Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, Clamp does. But I do own this story.

Pairings: Syaoran x Sakura, Eriol x Tomoyo

Thank you my dearest readers for the kind words you left for me to read in your reviews. You have my love! I really enjoyed reading them. :)

To the Skip Beat! fans who have read my new story Remember, thank you for checking it out as well! Truly appreciate it.

Now, onward!

Chapter Nine

"Deceit"

"Great enough for marriage?"

Eriol tried not to grimace at the forced teasing tone his voice had taken when he asked the question.

"Marriage?" Syaoran asked, bewildered. "If anyone's ready for marriage, it's you. You've dated Tomoyo for a year now and from everything you've told me, you two are practically acting like an old married couple."

Eriol ignored his statement. He cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice light as he pushed on. "Have you ever discussed marriage with Sakura?"

Syaoran raised a brow at his grinning face which looked somewhat different than usual. What was he playing at?

"We've only dated for three months… Four months in a week."

He shrugged. "Some people even get married in lesser time than that if they feel it's right," he said although he had no idea if that was true. Syaoran still hadn't answered his question. "So you never discussed it then?"

If Syaoran says no then he can just let himself think that he probably misunderstood the conversation he had overheard. Of course it still wouldn't let go of his nagging feelings but it might relax his worries a bit.

Eriol looked over at him inquiringly but Syaoran didn't pay attention. He looked like he was in deep thought over something.

"Syaoran?"

It was only after a few more seconds of thinking that he finally got around to answer him.

"What?"

"Were you even paying attention to me?" Eriol asked with his own brow now raised at him.

"Yes I was paying attention and no we haven't discussed marriage."

Eriol visibly sighed at this. He was right, it did relieve him slightly.

"But you know," Syaoran continued with a curious and almost ironic look on his face. "What you said is true."

"What is?" he asked. His brows were furrowed now.

"What you said about people getting married in lesser time if it feels right."

Eriol gaped. "What are you saying?"

Syaoran merely shrugged. "I'm not saying anything."

"You're not actually thinking of getting married right now are you?!" he asked incredulously. He was in love with Tomoyo to the point that he can't imagine living the rest of his life with another girl but even he never planned or even imagined on thinking of marriage. Not yet, anyway. And here Syaoran was, casually mentioning it when only a few months ago, the man possessed the greatest issues of suspicion for women which spanned years.

"Who said I'm getting married now?" Syaoran asked exasperatedly. "Besides, being married and being engaged are totally different things."

"So you're planning on getting yourself engaged then?"

Syaoran looked at Eriol curiously. He would've thought the mention of engagement and marriage would make him literally jump for joy. Eriol did, after all, know that he had been a cynic with everything regarding women. This piece of information of him being even remotely interested in getting engaged sooner or later should have moved him to tears of joy if anything else.

"It's an idea," he admitted truthfully. "If I were to be honest, I don't think I'd have enough patience for any other kind of woman after getting this close with Sakura. She's refreshing. We've only been together a short while but the kinds of conversations I have with her, I haven't even had with my other ex-girlfriends during the entire span of my relationships with them."

"So that's your basis for wanting to be engaged?" Eriol said with a scoff. "Have you even told her that you love her?"

"I've shown her my love for her," he supplied with another nonchalant shrug.

"But have you even said the actual words?"

Syaoran knew that Eriol knew that he never said the words to Sakura. Heck, he's never uttered those words to anyone in the longest time. His past experiences made it impossible for him to simply throw those words at a girl too easily. But Sakura never complained, which he is grateful for. He knew Sakura understood his general mistrust towards women which he figured was the reason why she never minded his silence whenever she said she loved him.

But he did very much like being told that she loves him. And at least he actually did show her his feelings through his actions in exchange for not saying it.

"I thoroughly show her every night we spend together," he said with emphasis.

Eriol flashed him a genuine grin now. Syaoran never talked about his sex life with Sakura or with any other girl for that matter. He always held a degree of privacy on those matters which Eriol could never accomplish.

