Cherry: Oh my! I tried to update chapter 3 on November 26, but the upload device was disabled. But, I am well on my way with this story. I have had a huge bolt of inspiration so, yay! Uh…not much else from my desk so…on with the story.
Disclaimer: taps on a microphone Ahem! microphone squeals loudly Ouch! plugs her ears Anyway, I do not own Card Captor Sakura! microphone squeals again eeeee…. runs away
Chapter 4: Many Meetings
The sun rose over the mountains slowly, its rays of light casting out the shadows that lurked beneath trees and behind the buildings, the water from the rain the night before glistened in the sunshine.
An alarm went off in a small yellow house. Beep, beep, beep. But no one stirred. Beep, beep, beep. But still there was no movement within the room that the sound was emanating from. Beep, beep, beep.
There came a small knock on the door.
"Sakura… Sakura I can hear your alarm all the way down in my room," a groggy, sleep-deprived voice called.
Sakura's eyes were open and ringed with the want of sleep. She had not slept very well the night before, and it didn't help that every position she tried put pressure on her arm.
"Sakura… please. Turn it off," the voice called again.
Temporarily forgetting about her injured arm she reached out with it to turn off the alarm. The pain shot through her body and she stifled a cry of pain. Slowly she lowed her arm and pushed herself up with the other one, then reached over and turned the small, black clock off with the red letters blinking '4:07' at her. Her job started promptly at 5:00 am and she was never late.
Sakura slid out of the bed and dragged her feet as she walked to the wall and flipped the light on, her room was a mess; the clothes she was wearing last night were just dumped in the middle of the floor and the contents of the trashcan she had kicked over were everywhere. She pulled the door open and Tomoyo was leaning against the wall in her pale purple pajamas, asleep.
"Apparently you didn't get much sleep either," Sakura thought, a small, sympathetic smile crossing her face, but then faded.
With her good arm she shook Tomoyo just enough to wake her up.
Tomoyo lifted her head from the wall and looked around, her eyes half open.
"We'd better get ready," Sakura said softly.
Tomoyo nodded and walked towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway and Sakura headed to the other bathroom.
There was a dull throbbing in her arm as she carefully pulled the shirt of her pajamas off. Her shoulder was heavily bruised and she turned her head away. Just looking at it made her feel slightly nauseated.
Slowly she pulled the handle of the shower out and a cascade of water began falling from the showerhead.
She pulled the rest of her pajamas off and stepped into the shower. She let her muscles relax under the comforting feel of the water. To her if felt like it was washing everything away, her pain, her worries, and most of all, the amount of fear she had felt last night. The last time she had felt that much fear was the day she ran away from her stepmother.
She rolled her head back and let the water run down her face, her neck, and then down her body once again. How many showers would it take until she felt free of the pain, worries, and fear that threatened to spill over? One, two, maybe three?
She took a shuddering breath and leaned a hand on the wall in front of her to support herself.
Down the hall, in the other bathroom, Tomoyo was standing in a similar way, except she was crying. Last night had scared her more than anything she had been through with the FBI. She thought the instant Sakura had hit the ground she was going to be gone. She had felt her heart stop beating for a moment.
Sakura and Tomoyo both stepped out of the shower at the same time.
Sakura grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body snuggly and left the bathroom, walking back to her own room.
Tomoyo grabbed her lavender, terry cloth, bathrobe, slipping over her arms and tied it around her waist. She grabbed a brush from the bathroom and then walked back to her room.
Sakura grabbed a pair of black slacks out of her closet and a white, long sleeve button up shirt, followed by a matching black jacket. Slowly she put them on, carefully moving her arm as little as possible. She looked at herself in the mirror, her hair was once again disheveled, but Tomoyo would have to do it. She grabbed a brush from her dresser and walked down to Tomoyo's room and knocked lightly.
"Tomoyo… I need you to do my hair for me," she said softly.
