently! In Chinese, it shows more intimacy between two people if they call one another "Xiao" or "Little". So in this case, Sakura's calling Syaoran of his Chinese name "Little Wolf" when he already set a Japanese name for him while he is in Japan clearly shows their close bond with each other. Syaoran doesn't let just anybody call him "Little Wolf", just his family, Sakura and when the boys (well they've been friends since childhood anyway) teases him. And also as you can see, she calls him that whenever she is coaxing him or being really affectionate to him, which I think adds icing to the cake if you know what I mean. (/o/) Lol!
/(T o T)/ Ganbaremasu!!! (๑T o T๑)/ Fighting!!!
I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
I love every one of my characters (errr, I mean the good guys okay) fu fu fu (/o) They make me happy!
Chapter 28: The Fierce Lady Boss (Part 1)
"You guys do know that this is the great Touya's office, and not your living room, right?"
A cold emotionless voice interrupted the couple's moment display of affection.
Without turning around, Sakura sent Syaoran an annoyed look and replied in a sweet voice,
"Oh it wasn't? I thought it is!" Syaoran snorted before taking a sip of his drink. He winked at Sakura then turned around to greet the newcomer.
"Hyuuga. What took you so long?"
Aggravated, Natsume narrowed his eyes at Syaoran before signaling to one of Touya's assistants to get him a glass of scotch.
"What. Took. Me. So. Long?"
He asked him through gritted teeth.
"Are you f* kidding me? I have been waiting for you since 10 o'clock but nobody can reach you, you bastard! We have so much to do ahead of us and you just simply decided to play hooky with my cousin? Are you a teenager?"
He grabbed the glass from the assistant roughly and took a swig. The assistant was too scared that she scrambled quickly away from Natsume and towards the reception area.
Syaoran glanced up from his drink to look at Natsume.
"Alright, my bad. Stop getting angry over such a small thing."
At this moment, even Eriol and Ye Sha did not dare to look up at Natsume. Rachel has actually left together with one of the assistants beforehand and decided to wait for Syaoran to just call for her once he'll need her assistance.
Natsume was never known for holding down his rage, and right now, he truly wanted to punch Syaoran's smiling face.
And what annoys the hell out of him is that this fucking man's smile is his real smile! If he was a cartoon character, he would have some red and pink hearts emitting from his body.
What was that term? Giddy? Right! This f* bastard is telling him 'not to get angry over a small thing' while being giddy inside!
Oh how much he wanted to erase that smile from his stupid-looking face!
"Natsu-nii, stop it." Sakura sighed and finally decided to look at her cousin.
"You of all people know how much we've waited for last night. I am sorry that I initially thought he can postpone today's meeting, I truly am sorry for causing so much trouble for you."
She walked towards Natsume and hugged his waist as she pressed the side of her face on his wide chest.
"Forgive me?" She asked him softly.
Natsume locked eyes with Syaoran.
Syaoran lifted his eyebrows as if saying 'So what are you going to do?'
Natsume mouthed to him 'F*k you.'
Syaoran gave him a big smile and raised his glass. He mouthed back: 'Cheers to you too!'
Natsume looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh.
"Alright, alright. Get off me now."
Sakura shook her head. "No. Say it properly."
Natsume saw Syaoran's smile became bigger that he almost threw his glass at him.
"Alright, I accept your apology, baby chick. I forgive you." He kissed the top of her head and Sakura happily looked up at him and gave him a peck on his chin.
"Yay! Thank you Natsu-nii! Now, what time does the meeting start? Nii-sama said he'll be done with his work but we've been waiting for him for 15 minutes already and he hasn't left his desk yet."
"He's already wrapping things up. I went over here to bring Syaoran there. We'll need to go over a few things then we can all go together to the Sapphire Room after thirty minutes."
Sakura pouted. "You're leaving me alone? I'll get bored!"
Natsume smirked. "No you won't, baby chick. Touya told me to give you these. He said you know what he doesn't want you to do."
