blah blah blah...i finally finished doing term paper stuff last week. it was 9 1/2 pages and only had to be 5-7...but i sort of misheard the teacher. hah. stupid me eh?

accept my apologies if i didn't reply to your review...i really do try but im either too lazy to or just don't have enough time. so please do keep reviewing and hopefully next time ill be able to respond to everyone's:

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Card Captors, but I own this plot. You steal it, I steal you soul. RAWR.

Chapter 5: Warming Up

Sakura woke up feeling quiet warm. She felt soft sheets covering her. The last thing she remembered, she had fallen asleep on top of the covers waiting for Moriiyama to get the stain out of her kosode. She sat up quickly, making the blood rush to her head quickly, "Ugh…why can I not remember to not do that?" she sighed as she lay back down lightly.

She looked over to her right and saw her kosode hanging there, as if it had never been touched. "He is so nice." She smiled warmly as she rolled over to her left. The sun partially blinded her before she was able to cover her eyes.

"Ugh…I don't want to go home." She realized."Tomoyo will scream at me…my dad will beat me and Touya will kill me." She sighed as she threw her arm over her head. "How am I supposed to go home with everyone hating me?" she started to feel like she could cry again.

A knock came at the door, "Yes?" she called; her voice was hoarse. She cleared her throat and called out, "Yes?" more clearly.

"Can I come in?" Moriyama's voice came through the door.

"Sure." She said sitting up and bringing her knees up to her chest under the covers.

He opened the door slowly and came in bringing a tea tray with him. "Are you feeling better today?" he asked as he sat down on the side of the bed by the sliding, glass door that let the sun through.

"I feel better physically, not really any better emotionally." She sighed.

"I'm sorry. Well, I brought you some tea; my mom made it for you!" He smiled as he set the tray over her lap.

"Your…mom?!" she said getting nervous, "Does your mom know I'm here?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, after you fell asleep, I tried to go to sleep, but I couldn't and I had already been to the park once, so, I went downstairs to get something to eat, and I ran into my mom. I told her what had happened, she said it was okay, and you could stay until tomorrow if you like." He smiled warmly.

"You mean…she's practically letting me hide from my family and friends??" she asked quite astonished.

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too, but she said that it sounded like you've just been sheltered too much." He sighed, standing up.

"I…thank you Moriyama," she felt like she might cry for some reason. "No! Don't leave!" she said as he took a hold of the doorknob.

"Oh, I thought you would want to be alone for a little bit." He said turning around.

"I hate being alone now…" she said picking up the tea pot and pouring some in the little china cup. "There's not anything in this now, is there?" she smiled as she took a small sip.

He laughed, "No, I mean, I tried to put some sleeping pills in there but my mom caught me! You know how it is!" he laughed with her.

"You have to buy me lunch today come to think of it…" she remembered.

"Oh yeah! I guess I do!" he chuckled as he scratched the back of his neck.

She noticed how his muscles and arms stretched as he had his hand behind his neck. "I wonder if he does any martial arts…it has been a while since I've had to fight anyone." She thought, staring at him.

"Yes?" he asked waving a hand in her line of sight.

"Oh!! Sorry!" she blushed lightly, "I was just wondering if you did any sort of martial arts…you seem to be quite in shape." She complimented him.

"I…well…" he blushed lightly as well.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"I used to do competitions…" he said fidgeting his hands behind his back.

"Really? Did you win anything big?" she asked nearly knocking the tray forward.

She lifted it up as she got out of the sheets. "Well...I…I was junior league champion for a few years." He blushed bright red.

"Moriyama that's amazing!!" she gasped as she clasped her hands together excitedly. "Can I see your trophies??" she asked enthusiastically.

"I…uh…sure! Why not?" He laughed as he led her down the expensive hallway to a door at the end of the hall. He opened the door and flipped the light switch on.

"Oh my gosh!!" she covered her mouth in amazement. "This is amazing!!" she said breathlessly as she gazed at dozens of trophies and medals he had hung or stacked about the room. "How long has it been since your last competition?" she asked, looking at all of his accomplishments.