The door opened right away and Tomoyo was standing there in a dark blue suit similar to Sakura's, but instead of a white shirt she had on a pale blue one with alternating thin and thick black stripes.
"How's your shoulder doing?" Tomoyo asked once Sakura was sitting in a chair.
"My shoulder is just about all black and blue and it hurts to make a lot of movements, but other than that, I guess you could say fine," Sakura replied.
The dull throbbing was still there, and if anything, it ha become a little more noticeable.
Tomoyo nodded and pulled Sakura's hair back into a French braid and tied it together with a black hair tie.
"There you go," Tomoyo said and tucked a few loose ends behind Sakura's ears.
Sakura smiled at her and stood up. Tomoyo quickly pulled her hair into two long braids and wrapped them around each other and pinning them up off her neck.
"We should get going," Tomoyo said and looked at the clock on her nightstand.
Sakura looked at the clock too, '4:45' it read in bright red letters. Sakura sighed and walked out of Tomoyo's room and down the stairs to the front door. She took a quick look out the window, and upon seeing the clear sky she slipped her shoes on and opened the door. The vending machine in the headquarters would be put to use yet again today.
Tomoyo came down just after she did, slipping her shoes on and grabbing both her and Sakura's jackets. The weather in Tomoeda was always changing and whenever Sakura left her jacket at home, it would be a day that was either cold, or rainy.
Sakura got to their car parked in the driveway and reached for the driver's door, then stopped with her hand resting on the handle. How was she going to drive with her shoulder? And sitting in the driver's seat with the seatbelt on would aggravate her shoulder even more than it was already.
"Tomoyo, you'll have to drive," Sakura said, walking around the car again getting into the passenger's seat.
Tomoyo smiled at her friend. Sakura was used to being in control of everything, and now, with her shoulder, she wasn't. Her expression changed immediately as she remembered something she should never have forgotten. She quickly climbed into the driver's seat and drove off towards headquarters.
"How could I have forgotten?" Tomoyo asked herself silently.
There was a small smile of mischief playing on her face and Sakura noticed it.
"Tomoyo, what are you smiling at?" She asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, I just remembered something that I shouldn't have forgotten," was her reply.
"Are you going to elaborate?" Sakura asked, already knowing the answer would be no with a sly smile.
"No," Tomoyo replied, giving her a sly smile.
They drove for ten minutes and the arrived at headquarters. Tomoyo pulled the black Honda Accord into the parking structure and parked near the elevator that led up into the offices.
Sakura climbed out and walked to the elevator after grabbing her jacket that Tomoyo had brought with them.
"She'd never let me leave it in the car," Sakura thought.
Tomoyo followed her, her own jacket draped over her arm.
Sakura punched the button to go up. The door opened and the two women stepped in, the doors closing behind them. Tomoyo pushed the sixth floor button and the elevator started to move.
Sakura leaned against the wall softly, trying not to put any weight on her shoulder as she did so.
"Sakura will be so surprised…" Tomoyo thought happily. "She's getting a new partner! Oh… I should probably tell Mr. Kinomaka about Sakura's injury…"
"Tomoyo… don't tell Mr. Kinomaka about my shoulder. I don't want to stay inside until it heals. I can't stand desk work," Sakura said softly and looked over at Tomoyo.
Tomoyo looked at her sadly. "But… what if you get hurt even worse?"
"Just don't tell anyone, alright?" Sakura said very seriously.
Tomoyo nodded and the doors to the elevator opened to the quiet office floor.
There were quite a few people here, many already at work with paper work as Sakura and Tomoyo passed.
"Hello Ms. Kinomoto, Ms. Daidouji," the secretary said as they passed and marked them down as being in the office today.
"Good morning Mrs. Izu," Tomoyo replied.
Sakura walked to her desk and started to sit down when she noticed something was missing. She looked up at the desk across form her.
"Where is Taichi's stuff?" she asked quietly.