He handed her an ipad. When she took it from him and touched the screen, she saw an organization chart of the company. As she swiped on the screen, a bullet-type information was shown under each person's photo.
She groaned loudly and closed her eyes.
"He doesn't want me to embarrass him."
Natsume chuckled and pinched her roughly on the cheek and she yelped. "Correct! I'll inform him you got the correct answer. See, you won't get bored now, right?"
Syaoran walked over to the two and hugged Sakura's shoulders. "I know you don't even find this difficult, honey. Just boring." He leaned down and whispered softly in her ear "If you don't make any mistake later, I'll give you a prize that I am sure you will love."
Sakura shoved the ipad back at Natsume and encircled her arms on Syaoran's neck. "Oh really?" She asked him flirtatiously.
Natsume clenched his jaw and closed his eyes to keep himself from hitting his cousin's head with the ipad.
This brat!
Syaoran gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Really. Now, let me go or else I have a feeling the old man right beside us will punch your husband's handsome face."
She giggled and took a peek at her cousin's red face. She let go of Syaoran and took the ipad from Natsume's clenched hands.
"Hey Natsu-nii! You almost broke the ipad!"
Natsume opened his eyes and glared at Sakura. "You're making it now my fault?"
She knew he's almost at his limit so she reached over and pinched his face and coaxed him in a babyish voice. "You are so cute, Natsu-nii! Sakuwa woves you vewy, vewy, vewy much!"
She giggled and quickly went away, choosing to sit on a huge comfortable lounge chair right beside the window. She pressed a button on the coffee table beside it and asked for a pot of coffee and pastries to snack on while she memorize the organization's data.
"She's really got you wrapped around her finger." Syaoran told Natsume in an amused tone as they headed towards Touya's main office.
"At least I am just her cousin. I feel much sorry for you, man. Ah, I cannot wait for her to get pregnant and then we'll see how truly tough you are."
Syaoran paled. Of course he want to have children with Sakura but just imagining how the pregnancy hormones might affect her, it truly is a scary thought!
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and punched Natsume's arm.
"Shut the f* up. We'll talk about it when it comes."
Natsume laughed at the aggrieved Syaoran. Ha, nobody else in the whole universe can handle a pregnant Sakura but Syaoran. He is sure of it.
But of course, he won't tell Syaoran that.
—XoXoXo—
At the 55th floor of the main building of the Amamiya Group of Companies, three powerful men sat across each other, looking down at their own ipads while going through the general meeting's agenda.
To save time, they decided to hold their small meeting in Touya's work area, so Touya sat on his chair while Natsume and Syaoran sat beside each other across him. The assistants settled on a chair behind their corresponding bosses while taking down the minutes of the meeting.
"So, we will announce today yours and Sakura's engagement." The oldest of the three looked up from his ipad and stared at Syaoran.
The two assistants who did not know of the engagement widened their eyes in surprise. What a hot gossip!
"But of course, we should. Of all the attendees, I think-" Syaoran looked down at his ipad as Rachel leaned over and whispered "twenty three."
"Right," Syaoran continued " I think about twenty three CEOs and COOs were not invited at last night's event."
Touya nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, therefore the announcement will take everyone in surprise since the implications are crystal clear. Have you thought ahead of this?"
Syaoran of course knew what he meant. In a large group of influential people, there will always be one or two pompous idiot who would most likely raise a stupid question and he might not be patient enough to answer.
He nodded. "I'll do my best. If not, I am sure Hyuuga here will step in." He pointed his thumb beside him.
Natsume rolled his eyes at him.
"The thing that we must take into account is, the little girl's patience if ever someone ask a stupid question that she might find offensive or irrelevant to the business. Meaning, what if someone ask of their private lives?"
Touya leaned back on his seat and pressed the area between his eyebrows.
"That is what I am worried about. Do you guys have any suggestions?"
"Well, we can kick her out right after the revelation of the engagement."