"So you finally tapped th-"

"I'm not discussing this with you," Syaoran cut in with a hard look aimed at him. The only thing Eriol knew of their sex life was that he was Sakura's first sexual partner and really, he had only told him this out of pride. He was merely boasting at the time, to say the least. And that was the only detail he was willing to give his friend.

"I can always ask Tomoyo."

"As if she'd tell you," he said with a snort and a shake of his head. Ever since he dated Sakura, she opened up about Tomoyo as well and he already knew of each of the girls' loyalty to the other.

Sakura tapped her finger on the coffee table as the phone continued to ring. She gave a nervous glace at the copy of her father's will in front of her which she had Mr. Hashimoto fax to her place yesterday when she was still at Syaoran's apartment. When she arrived home the papers were already laying in wait in her fax machine.

"Hello, Kentaro speaking."

"Hashimoto-san? It's me, Sakura."

"Ahh, yes, Sakura-san. How are you? Did you get the fax?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you for that again."

"No problem. So what can I do for you? I'm guessing this is still about your father's will?"

"Uhmm… Yes. I was wondering if you can help me. I'm having a bit of a problem. Now I know we have discussed this months ago but is there any way at all for the will to be nullified?"

There was a pause on the other line and then a sigh.

"I'm afraid not. Ever since we last discussed this, I've been trying to look for some way to aid you in this matter but there's really no way around your father's will in a legal point of view."

"I see," Sakura muttered resentfully and ran a frustrated hand through her hair.

"However…"

She perked up immediately.

"Now I won't make promises or anything so don't get your hopes up."

"Not at all, what is it?"

"You can always talk to Nao-san and try to convince him to drop your father's instructions in his will somehow."

"Nao-san?"

"Nao Morita. He's the manager of the bank your father mentioned in the will. He's also a good friend of mine. I've met him through Fujitaka years ago but your father had always been close to him even years before then and it was also to him and only him that he left his instructions to at the bank."

A spark of hope lit up within Sakura. "So if I convince him to drop the will, he'll let me have the money even if I'm unmarried?"

"If you can convince him, then probably. Legally, it shouldn't be allowed but seeing as Nao-san and I are close friends with Fujitaka and you're his daughter and it's only the three of us involved, maybe we can all decide and settle on something. You have to talk to him for sure."

"I'll be sure to have a talk with him then!" Sakura announced, trying to keep her tone calm. "Thank you very much Hashimoto-san."

"You're actually going to go and grovel at their feet?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she adjusted her skirt while looking at her reflection. "When I said two weeks ago that I was going to grovel, I didn't mean it literally, Tomoyo."

"I would hope not. You don't exactly look like the type to grovel, especially not in that outfit," she pointed out.

Tomoyo continued to watch from the small sofa in the closet as Sakura proceeded to clip a small ornamental flower over her right ear that matched her outfit.

"How do I look?"

"Too innocent," she immediately replied with a smile. "I like it!"

"That's what I'm aiming for," Sakura said with a grin as she twirled around on the spot.

She was wearing a simple white dress with a belt and sleeves made of baby pink ribbons and a skirt that ended a couple inches above her knees. Her shoes were also white except for the weaved wedge heels and the baby pink ribbons that crisscrossed all the way up to the middle of her calves.

Plainly put, from the way she looked, the ensemble knocked off five years off her actual age.

"Hashimoto-san said the bank manager was also another one of my dad's old close friends. Maybe he'll take pity on me when he sees how young and innocent I am to actually get married in a rush."

Tomoyo giggled. "Well if that's your goal then the outfit is absolutely perfect. You look like a college student… High school, even!"

"Why thank you," she said with a curtsey that made both girls laugh.

Their laughter was cut short, however, when the doorbell to Sakura's apartment rang.

She frowned.

"Who could that be?"

"Syaoran?" Tomoyo suggested instantly.

"I told him I'll be going to visit my father's grave, which is true," she added after seeing the look Tomoyo gave her.

Sakura had it all worked out. It was a long weekend for Li Corp. employees because the following day after the weekend was the founding anniversary of the Tokyo branch. All employees had that day off due to that night's activities. She figured she could use the opportunity to see what she can do in Tomoeda without worrying about Syaoran coming after her. He was, after all, the host of the day's events to be held on Monday evening and was surely needed to plan it beforehand as well. There's no way he'd ditch something that important.

