Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA NOR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS - THEY BELONG PURELY TO CLAMP
NOTE: Thank you to all my readers and my amazing reviewer, but I would like to make a small point. This fic has quite a large amount of views for each chapter, the latest being 1,081 for Part 11 and yet only 1 review? Tell me there's not something wrong with that picture? I don't mind flames and I love critical reviews as much as praising ones, so anything is good. Thank you!
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JBubbles: Awww! Thank you so much! I'm glad that you're getting all the intense atmosphere and that what I want the reader to feel is actually coming through! ^_^ I am also very happy that you enjoyed re-reading this fic and I am definitely going to keep updating this fic, but there will be at least a week between each upload due to things going on at home. Anyways, thank you once again! ^_^
Warning: A bit more violence in this one, but not as bad.
"Blah blah blah" is speech
"Blah blah blah" is the person talking on the other end of the phone
####### is a time cut, but with the same people at the same place
Gypsy Dance
by Brooding Darkness
Part 12
Sitting down on the plush cream couch, Sakura was wearing a light green blouse and a pretty black pencil skirt which she was trying not to brush down every other minute. The interview was just between Yamazaki, Syaoran and herself, and yet she was nervous about it. Syaoran was currently in the kitchen making some well needed English tea for the three of them, and she could hear him humming quietly to himself as he went about collecting the cups and various ingredients while he waited for the kettle to finish boiling.
Sitting across from her, Yamazaki smiled broadly, but quietly, while waiting for the tea to be brought in. The three of them had decided to get settled before starting the interview proper but the two of them didn't really know each other, so without sounding like the interview had been started, Yamazaki wasn't quite sure what to say.
"Syaoran tells me you're engaged," Sakura spoke quietly.
"Yes! And she is the most perfect woman in the world – when she's not strangling me, anyway," he laughed. She smiled back shakily, her mind instantly going to one of her modelling friends and the stories she usually tells about her fiancée.
"The wedding plans must be hectic. I know my brother's trying not to get involved in his own wedding," she continued trying to keep the conversation light.
"Yes, but that's why she's been planning all of this since she was five. This way, I don't have to get involved," he laughed again. She grinned back feeling a little lighter about the whole thing.
"Here we are!" Syaoran announced placing a tray down onto the small table in front of the couch and chairs. The three cups had already been filled and a small plate of cupcakes with fancy coloured icing was settled between them.
"How do you always manage to find everything in a kitchen and make food taste soo good?" Yamazaki exclaimed diving straight into the cupcakes.
"I do not always know where everything is, it's just that things are generally put in the same places. And as for my cooking, you only think that because if your fiancée isn't cooking for you, you generally have to cook for yourself and honestly, you're not that good," Syaoran teased grinning at his friend.
"Doesn't matter! I will always love your cooking, Ran."
"Thanks, Zaki."
"'Ran'?" Sakura asked, confused.
"Yeah. Why? What do you call him?" Yamazaki asked confused himself.
"By my given name. You're the only one who calls me that," Syaoran explained. Looking at Sakura straight on, he continued: "And Zaki will be the only one."
Nodding, Sakura wondered at the man before her. He had never let anyone give him a nickname before and she was pleasantly surprised to see that he had changed this much since the time she had left him at the altar.
"So, do you want to begin?" Yamazaki asked, directing the question solely at the auburn haired model.
"Sure," she answered taking a deep breath.
"Okay. Well to begin with, is it true that you are in fact a homosexual?"
"Yes."
"Cool. So-"
"Cool?" She interrupted.
"Yeah, why?" He blinked.
"You don't find it disgusting?"
"No. Syaoran's gay and I don't care about that either," he supplied.
"Except when asking for sexual details. You're the other hentai that I know by the way," Syaoran mock-glared.
"Yep! Anyway how did you feel when you discovered that you were lesbian?" He asked gently, hoping that his tone would reassure her somewhat.
"Heavy. I was actually relieved to feel that I'd finally figured out just who I was, but at the same time I was horrified that I wouldn't be accepted. I felt heavy."
"Why?" Syaoran asked, surprised.
"What do you mean 'why'?" she shot back incredulous.