Syaoran glared at Natsume. "You lost your brains? "
"What's wrong with that?"
Syaoran snorted. "This is Sakura we're talking about. You think we can just kick her out?"
Natsume let out a loud sigh. "You're right. It's easier to kick you out than her. No offense meant."
Syaoran nodded his head in agreement. "Not taking any offense because that is true."
"So what can we do?"
"Are the rest of the boys attending the meeting?"
"Yes. They'll be here in a few minutes. Xiao Shi also came with them."
Touya sat back up and dialled his phone. He pressed the speaker and started to talk. "Andou, is Tono together with you?"
"Yes he is. Tono, Ruka, Kitsu, Koko, and Mochu are all here. Even this brat Xiao Shi is with us which I don't understand why." "Hey! Who's the brat! Mochu is the brat, no me!"
"Where exactly are you all now?"
"We just arrived here at the ground lobby. We'll head up to your office now."
"Alright. Make sure everyone comes with you, don't let anyone wander away."
Touya ended the call and looked at the two men in front of him.
"We need those kids in case Sakura blow her fuse up during the meeting."
The three gave each other a knowing glance. Labeled as Japan and Hong Kong's Most Powerful men, but against Sakura's temper, there's actually nothing any of them can do except to prepare for reinforcements just in case she cause any trouble.
"So, will the media come?" Natsume asked Touya.
"We did not invite any, but I assume they will appear outside the building once the meeting is over. I am sure the engagement will be spread outside the second we announce it, you know how fast hot gossip can travel." Touya glanced at his assistant and she just smiled at him sheepishly.
"Well, it would be better if we provide a press conference after." Syaoran suggested.
"But it has to end quickly. We have six hourly meetings starting from 4 in the afternoon. The General meeting will start at 1:30 PM so we need to end it by 3:00. Have a press conference immediately and end it in 15 minutes." Natsume gestured at his assistant to take note and to make sure everything will go accordingly as planned.
"Arrange for a venue at the ground floor where we can accomodate the media and inform them later that the conference will start and end promptly." Touya instructed his assistant. She stood up and quickly excused herself from the room. Just as she did, Andou Tsubasa and the others entered Touya's office.
"Hey hey hey! Where's Sak?" Koko cheerfully greeted everyone and went over to sit in one of the leather couches in one side of the office. The others followed him and took their seats.
"She's in the sitting area on the East wing studying the all the organization charts of the AGC and Li Corps. Don't bother her. We only have 10 more minutes before we need to head for the General meeting downstairs." Touya looked over at Tono and continued, "We were discussing what should be done if someone annoys Sakura during the meeting. You know they don't exactly know who she is or what she is capable of. Unlike last night, the guests then knew of her background and don't have the guts to openly offend Oyaji. But today, we can't expect that to happen. Plus we will announce her engagement to Syaoran and that might cause quite a riot later on." He looked at Syaoran. "That lady from the Su group is expected to attend. You know what I mean."
Andou wrinkled his nose. "Ooooh that flirt is here? I feel sorry for her already. She don't know who Sakura is."
The corners of Syaoran's lips lifted a little. "Just thinking of how Sakura will react to that dirt's provocations is making me feel quite happy."
Kitsu shook his head. "No, don't be happy, Syaoran. We'll be in a huge public place. You know Saku is not allowed to kill anyone in such a place."
Mochu took out his mobile and pressed a number. Soon he was connected to a call. "Ye Sha, can you see where Sakura is right now? She's there with you? Good. Go and get her handgun from her purse. Yes, you got it? Alright. Tell her I need to check it right now and I'll return it to her later. Alright. Did she find it weird? No? Oh she's busy! That's good! Alright, no, there's no need to give it to me right now. Stay with her and keep her safe now that she doesn't have any weapon on her." He ended the call and sighed in relief.
Suddenly his head was slapped by Kitsu. "What the f*?!"
