Short Stories with Tragic Endings

Summary: Rated for violence. Detective Li finds himself in the middle of a series of vengeful murders with no real clues leading to the perpetrator. To make matters more complicated he learns that Sakura Kinomoto is back in his life. This time neither of them can escape.

Chapter 1

She opened her door for him, a large smile plastered on her pretty face. Her flame red nose, stuffed from the cold she had did not deter him. It did not matter to him. It did not matter to him…

-Syaoran Li-

The stench of blood filled my body as I entered the modest apartment home. Men and women were everywhere doing what they did best as I made my way through to the scene of the crime. I dodged a young police officer stumbling back and entered the bedroom.

Well, now I know where the overwhelming smell of blood came from.

My eyes trailed over the white walls and beige carpet, now splattered with blood. My reflection in the large decorative mirror was blurred amongst the droplets which have dried as it made its way down to the earth.

On the floor close to the dressing table I saw the familiar back and raven hair of the coroner as she busied herself with the examination of the body. She placed something in a small plastic bag and I guessed it to be some physical evidence she might have found on the victim.

I dug my hands into my pockets, taking mental notes of the scene surrounding me. This one is going to be tough and when I say tough I mean a challenge for the team and me. After the past two months of only covering gangster shootings I think they'd be pleased to have a real homicide on their hands.

Though, I have to say that this isn't exactly the most satisfactory job in the world. To see people killed by other people day after day can take its toll on a man or woman in the case of Julie. I suppose it's for the best that she quit, with the new baby and all.

"Anything interesting detective?"

"Hmm… Maybe." I made my way to the dressing table and bent down to the floor. Aware of my uncovered hands I pointed to a shiny object on the carpet with my pinkie. "What's that?"

Eriol, as tall as ever with his dark hair and fair skin, kneeled next to me and examined the shiny object. He picked it up with small tweezers as his blue eyes examined it from behind his rimless glasses. "I have no idea."

The coroner leaned over us as she pulled the latex gloves from her hands. The sound snapped slightly in my mind and she stuffed them in her jacket pocket. "That, gentlemen, is called a butterfly. It's the little thing you put on your earring on the back to keep them from falling out."

"What's it doing on the ground?"

"Is our victim wearing any earrings?"

"No, but she does have a hole in each ear indicating that she might have been wearing some. I don't want to break you guys, but finding that little thing on the floor close to a dressing table means nothing in a woman's world. I loose mine all the time and usually find them where you found that one." I looked at Tomoyo as she spoke with a sincere, but matter of fact expression on her face.

"Maybe Tomoyo, but it's worth checking out. Bag it Eriol and see if you could maybe find the earring that belongs to."

"Okay."

I went to inspect the body. She was a woman in her early thirties, I guessed. Her blond hair was cut in a neat short bob style and her shredded clothes spoke of elegance on a budget. "The poor thing suffered before she died." I looked at Tomoyo standing next to me as she looked down at the body. "Her body is covered with superficial cuts, but what finally killed her was near decapitation. The killer slit her throat in one smooth cut and she is literally kept together by a thread."

"The killer doesn't seem to know his own strength."

"Or he does know and exercise power that way." I looked at Eriol and he grinned sheepishly at me. "Hey it's only my thoughts on the matter. Remember the Samhishi-case?"

"Yeah. Who found her?"

"A girl, she claims to be a colleague of the victim. She is in the dinning room. The girl with the brown hair and green eyes, Sakura Kinomoto."

I cringed at the name. Of all the people in the world, why did it have to be her? Off all the people…

I silently wished for the world to swallow me into its dark forgiving depths before I was able to see the girl. Before she was able to see me to be precise.

I still remember my first meeting with her. Big innocent green eyes, long honey brown hair and a pretty angelic face. A real beauty. It's just unfortunate that a merciless witch lives under that angelic exterior. A merciless witch with the power to take anything you say and use it to her advantage.

I damn well hate journalists.

And I hate this one even more.

I turned into the dinning room and found the girl sitting at the table, slightly leaning back in her chair. It seems that she cut her hair. It was now short in layers and ended just above her shoulders with a layered fringe to frame her pretty face.

Her arms covered in a light black jersey hugged her body and blue sleeves stuck out from under her shirt and over her hands; a collar was also visible from under the black jersey. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and a silver hoop and one small blue diamond stud winked at me.

Her face seemed pale and she rubbed her hands on her arms for extra warmth. Sighing I took a seat across from her and she looked at me. She gave me a small conceited and knowing grin, but I could see the strength in it has disappeared for the moment. "Well if it isn't Detective Li. How's it going Urban Wolf?"

I shook my head slightly at the little nick name she had given me on the first day. "Better with me than with you I see."

"Yeah well, bodies ain't exactly my thing. I only get dirty in politics." Her voice was clear, crisp and confident… as I remembered it.

"Yeah, you were swimming in the mud with your last article on senator Tatted." Her grin grew. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

"I suppose. The roles have to be turned sooner or later, hey Urban Wolf?" Still as arrogant and confident as ever. I took a quick glance at her eyes. But she has lost that sparkle from the other times. It will come back, I know it will.

"What is your relationship with Miss Glen?"

"We are co-workers. She is the writer for the gossip coulomb in Tokyo Daily. I had to drop some of her fan and advise-asking mail off, since she was sick. She had a bad flu or something like that."

"How did you find her?"

"Oh… I rang the bell and no answer came, but that's not unusual. I thought she might be sleeping so I tried to slip the letters through under her door and it suddenly clicked open. I walked in and found her in her bedroom." She sniffed as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "I… I um… I still need to get to parliament."

"Senator Tatted to harass?"

"Yeah."