"Well, Touya had already set out the ground work since he's gay himself, so you know that your family would accept you. And you're so friendly with everyone all of your friends would remain completely loyal to you," he shrugged.
"That's not true!"
"Did your family accept you?"
"Yes."
"And did your friends remain loyal to you?"
"Yes."
"Case closed."
Blinking at him in shock, she tried to think of a comeback of any kind but came up blank.
"Shut up!"
Yes, because that was a good comeback.
"Any~way... you felt heavy? How did you think your sexuality would affect your work?" Yamazaki continued.
"Hopefully it wouldn't. I don't usually mix work with pleasure, so I kind of just hoped that it would never come up. Barring that? My manager is openly gay and has been for as long as I've known him, so him knowing was never an issue. But I've always liked to think that the fashion world would be the most open minded about it," she smiled.
"Haha, yeah. I think that was how my fiancée finally decided to actually date me after years of begging: the world of fashion was full of tall, gorgeous, gay men, so that didn't leave her with much of a choice," Yamazaki laughed. The two of them had actually been engaged since they were very young, but it had certainly helped in the two of them getting to know each other better.
"Oh? She's in the fashion industry?" Sakura asked, pieces beginning to fit into place.
"Yeah, she works as a clothes fitter and a part-time model."
"You mean she's too good for you, Zaki," Syaoran joked, poking the other male in the ribs.
"Yep." Nodding his head solemnly for a moment, the two of them just grinned at each other while Sakura had a small epiphany.
"Chiharu! You're engaged to Chiharu?" She asked with eyes wide.
"Yeah! You know her?"
"Are you kidding me? We've been friends since I started working at my current agency! How have I not heard your name?" Shaking her head in disbelief she could only agree with Yamazaki's reply.
"Small world."
Glancing in a mirrored window, Meiling growled internally as she noticed that Cleon was following her again. All week he had insisted on waiting outside her apartment building, following her into coffee shops and to her workplace. She had not had one day without catching at least one glance of him. She had been slowly getting angrier and angrier with him, but today she had not felt in control.
"Would you stop following me?" She raged, spinning on her high heels.
"No," the blonde stated. Grabbing one of her arms, he pulled her into a deserted side street so that their conversation couldn't be overheard. "You keep missing our dates."
"We're not dating, and we're not going on any dates," she spat out. Wrenching her arm away from his grip, she felt that they were going around in circles and like her cousin, she hated circular arguments.
"Yes we are. And if you miss one more I'm going to strap you to my bedpost," he glared. "So be. On. Time." Walking back out onto the street, Cleon crossed the road not even glancing at the red eyed woman he had left behind.
"It's a good thing its cold," Meiling muttered to herself rubbing her arm where she just knew a new bruise was forming. She had never been gladder that she had stocked up on long sleeved shirts than over the past week.
Following the blonde out onto the street, Meiling continued to make her way to one of the mirrored windowed buildings where she was sure Yue was waiting for her – despite the fact that she was actually ten minutes early.
Turning at the next left corner, Meiling smirked as she noticed that her prediction had been right. In all his silver haired glory, the tall man was stood with his hair tied back in a twirled bun, with the ends handing out fashionably yet tidily, a white shirt unbuttoned at the top and a straight black suit. His sharp features were almost model-like and yet all the black haired woman could see was the sheer arrogance and coldness emanating off of it.
"Hey, Ice Queen! Waiting long?" She smirked coming to stand next to him.
"Please do not address me as such, and no, I have not," nodding to her, he pursed his lips while silently signalling for her to guide him into the building. Rolling her eyes and sighing in exasperation, the red eyed woman did just that, completely missing the worried look in his usually cool eyes as he noticed bruising on her left wrist and just on the outside of her shirt neckline.
"You coming? Or are you just going to wait outside?" She smirked.
"I'm right behind you," he sighed. He was almost sure that she could take care of herself.
Typing up several messages, Eriol wondered just how he had thought that commenting on the Mayor's son's sexuality was a good idea. He knew that the man was quite public with his sexuality, so Eriol hadn't initially thought there would be any trouble with mentioning it. If anything, he and Nathan Marbury had regularly gone to gay bars to pick up or just chat up guys. And the Mayor knew that.