Shaking his head, Kitsu called up Ye Sha again using his phone. "Ye Sha, tell Sakura that she need to surrender all her weapons to you because we have an assignment right after the meeting. Ye Mei needed to make sure all of her weapons are at the top condition, he'll return it to her once she get in the car over the La Guardia. Alright, she's busy so she just handed you her purse? You took another handgun and two pocket knives? Did you see a gold P226 (AN: a type of handgun)?"
Syaoran turned from his seat to look at Kitsu.
Natsume chuckled as he listened to his cousin's conversation.
And Touya took out a pill from his medicine box in his drawer. His sister may look like the cutest bunny in the world but she really is too much to handle! Such a headache!
"Hehehe good job Ye Sha. Don't worry, just put an ice bag over it later to control the swelling. At least she did not kick your balls like she did to one of your men. So you got all three hand guns and two pocket knives? As far as I can remember, that's all that she brings during official business. Return her purse and keep all the weapons with you."
Kitsu ended the call and stared condescendingly at Mochu. "And that's how you do it. You call yourself her cousin? You don't even know how she packs her weapons! Tch!"
"Prepare yourself for the meeting. Leave the real business deals to me, Syaoran and Natsume. Tono and Andou, stay on either side of Sakura. Here is the sitting arrangement. Your priorities are to guide her during the business talks; make sure she understand it all and when questioned, interject when she seemed troubled or if she cannot answer confidently. You know how her habits are, you can definitely sense it if she needs help or not. I trust that she did her homework months prior to this. But in case of emergency, it will be all up to the two of you."
Andou and Tono gave a curt nod at Touya and accepted their assignments.
Touya then looked over to where the rest of the boys are.
"Xiao Shi, you go sit beside Syaoran and Eriol. You were already informed that from today onwards, you have to act as the COO of the Li Corps as a facade to the Wolves branch here in Japan. We will discuss about that later on. Right now, the focus is the merging of the Li Corps and the AGC. You don't have to worry, no one will question Syaoran's appointment of your position unlike the others' questioning of Sakura's. These people have been in the business for so long and they already knew you when you were based in Hong Kong. But for Sakura, we kept her hidden all these time and this will cause some difficulties, but we will handle it well."
Xiao Shi stood up and gave a salute to Touya. He has acknowledged Touya as his senior from years back and he is very much excited to this merging.
"Ruka, I need you to sit beside these morons. Make sure to keep them awake throughout the meeting. Confiscate their mobiles right now."
Koko, Kitsu, and Mochu all groaned as they gave up their mobiles.
"I invited you to the meeting all in the purpose of keeping Sakura's temper in check. Also take note of who shows hostility to her and report all observations to everyone later. We need to be prepared of who may be her enemies from today on. Do you understand? This is for Sakura's safety. Take note that like us, some executives here are tied to an underground group. That is why if one gets too hostile to her, we need to make sure that the hostility stays here in this world and won't travel down underground where we all know how dangerous it can lead to."
Ruka, Koko, Kitsu, and Mochu all gave a sharp salute to Touya.
"Ye Mei, you and Ye Sha shall stand here." Touya pointed to a corner near the center where he, Natsume, and Syaoran will be seated. "This has the best vantage point of the room. Study everyone in the room during the whole meeting. Take note of suspicious gestures and actions among the guests. A week ago, I have told you all that I received an anonymous threat stating a planned attack on the company. I know that this is a threat not by just a single person but of a group of people. They should be present in today's meeting."
Ye Mei saluted to Touya. "Yes, Touya goshujin-sama"
"Alright, it's time. Andou and Tono, go to where Ye Sha and Sakura is and meet us at the Sapphire Room."
Before Andou and Tono can move, Syaoran suddenly spoke up.
"Get some of her favorite bite-sized chocolates and cookies and tell the attendant to prepare her favorite pot of tea during the meeting. We need to make sure she'll keep calm and stay in a good mood for almost two hours."
—XoXoXo—