He stood there thinking for a moment, "About a year and a half. I had a bad accident in my last one though…I tore my ACL and I had to have surgery. My doctor told me I probably wouldn't be able to fight or do too many strenuous things for a while." He said sounding rather sad about it.

"I'm so sorry!" she said putting a hand on her chest. "Which knee did you hurt?" she asked politely.

"My right knee…unfortunately it was my better leg for me to kick with and whatnot. Funny how the best things in our lives were taken from us." He smiled genuinely.

"How are you so happy about it though?" she asked in amazement. "How do you not wake up every single morning and wish with everything inside of you that you could get back what was taken from you?" she said walking up to him suddenly, looking back and forth between his eyes.

"I've just learned to live with it and go around it." He said shrugging; "I don't really know how I've done that…but I have!" he smiled half-heartedly.

"Would you like to fight me?" she asked grinning mischievously and changing the subject at the same time.

"Do you fight?" he asked somewhat astonished.

"Well…kind of. I, uh…I guess you could say I fought for my protection as well as a few others." She scratched the side of her neck nervously.

"Well…I'll just have to see how good you are!" he smiled back.

"Okay! Do you have a mat or something somewhere?" she asked as he ushered her out of the room and turned the lights off.

"Do I have a mat?" he laughed mockingly. "Do I have a mat or what?" he laughed as he led her downstairs and opened a door to reveal a small training/fighting room.

"Good grief man!!" she quoted some random movie. "What don't you have?" she laughed as she walked between the training machines.

"Would you like to warm up or go straight into-" he walked into the ring with her to ask, but she answered by attacking him.

He wasn't quite ready, so he didn't block. Her fist made contact with his chest and he fell backwards. "Wait!" he cried as she starting to make a move to kick him.

"What?" she asked, afraid she had hurt him.

"When I said go straight into it…I meant that we use the proper starting of a match. With the bow and all that…" he panted as she helped him stand up.

"Oh…I guess I forgot about that…" she blushed.

"Okay…you stand here," he put her in one spot and he stood in the exact opposite place from her. "Shake hands," he said as he extended his hand. She shook it firmly, "Bow," he instructed as they bowed, "NOW fight!" he said as he spun around and made to kick her. She had a stroke of luck as she went off balance. She managed to turn a fall into a back-hand spring and she regained her stance.

"Nice cover." He laughed as he moved towards her. She had to admit that she was no fighter compared to him, but if she could perhaps use her "Fight" card, she might be able to match him, or perhaps beat him.

"I like to think of it as an unplanned surprise." She smiled as he ducked down and swung his leg around. She managed to see it coming and she jumped, but not soon enough. He caught her left foot and she dropped to the ground with a thud.

He spun back around and saw her lying on her back, a grimace on her face. "Sakura, are you hurt?" he sprang over to her.

"Um…I think I just landed a little odd on my back…" she said sliding her hand underneath her back to try and push her spine back into its curve.

"Have you ever actually taken a martial arts class?" he asked raised an eyebrow at her as he helped her stand up. "Well…not an…actual class…but, someone taught me a little bit." She tried to smile as she popped her back.

"That's explains it then," he laughed.

She was seriously thinking about using her fight card at this point, just to see how good he actually was. "Moriyama, do you believe in magic?" she asked quite honestly.

He burst out laughing, "Where did this come from?"

"Well, do you?" she asked pouting at him.

"Well…I've never really thought about it. I mean, there are some rather odd things that happen in the world, so, who knows! Maybe there are some other forms of power out there. So…yeah, sure." He concluded.

"Well, would you believe me if I told you I knew some actual magic?" she asked cautiously.

"What do you mean?" he asked becoming interested in this.

"Well," she started, "I, uh…I have these cards…that give me special powers." She glanced at him from time to time to see the reaction on his face, it seemed pleasantly surprised.

"You mean like tarot cards??" he asked curiously.