"So you actually don't mind staying there now? I mean… I know it's been years since that thing happened when you were a kid but you've always been adamant about not going to Tomoeda if you can help it."

"I stayed there for a few days after dad passed away," she said with a shrug. "I can brave three days and two nights there I think. Besides, this is for a good cause."

The doorbell went off again which made both girls jump. They'd completely forgotten about the sudden visitor.

"Coming!" Sakura shouted as she dashed out of her walk-in closet and through the door that led to her shoe closet.

Tomoyo listened for a few seconds until the voice she had expected reached her ears. She tried to bite down her smile.

"You look delicious enough to eat," Syaoran admitted with a shameless look on his face.

He had never seen Sakura dress in this way and he had no objections. She looked so pure and innocent it almost made him feel like the devil himself for the indecent thoughts he was currently having for the woman standing before him.

"W-What are you doing here?" she asked, a blush creeping up her face at the evident dark haze that was overwhelming his amber eyes. She knew only too well of the other thoughts that was running through his mind.

"For you, what else?" he said as he took her into his arms and stepping inside.

Syaoran was in the middle of sucking on a spot on Sakura's nape when a new but familiar voice interrupted.

"Hey Syaoran!" Tomoyo shouted, still inside Sakura's closet.

He turned to look through the open doorway to see the girl waving her arm at him, one room down.

Sakura, still blushing, patted him in the shoulder, motioning for him to put her down. She still looked incapable of speech.

"Hey Tomoyo," he called back and put Sakura back onto her feet. He placed a chaste kiss atop her head and pulled her chin up to look at him. "As I said to you on the phone last night, I'm coming with you."

This sobered her up instantly.

"I… I said I'll just go alone though."

Syaoran ignored her statement, took her hand and started pulling her towards where Tomoyo was.

"So what brings you to these parts?" Tomoyo asked, grinning madly. She can never get enough of the couple.

Watching Sakura and Syaoran had become her favorite pastime. Not only had it been amusing to watch Sakura with her apparent lovey-dovey behavior, but lately it had been amusing to watch Syaoran as well. His adoration for Sakura was getting more and more obvious and she couldn't help but like him even more because of it.

"I'm going with Sakura to Tomoeda for the weekend," he told her, totally oblivious to Sakura's distress. She was currently behind him, shooting Tomoyo looks apparently asking for help.

"Oh? But I'm going with Sakura to Tomoeda. The three of us are going then?" she asked smoothly.

Sakura gaped at her which she immediately replaced with an innocent smile when Syaoran turned to look at her.

"You never said you were going with Tomoyo," he said with a raised brow. "I wouldn't have cleared my weekend to escort you if I knew you had company."

"I did tell you I'm fine going without you," she said, raising her own brow at him.

"Hmm… I won't feel guilty about working this afternoon then," he said with a grin. "Plus I have a lot of things to look over and finalize by tomorrow for the party on Monday."

Sakura gave him a half exasperated, half amused look. So he only planned on coming with her all because he thought she'd be alone.

That was rather sweet.

She turned to hug him. "Thank you," she murmured against his chest before pulling back to look up at him with a grin. "We'll be fine. You go ahead and work Mr. CEO. Save Japan from bankruptcy!" she declared in an exaggeratedly distressed voice.

Tomoyo nodded in agreement and raised her hand into a salute.

Syaoran laughed.

"Besides," Sakura added, "you didn't actually plan to skip the anniversary ball, did you?"

"No. But I planned on accompanying you until tomorrow night at least."

She shook her head just as Tomoyo said in a gushing voice, "Awww… How sweet!"

Syaoran grinned over at Tomoyo and gave her a wink.

"Have fun at the ball," Sakura said and unnecessarily readjusted his tie. "Don't flirt around or anything."

"Flirt? I've stayed single for almost three years 'til I met you."

She shrugged. "All the same."

"I have eyes only for you," he whispered into her ear. "You owe me one though. I won't have a date on Monday."

Sakura smiled and kissed his cheek.