He had been up half the night with Phillip going over several old cases with regarded the same allegations and conclusions that they were going through and hoping to get. There was definitely going to be a trial if the two of them couldn't get something together so that this could be settled outside of court. With so much on his mind, the bluenette was finding himself too busy to focus on his personal life – but that still didn't stop him from wanting to visit the club and just watch Gypsy. He wanted the man and this break was starting to take its toll on him. Especially after that kiss.
Smiling to himself, Eriol wondered if he couldn't somehow receive another one without taking the two of them away from what they both had to do, and what had to be done. At least he could watch Gypsy in the dance competition.
Swallowing three more pills, Tomoyo recapped her bottle of water before wiping at her brow delicately. Chewing on her lip, the amethyst eyed woman debated on which part of her next line of designs to focus on and which parts would take her the longest to do. There was so much more in this business than her past lecturers had told her about during her time in university. And there was so much more than she and Syaoran had discussed just before the two of them had graduated.
The headaches had been slowly getting worse, although Tomoyo couldn't say that for sure as it just seemed to be the same type of endless ache that she had been experiencing for the longest time.
Shaking herself out of her reverie, she gulped back the darker thoughts and decided to just get a few smaller pieces done before focusing on a more time consuming piece of her art. It was funny, really. Once she had loved his job more than anything, and now she was dreading each day she awoke in.
But she knew that she couldn't speak to anyone about this – not yet anyway. She had to be there for Sakura right now, and she needed to be there for Syaoran. Syaoran needed someone who could be straight but gentle with him and she was the only one that could fill that position.
Maybe one more pill wouldn't hurt.
Tottering into the kitchen, Sakura left Syaoran and Yamazaki to chat quietly to themselves as she went about making a quick LunDin¹ for them to chow down on before they continued the interview. The interview itself wasn't anything difficult and they kept getting off track so she wasn't sure how Yamazaki was keeping a record or what was even on record at the moment, but he seemed to know what he was doing and Syaoran didn't seemed concerned.
"So?"
"So?" Syaoran asked back, arching an eyebrow.
"We were talking over the phone and my boss interrupted. So? How are you feeling about everything?" he asked leaning forward slightly and keeping his voice low.
"I'm not sure," Syaoran replied, swirling the tea in his cup. "Eriol and I... Eriol and I are from completely different worlds. I mean we have plenty of things in common and we have similar backgrounds... but we're completely different."
"How? You just said that you were similar in both backgrounds and common traits," Yamazaki pointed out smiling.
"That's not what I meant and you know it," he scowled. "How you got that degree in Business Studies is beyond me if you didn't."
"Don't dodge the topic. You know that I was asking how you're feeling about the break."
"I know. Sorry. It's just that... it's complicated. I feel relieved, but at the same time I feel like I don't want it. That's never happened before."
"You've never been on a break before," the black haired man pointed out.
"Yeah," the brunette chuckled quietly, sipping from his tea. "Gypsy helps."
"Gypsy always helps. By the way, is it strange for you to refer to him in a third point of view? It is a little for me."
"Not really. I have responsibilities and a business as well as all of my employees to take care of: Gypsy has just himself. I love being Gypsy, but Gypsy has to sleep while I'm awake and I have to be awake almost twenty-four seven," Syaoran replied, staring off into the wood patterning of the coffee table.
"Deep. And absolute bull. You can be Gypsy whenever you want, and you can count on other people to help you with your responsibilities. Besides, you are Gypsy. Whenever you want to be and all the time." Picking up his tea, Yamazaki took a large gulp.
"Now that's deep. And utter bull," Syaoran smirked back.
"Damn right!" Toasting their little chat, they grinned at each other.
"I do miss the sex though," Syaoran commented absently.
"I bet you do," he replied, eyebrows wiggling.
"Shut up."
"Buy a toy," Sakura smirked coming into the room and catching the last part of their conversation.
Spluttering, Syaoran's face burned bright red and he glared through the coughs at Yamazaki laughing his head off and then at the green eyed model.