"Oh, you don't know?" another field agent asked as they were passing by.
"Know what?" Sakura asked and looked up at the person.
"He got reassigned. You have a new partner," the agent said and continued walking.
Sakura's mouth hung open and she digested the information. "Reassigned? New partner?" she thought.
Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. "Yes!" she cried out loud and then quickly covered her mouth with her right hand.
A few agents looked at her in surprise.
"Damn… after three years I finally get a new partner!" she thought quickly. "But who? Is it an agent that already works here?"
That's when she noticed the name plaque on the desk. She reached over for it with her good hand when the intercom on her desk beeped at her. She jerked her arm back in surprise and pushed the intercom button.
"Kinomoto speaking," she said and grabbed a pen from her desk.
"Kinomoto, come to my office now. I have someone I want you to meet," the voice form the other line said.
"Mr. Kinomaka, would it by any chance, be my new partner?" she asked, unable to hide the joy in her voice, or the smile.
"Just come to my office," her boss replied, his voice a little lighter.
Sakura pushed the button again and headed for Mr. Kinomaka's office. She started to knock on the door when it opened before her. It was Mr. Kinomaka.
"Please, sit," he said and closed the door behind her.
Sakura sat down in the overly stuffed brown chair again and looked to her left, there was no one there.
"As you well know already, I have a new partner for you. Your newest assignment will require the aid of a partner and Taichi isn't the person to help you with it," Mr. Kinomaka said as he sat down in his black chair, resting his arms on his desk.
Sakura nodded. "Is my new partner a member of the team already stationed here?"
"No, he's new. He came over from Hong Kong yesterday. We sent for him a couple weeks ago. You would have met him yesterday, but Daidouji called you both in sick and you were unable to see him."
Sakura nodded again. "Chinese then," she thought.
"Mr. Kinomaka," a voice from the phone called.
"Yes Mrs. Izu?" Mr. Kinomaka replied.
"Mr. Li has arrived. Would you like me to send him in?" Mrs. Izu asked.
"Yes, please do," Mr. Kinomaka replied.
There was a light knock on the door and Sakura and Kinomaka stood up. The door opened and a tall man stepped in. His chestnut hair was messy and untamed, but it looked good. Sakura looked him over quickly, his muscles were toned and visible through his white shirt and Sakura momentarily felt her heart flutter.
"What am I thinking!?" Sakura chastised herself silently.
"Mr. Li, this is Kinomoto Sakura, your partner," Mr. Kinomaka said, indicating in Sakura's direction.
Sakura felt a small blush creep into her face as the man before her extended his hand for a shake. She limply took his hand and he gave her a quick, sharp shake, sending a bolt of pain up through her arm and down her other one.
Sakura paled slightly.
"Kinomoto, are you alright?" Mr. Kinomaka asked.
"Yes sir, I'm fine," Sakura replied quickly and sat back down.
Syaoran sat down next to her and Mr. Kinomaka returned to his seat as well.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Sakura looking at anything and everything that wasn't her new partner, Syaoran staring at Mr. Kinomaka's desk, and Mr. Kinomaka himself looking down at his hands that were folded on his desk.
"Li, Kinomoto," Mr. Kinomaka started.
Sakura and Syaoran looked up at him.
"The assignment I am about to give is dangerous. It will put both of your lives at risk of injury or worse, death," he continued.
Their faces were blank as they listened.
"Death?" Sakura thought. "I've never had an assignment like that…."
"Sir," Syaoran interjected.
Sakura looked at him.
"Not to rush you or anything, but, what IS our assignment?" he finished.
Mr. Kinomaka smiled slightly, before narrowing his eyes and looking at some paperwork on his desk. "We've received a lead on an opium distributor here in Japan. Specifically in Tomoeda."
Syaoran's face hardened considerably, he turned his face away as his eyes darkened.
"Sir, does this have anything to do with that folder I acquired a few days ago?" Sakura asked.