Sakura checked the overhead LED marquee and down at her ticket. Her train was coming up next.

"Are you sure about this?"

Tomoyo placed her own travel bag next to Sakura's and grinned. "I don't mind at all! I have never been to Tomoeda!"

In the end, Tomoyo really did end up having to come with Sakura. Syaoran had stayed at her apartment all the while and had insisted to drop both women off at the station before he headed to work.

"You didn't have any plans with your boyfriend, right?"

"Nope. We usually go on casual dates on weekends but we had nothing specially planned. He didn't pick up so I left him a voicemail right before I left my apartment."

"Eriiiii! I'm tagging along with Sakura on her trip. We're going to her hometown for a three day visit. I'm sorry I didn't tell you beforehand, it was a last minute thing. Text me when you've gotten this message. I looooove yoouuuuu!"

Eriol blinked as his girlfriend's excited voice cut off and was replaced with beeps. He looked back down at his cell phone and saw a text as well.

Didn't know I wasn't the only one going without a date to the ball on Monday.

– Li Xiao Lang –

'Neither did I,' he thought with a sigh and pocketed his cell phone into his lab coat. Tomoyo never even mentioned the possibility of going on a trip. 'So much for the surprise.'

Eriol had planned on announcing his surprise to the girls at Li Corp.'s 9th Year Anniversary Ball, thinking it was a perfect opportunity for him to finally reveal his identity to Sakura and to finally reveal to Tomoyo of his relationship with Syaoran.

Turns out, his plan had come to naught.

"Oh well. Another time, I guess," he told himself as he gave a halfhearted wave at the group comprising of businessmen and other doctors who were now leaving the conference room they were gathered in for their meeting earlier.

Tomoyo slid the window open and breathed in the fresh air.

"This is wonderful!"

It was only a little after twelve and they were finally in Tomoeda and settled into the Kinomoto household.

Ever since they left the station and made their way towards the residence, Tomoyo had been giddy. Tomoeda wasn't exactly country-like by any standard but Tomoyo had grown up in Tokyo and wasn't used to the lack of pollution and the bustle of people and cars at every turn. The serene scenery wasn't hard enough to imagine when she was in the beaches of Maui, but to still be in Japan and without the scurrying ways of the city was entirely new to her.

"This place is great Sakura. It's so… Rustic."

Sakura rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Let's go out for lunch then to my dad's grave and then to the bank. I'll show you around town a bit afterwards if it doesn't get dark by then."

Tomoyo grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

Naoki ran his hand through his long hair and sighed before throwing the document onto the growing stack at the corner of his desk.

"So much for my weekend," he grumbled under his breath at the amount of work that piled up through the week.

"Morita-san."

Naoki looked up to see one of the bank tellers who had poked her head through the slightly ajar door.

"Yes?"

"You have a guest, sir."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I don't have any scheduled appointments today."

The woman merely shrugged in response.

"Who is it?"

"She said her name is Sakura Kinomoto."

Naoki frowned.

'Kinomoto… Sakura Kinomoto…' he thought as he repeated the name over and over in his head. The name seemed awfully familiar.

"I had her and her companion wait in the main lobby," she added, interrupting his thoughts.

He nodded and waved her away.

"Sakura Kinomoto," he muttered as he stood from his seat and maneuvered around his desk and outside his office.

He still can't place it.

The name was indeed familiar although from where, he still couldn't- Naoki stopped. The moment he exited the more private area of the bank and entered the large open-spaced lobby where bank tellers and a number of chairs were situated, his eyes immediately fell upon two beautiful women seated in the far corner.

"Sakura Kinomoto," he repeated yet again as he assessed the girl with the honey-colored hair. He grinned as realization finally overcame him. No wonder the name struck him, it was her.

Naoki readjusted his suit jacket, ran a hand through his hair once more and strode towards them.

"God I hope he'll let me off," Sakura said once more.

The moment they entered the bank, agitation had permanently settled inside her.

Tomoyo took hold of her hands and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Luck may be on your side Sakura, if he's a good friend of your father's then I'm sure he'd take your circumstances under consideration."