"LunDin will be ready soon. Which type of sex do you miss?" Speaking like they were discussing the weather, Sakura took her seat again addressing Syaoran and watching his attempt to compose himself.
"Probably just sex in general," Yamazaki laughed.
"Shut up! And I meant with a guy, so you can get those thoughts out of your head right now!" Syaoran coughed just about pulling himself together.
"Then do what I said, and buy a toy," Sakura smirked again.
"No!"
"Boo!"
"Shut up, Zaki!"
"Tomoyo said that you and Eriol aren't together? Why?" Now concerned, Sakura really wanted to know what was going on with the too now that they had some time to chinwag about it.
"..."
"They're on a break," Zaki supplied.
Eyes opening in surprise, her eyebrows rose and she wondered at how fast things must have gone. "Have you two even been seeing each other for that long?"
"That's what I said."
"Yes," speaking quietly, Syaoran sighed inwardly knowing that he would have to face this sometime. "And I don't like how fast we moved. I really like him, but I just don't do things like that. It's not me."
"And it's not Eriol. He must really like you to accept a break. Usually he'd just let the relationship go and part ways as friends. Are you sure that it's a break?" Sakura asked, curious.
"Yeah, it's definitely a break. We have talked since and he made it clear that he wants to pick things up when I'm ready. Besides, he suggested the break."
"Really?!"
"Yeah."
"Well... maybe you two should take a holiday together," she suggested meekly, one finger tapping her chin lightly.
"A holiday?" Syaoran queried, wondering at how her mind worked – or how it didn't work. "And where would the both of us find the time? He has a court case pending plus the agency needing him with you, and I have a company to save, a company to run and several hundred contacts to sort through, plus-..."
"Plus?" Sakura prodded when the other brunette stopped mid-sentence.
"Plus... He's a complete hentai!"
Giggling, Sakura shook her head before leaping up as a buzzer when off in the kitchen. Dashing inside, she let the door swing closed behind her.
"Plus?" Yamazaki asked knowing a fake answer when he heard one. He was a renowned reporter for a good reason.
"Plus, I have the dance competition."
"Ah! And there it is! You don't have to actually leave to have a holiday, you know."
"Really? How does that work?"
"Me and Chiharu did it last year when I proposed 'properly'," he air-quoted. Seeing the raised eyebrow he continued. "We rented a room out at a cheap hotel and decorated the room to make it seem like we had rented a room in Tahiti. Maybe you two could do something similar?"
"And if the papers catch wind? It's not like we're not mentioned and what with the court case recently, it wouldn't really be practical for us," Syaoran bemoaned. He actually liked the sound of it, but things were just too complicated right now.
"Then maybe when things have calmed down."
"Yeah, maybe."
"So, what about the sex do you miss?"
"I really have surrounded myself with hentai's haven't I?" Syaoran rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "All of it, I guess. I like the feeling afterwards which is kinda new."
"Waow. What about during?"
"Seriously?" ¬_¬
"Seriously." ^_^
"I don't know... good. Great. Nice." Blushing down to his neck, Syaoran wondered at how he got himself into these conversations.
"Safe?"
"Safe? What do you mean, 'safe'?"
"You know... safe. Like you don't need to throw him out at the end of the night."
"I guess. Why?"
"You don't feel that way with other people."
"How would you know?" Shaking his head at the other man, Syaoran began to question the world's sanity.
"Because... You throw them out at the end of the night. But not with this one," smiling sadly, Yamazaki wondered at how Syaoran had gotten into this state. The black haired man felt like he had an inkling as to why, but not the how.
Nodding in silent answer, Syaoran viewed the last dregs of his tea. "I need a beer."
"You need to get drunk."
"Okay. How about after the interview?"
"Okay."
Grinning at each other they were both reminded as to why they were friends.
¹This is something that me and my friends call a snack time between lunch and dinner. It can also be a quick meal. You can use the term if you want ^_^.
BroodingDarkness: Yeah, I know it's a bit shorter than usual, but I wanted to get the interview out of the way. Anyways, thank you for reading and please, please, please review! I would like anything! Thank you!