"Actually, yes. It has everything to do with the folder," Mr. Kinomaka replied. "The folder contained some information about the whereabouts of the distributor, but that was all. We need you to find out who this guy is, what his plans for the future are, and then set up a take down where we can arrest him and send him to jail where he belongs."
Sakura nodded. This was going to be a difficult assignment; that was evident. If it wasn't: she would never have been given a new partner. She looked over at Syaoran, who still had his head turned away, and then back at Mr. Kinomaka.
"Other than the lead that the dealer is in Tomoeda, do we have anything else to go off of?" Sakura asked.
"Sadly, no. We were supposed to receive another envelope yesterday, but I received word that the deliverer had been killed in a car accident on his way to the drop off point," Mr. Kinomaka replied, looking down at his desk.
"Car accident?" Sakura thought.
Surely something like that couldn't have been an accident. Could it? A man, delivering information, killed in a car accident. It was too cliché.
"Was the folder in the car?" Syaoran asked.
"No," Kinomaka replied.
Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other.
"It wasn't an accident then," they both said.
"My thoughts exactly. I need you two to go down to the morgue and talk to the coroner. You need to find out the exact cause of death. They police report that was filed said that though the window was cracked all over that was a small hole, but they found no bullet wound on the deceased," their boss finished.
Sakura and Syaoran nodded and stood to leave.
"Both of you be careful. Kinomoto, you are my top agent here, Li, you were sent because you were the top in China. I'm counting on you two to find this guy, and you both better survive it," he finished and turned the back of the chair on them.
Sakura looked at the back of the chair for a moment before exiting the room and heading back to her desk. She sat down at her desk and picked the pen up that she had sent down on her way to Mr. Kinomaka's office, and a piece of paper. She scribbled a quick note on it for Tomoyo and folded it in half.
"Let's go Li," she said, standing up and grabbing her jacket.
"You can call me Syaoran. I don't really like it when people call me by my surname," Syaoran replied.
Sakura nodded and continued walking to Mrs. Izu's desk at the front.
"Mrs. Izu, could you get this note to Tomoyo for me? My partner and I have to go out for some work and I'm not sure when I'll be back," Sakura said.
"No problem," Mrs. Izu replied, taking the note. "I'll take it to her myself."
She stood up from her desk and head off towards conference room where Tomoyo was.
"Do you mind if I stop by the vending machine quickly? I wasn't able to eat anything this morning at home," Sakura explained.
"Go ahead, I could use something to eat, myself," Syaoran replied.
The walked to the vending machine and got a couple things to eat then headed out.
They entered the elevator and Syaoran pushed the button for the parking garage.
Then it hit her. Whose vehicle were they going to use? Sakura couldn't drive right now, and there was no way she could tell Li that right away. He'd send her back up to the offices.
"We'll take my car," he said quietly. "Since headquarters is paying for the gas it doesn't matter."
"Right," Sakura replied, trying to conceal her relief.
"So, Kinomoto, do you have a first name I can call you? Or are you only going by your surname?" he asked.
"My name is Sakura," she replied.
"That's a nice name," Syaoran said. "God, what does it take to get this person to talk?" he added in thought.
"How much background training do you have in the FBI?" Sakura asked.
"Seven years, you?" Syaoran replied.
"Six. I started when I turned nineteen," Sakura said, looking at his face.
"What a coincidence, so did I," he replied, giving her a kind of half smile.
"He seems troubled by something…" Sakura thought as she examined his face before looking away.
The doors on the elevator opened and the two stepped out.
"So, what kind of car do you drive?" Sakura asked.
"1964 Mustang, fully restored," Syaoran said with just a hit of pride. "My mother got it imported from the America."
"I see," Sakura replied. "He's rich then, just like Taichi. He'll probably end up being a jack-ass, just like every other rich person." She added bitterly in her mind, a slightly disgusted look on her face.