"Do you need to talk to someone about what you saw?" I could see she was shaken up. I would have been too if this was my first body, and I work with this kind of thing everyday, she doesn't. "I can refer you to an excellent…"

"I don't talk about my problems, Detective." She clutched her black shoulder bag as she got up without looking at me. "I have to hurry."

"Here is my card if you remember something out of the ordinary or need to talk." I handed her my business card and she took it with her small hand covered by her blue sleeve. She mumbled a small thanks and walked past me to the front door.

My eyes followed her slim body out of the room.

-Sakura Kinomoto-

I sat in the dinning room waiting for some other detective to come and talk to me. Detective Hiiragizawa said that the other detective would be with me shortly, he is only handling some other affairs. So I sat and waited, trying to control shiver after shiver that ran through my body every time I thought about Marissa and what the creep did to her.

I pushed a lock of hair behind my ear before rubbing my arms as another shiver ran through my body. I needed to get out of this place; I needed to get out of here really bad. This smell was suffocating me.

I became aware of a man taking a seat across from me and I felt a grin grow on my face when I recognised him. "Well if it isn't Detective Li. How's it going Urban Wolf?"

He shook his messy earthy head at me slightly. "Better with me than with you I see."

"Yeah well, bodies ain't exactly my thing. I only get dirty in politics." Heavens knows that a body is definitely not my thing and I don't suppose it will ever be my thing.

"Yeah, you were swimming in the mud with your last article on senator Tatted." I couldn't believe it. He actually followed my stories in the paper. He actually knew what I was writing about and when. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?" Wrong question Li! I don't want to talk about what I just saw.

"I suppose. The roles have to be turned sooner or later, hey Urban Wolf?" He stared at me for a split second before asking me his questions and I answered them without trying to think too much about it. I could feel the emotions in me bubble but I pushed it away with a sniff and the back of my sleeve. I needed to get out of there and I needed to get out fast. "I… I um… I still need to get to parliament."

"Senator Tatted to harass?"

"Yeah."

"Do you need to talk to someone about what you saw?" I didn't look at his eyes. His voice was the same cold professional sincerity like when he talked to other people in the same situation as me. He didn't really care; he had to pretend to care.

All I need is someone who really cares, and I'm not going to find it in him or anyone else in this damned city. It's at times like these I longed for home more than ever, when I longed for my father and brother… "I can refer you to an excellent…"

Yeah, that's it. It's all one big money making scheme in this city. If you ain't got the money then you're a waste of space and air. Politics has taught me that much and it isn't a lesson you're soon to forget. "I don't talk about my problems, Detective. I have to hurry."

"Here is my card if you remember something out of the ordinary or need to talk." I took his card knowing that it wouldn't be of any use to me. But is suppose it would make him feel better. I mumbled a small thanks at him and made my way out of the apartment with his eyes following my every move.

Here you stand seething with guilt.

Silence only justifies this act of cowardice.

A small crowd of journalists had gathered in front of the large white marble building. I got several glares and remarks as I made my way to the top of the stairs and ignored them all. I might be popular amongst the public, but the rest of the journalism world I'm a thorn in their side and my poison is slowly killing them all.

I leaned against a pillar and dug my hands into my jeans' pockets as I watched the doors in anticipation. "Miss Kinomoto?" I turned my attention to the voice and found the leading politics television expert with a microphone and a camera man looking at me. "What do you think the outcome will be of this meeting?"

"Aren't I the wrong person to be asking these kinds of questions to?"

He smiled at me with his fake porcelain dentures. "Our viewers value the views of some of the leading experts on the field."

"Meaning you don't have enough to talk about yourself." I knew this was being broadcast live and it would be aired on the news again tonight and I was pissing him off. I was royally pissing him off. I turned my attention to the doors once more.

"I think the members of cabinet will reject the proposal. Senator Tatted has his fingers in several unauthorised pies and he is currently under investigation. It would ruin the government's image to even consider a proposal form a corrupt official."

"Thank you Miss Kinomoto."

"No problem Mr Hirosima." He walked off, but I could still feel the camera on me and chose to ignore its presence. Slowly my mind drifted off to the event of this morning and I bit my lip to keep the tears from forming in my eyes.

I had a job to do, and by the heavens I'm going to do it. Tonight I'll be able to linger on the images burned into my mind. Tonight I'll be able to worry about Marissa's family. Tonight…

The doors burst open and Senator Tatted stormed out with several men and women following him as I walked up to him to confront him about the current issues in the political world.

Syaoran's P.O.V.

My head pounded as I dumped my heavy body on my coach and turned on the television. The news was on and I could see the man's mouth form words, but no sound came from him. The scenes changed and the image of parliament was plastered all over the screen. My eyes landed on the girl leaning against the pillar.

I could see she was troubled about something; anyone would have been able to see it. The only difference is I know what is troubling her and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it unless she called me.

I turned the sound up when the image changed once more and was this time focused on the girl. "Meaning you don't have enough to talk about yourself." That sounds like her alright. This guy must have been fuming on the other side to have been told off by a girl half his age and far more intelligent than him.

She turned her attention away from the camera and the silhouette of her face was perfect in the afternoon light. "I think the members of cabinet will reject the proposal. Senator Tatted has his fingers in several unauthorised pies and he is currently under investigation. It would ruin the government's image to even consider a proposal form a corrupt official."

"Thank you Miss Kinomoto."

"No problem Mr Hirosima." No problem. Poor girl. Giving her view on politics is really no problem compared to reliving every moment of the day you find your co-worker's slashed body.

I turned the sound down once more as the image changed and the sports was highlighted. Something isn't right about this case. The killer isn't finished yet, he hasn't completed his job yet. I brushed a hand though my hair.

He is going to kill again.

God knows I hope I'm wrong.

The look stapled on your face cries out for forgiveness,

The one thing that I cannot give.