Sakura gave her a halfhearted smile and started breathing in deeply to calm herself.

"Thanks for offering to help by the way," she said in a low voice, eyeing Tomoyo's clothes.

She simply giggled.

They both have discussed the possible outcomes of today's meeting. If the manager wasn't fooled into giving in to Sakura's request with her play on being an "innocent", then Tomoyo would have to back her up by acting as a seductress.

Tomoyo was wearing a tight-fitting little black dress with matching black high heels. It was simple yes, but it showed so much skin than should be allowed in public. She swore the waiter at the restaurant they had lunch at was close to sustaining a nosebleed at the sight of Tomoyo when she took off her cardigan as they settled into their seats.

Sakura knew it was a rather low thing to do but she was, after all, desperate.

"I'll do my best to act out my role," she said in a determined voice.

They both laughed silently at this and didn't notice the approaching figure until he stopped right in front of them and cleared his throat.

Both women looked up.

"Good afternoon ladies," Naoki greeted with a pleasant smile. "I've been told that you have come to see me, Ms. Kinomoto," Naoki said, looking at Sakura who had a stunned look on her face.

She sent Tomoyo a quick look of unsettled astonishment before standing up and bowing to him.

"Hello and good afternoon," she said before sending him an uncertain look. "Err… Morita-san?"

Naoki nodded.

Sakura couldn't help but frown. She had thought Nao Morita was a much older person, maybe around her father's age or even older. To be honest, she had envisioned the man to be almost grandfather-like. In fact, she was even counting on it. Older men tended to be softer and more understanding.

But this person was nowhere close being grandfather-like. He didn't even look remotely father-like.

He had jet black hair that fell loosely around his ears. Sakura could tell he had the habit of running his hands through it by the way it waved slightly in the front. He had around the same build as Syaoran although falling a few inches shorter than him and his eyes were an intense color of chestnut brown. He also gave off the aura of being a full-fledged bachelor.

Naoki gave her a look of puzzlement at her obvious appraisal of him. "Yes?"

She shook her head. "I… I'm sorry. To be honest, I'm quite surprised that you're so… Err…"

He had to try and suppress a grin. Naoki was sure she was about to comment on his good looks. Indeed he got that compliment often from random girls around town as he grew up.

"Young," Sakura finished.

He had to suppress a frown now.

Sakura still couldn't help but look at him curiously. Surely this wasn't the man her father was good friends with for years? He didn't even look that much older than she was. If he was indeed friends with her father, then he must've been a teenager or something when they met.

She also recalled giving the bank a call right when she heard of her father's will to question the manager. Although she can't clearly remember the voice of the person she had spoken to then, she had the feeling that it still didn't match up to this person in front of her now.

"How old did you expect me to be?" Naoki asked, trying to keep the disappointment in his voice.

Sakura blushed. "I… No, it's not that I assumed that… Uhmm…" she was flustered now and at a loss for words. Was he insulted by her comment? He sounded as if he was.

"Tomoyo Daidouji," Tomoyo interjected, standing up and pushing her breasts out for the world to see.

Tomoyo tried her utmost not to laugh when she saw the startled look on the man's face and couldn't help but notice his eyes flit down to her obvious cleavage before he looked up to meet her eyes.

"I'm a friend of Sakura's," she said in a purposefully lowered tone of voice than her usual one.

The corner of Sakura's eyes twitched when she saw the ridiculously flirtatious look on Tomoyo's face. She had to bite her lip to stop herself from snorting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Ms. Daidouji," Naoki replied pleasantly as he took Tomoyo's outstretched hand and kissed it.

Author's Note:

I am absolutely loving Eriol and Tomoyo as I write along. I didn't even mean to make them such light and fun-loving characters, it just happened.

I hope you enjoy my take on them in this story!

By the way, just to let everyone know... I'll be updating this story every weekend. I'm still figuring out and writing this story but I'm announcing the update time officially to set a deadline for myself. The pressure might help me right more. I'm leaving the country for a long (literally, I'll be there for half a year) vacation by tomorrow. That's why I set the deadline for myself in the first place. :P

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll be on the other side of the world when I update next! Ja ne!

Raeny