She almost fell over, "No…" she slumped over a little bit. She sighed heavily, "Okay, let me show you." She said as she pulled a card out of her small card purse that was hooked onto her waistline on her capris. She pulled out the fight card and took her necklace off, "My necklace can turn into a staff that can activate these cards, and this," she turned the card towards him, "is the fight card. It enables me to fight like a true martial artist." She handed the card to him.

He looked at it with great interest. "Show me!" he pleaded as he handed the card back.

"You…you really want me to use it?" she asked shocked.

"Absolutely! I haven't had a real fight in almost two years! By all means, use it!" he said over-enthusiastically.

She turned her necklace into the staff by saying the spell in her mind and swinging it down to her side. "Whoa!" he said with wide eyes.

"Fight card!!" she called. The spirit in the card came out and she felt her insides become energized and loose.

She placed her staff outside of the ring and came back in and took a stance.

"Go." He said simply.

They charged at each other, she could tell he was holding back only because he had no idea how powerful she would actually be. "You can fight better than this!" she laughed as she cornered him with her foot at his throat.

"You're right, I can." He said as he grabbed her ankle and twisted it, causing her to flip over and hit the ground. He jumped up to come down on her, but she pushed herself up and jumped to opposite side of the ring. "You're terrible without this card!" he laughed hysterically as she attacked him again.

"Hey! I just haven't fought anyone in 6 years!" she defended herself as she caught his wrist and twisted it around behind him.

She knocked him down on the ground and pinned him onto his stomach.

"Give?" she smiled.

"No!" he said simply as he pushed her off and rolled over to pin her.

"You are terribly over confident." He laughed as she struggled to get out from under him. "I haven't fought in 6 years; I haven't used my cards in a while either." She argued.

"What does the magic wear off after a while?" he joked.

She somehow managed to get her legs up around his torso and knocked him back. "No, I'm just a little rusty!" she smiled slyly as she pinned him harder on his stomach.

"Okay okay, your cards are good. It's just you that's bad!" he laughed.

"YOU MEAN PERSON!!" she squealed as she hit his head.

"Hey!" he said covering his head. "Get off!" he said rolling over hard, causing her to fall onto the ground.

"So…what time is it?" she asked, breathing hard from moving around so much.

"No clue…why?" he asked standing up and working his knee out a little bit.

"I was just wondering…I'm kind of hungry and when I woke up, the sun seemed to be bright today." She said, rolling onto her stomach with her arms under her head.

"I'm still tired too…" she yawned.

"It's almost 12, do you want to go get some lunch?" he asked, pulling her up.

"Sure…but, what am I going to wear? I wore my kosode yesterday!" she pointed out.

"We can go shopping!" he said quite nonchalantly.

"What? But I don't have any money!" she pointed this out too.

"I'll buy." He said leading her back upstairs.

"No! Moriyama, you've already done enough for me!" she jumped in front of him.

"Well…I feel very giving today. Besides, we can go to a thrift shop if you like! I find a lot of good stuff there!" he said as they went back into his room.

"Really? That's neat. I don't know that I've ever been to a thrift shop, but it always seemed like it would be fun." She smiled.

"It is." He smiled as he took off his shirt.

She turned around as she turned bright red, "Are you changing or something?" she said nervously.

"Oh my gosh! Sorry Sakura! I was going to take a shower, I somehow forgot you were in here!" he laughed.

"Why did you turn around though? It's not like you'd really be seeing anything." He laughed.

"I guess I've learned some old fashioned ways of living." She said quietly.

"I figured." He laughed.

She turned around; forgetting that he had no shirt on and found he was now about 3 inches away from her.

heh heh heh. i love writing stuff like this. although i wrote this soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long ago i had forgotten about all of this. sheesh, lol. and mostly now ive been writing fan fics about bands...im thinking about posting them on quizilla cuz i have an account and all but alas...i have no friends and i just haven't gotten around to posting anything, hahahaha.

so ANYWAYS. hope you guys liked it, REVIEW AS ALWAYS. I LOVE YOU. i have to skiddaddle to french class now. :

ShiningStarr