Author: Reviews are love!! Thanks a lot!! Sorry for the super-late update, but I'm struggling to keep up with my ridiculously large amount of school work. X-X

Sakura plopped down in front of her laptop, rubbing at her damp hair with a fluffy towel, watching as the screen loaded and the desktop appear. A window with a pinkish tint popped up, urging her to sign in on Windows Live Messenger.

-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- has just signed in.

Sakura moved the pointer and clicked on the Online list.

RenegadeWolf - Write your own personal message here

A small smile graced the auburn-haired woman's lips as she clicked on that particular contact's icon and initiated a conversion.

-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: Wolfie!! :D

RenegadeWolf says: Hey cherry! Haven't chatted to u in a long tym!

-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: And whose fault is that?

RenegadeWolf says: Well, things haf been bz ovr at my side. I quit my job and moved elsewhere.

-WhimsicalxCherryxTree- says: You quit!? :O Why??

RenegadeWolf is typing a message…

Sakura waited as her anonymous friend and confidant typed out his reply. She had met RenegadeWolf – or, as she had grown accustomed to calling him with, Wolfie – on a random conversation website, Omegle, half a year ago.

Tomoyo had urged her to partake in the latest fad because she knew Sakura had been stressed out with the other vet in her clinic suddenly leaving without notice. Knowing she couldn't escape Tomoyo's incessant urging, she decided to waste a whole evening on Omegle to please her best friend.

At first, instead of a better improved mood, every random conversation that she had initiated irked her to no end and almost made her tear her laptop apart. Thankfully, a miracle happened.

Stranger: Hi

Sakura had simply stared at the screen.

You: GODSEND!!

You: Finally, a person who doesn't randomly type in 'Sandy Balls' or 'Elephant Peanut Butter Shoe'!!

Stranger: Uh…well, I'm glad ur happy? o-o

And from then on, they kicked off as fast friends. They had exchanged e-mail addresses but remained anonymous to each other. They told each other things that Sakura wouldn't dare tell even to Tomoyo, but a sliver of distrust still lingered.

The internet is a gray zone after all.

-

"Sakura? Someone's here to see you," Hitachi, her receptionist said as she opened Sakura's office door with a knock.

Sakura looked up from the paperwork on her desk. "Is it Tomoyo?"

Hitachi giggled girlishly, which made Sakura raise an eyebrow. "Well, no," she gushed, "He's devastatingly handsome!! Is he your boyfriend?"

Sakura stood up from her chair. "I'm not seeing anyone, Hitachi," Sakura said, a wary look on her face, "Anyways tell him to come in,"

Hitachi backed out and the vet waited as her receptionist went to call the rumored 'handsome man'. Sakura was fiddling with a Rubik's cube Tomoyo had gotten for her when a knock sounded. "Come in," she said, not looking up. She was so close to solving it!

"Twist the third row up horizontally and then vertically clockwise twice,"

Without regarding the deep voice, she did as she was told and miraculously solved the puzzle. "YES!!" she hissed happily.

"Glad you're happy?"

Sakura realized that she had ignored the person who had come to see her. Her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry! I got sidetracked!" she apologized hastily, "Please, take a seat!"

Sakura had heard, or rather, seen the words that the man had said earlier before.

'Glad you're happy?'

Those were one of the first words Wolfie had typed to her half a year ago. A small smile graced her lips as she wondered about her anonymous friend. She hoped that she would be able to converse with him later.

The man – as Hitachi had said – was indeed devastatingly handsome, Sakura decided when she looked up for the first time since he came in. His build was lithe and Sakura could see moderately toned muscles defined by the sleeves of the man's sweater. He had boyishly messy chocolate hair that framed his chiseled jaw and dark, liquid amber eyes.

"Japanese Adonis?" the words tumbled out of her mouth before she could stop herself.

"Chinese," he corrected in fluent Japanese, "My name is Li Syaoran,"

Sakura wrinkled her nose delicately. "Well, you're quite the narcissist, aren't you?"

Syaoran smirked. "I've been called many things, but never a narcissist,"

"Well, I haven't seen you around here," Sakura said conversationally, "Are you new? Did you just move here? Do you have a pet that you'd like resident veterinarian here to look at?"

"Yes, yes and probably," Syaoran answered smoothly, lacing his fingers together.

Sakura moved her hand towards a drawer, opening it. "Well, just fill out these papers-,"

"I came here to make a proposition actually," hazel eyes pierced into her on green ones from behind clasped hands.

The words dropped onto Sakura's receptive brain like lead. "'Scuse me?"

The Chinese man still had the cocky, sure-fire smirk on his face. "Let me get straight to the point. I'm sure you read the sports section of your daily newspaper?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"W-well, yes,"

"The first article from two weeks ago on the third of October. Did you read it?"

"How is this getting straight to the point?"

"Never mind what I said! Just try to recall whatever you read."

Sakura tried to recall what she had read two weeks ago. She didn't know why she was complying to whatever this strange Chinese Adonis was telling her to do, but something about him made her do so. "Something about an international skating champion disappearing from Canada, I think,"

"What's that champ's name, huh?"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, directing her eyes onto the ceiling as if it had the answers. "I distinctly remember it as R-Ri? No, L-Li! Yes, that's it!" she said gleefully, "And the other name was Syao-,"

She fell silent as she trailed off, an incredulous look on her face. "Li Syaoran, yes," Syaoran affirmed, nodding.

Sakura gaped. "You!! You're like, the best of the best!! But you got banned from the single's competition because of undisclosed complications!!" she gasped, "What are you doing here in Japan!? Don't you know the international press community is looking for you? They have a million dollar reward for anyone who can provide information leading to you!!"

"A million dollars, you say?"

"What are you doing here!?" Sakura repeated, hissing at him.

A serious look passed over the man's face. "Kinomoto. I need to ask you for a favour,"

Sakura stared at him. "Pardon? How can I help you in any possible way?"

A smirk appeared on his lips once again. "One and a half weeks ago, sixth of October, early in the evening, you were at the local skating rink," Syaoran recited easily, as if he had done so many times, "Wearing a blue skating costume, you performed a raw performance with many moves that no amateur can pull off,"

Emerald eyes regarded the person sitting idle in the chair. "Are you a stalker? Do I have to call the police?"

An annoyed look replaced Syaoran's laconic expression. "What I'm telling you is mere observation!!" he said defensively, "Anyways, I want to join the Toronto Winter Olympics, that's why I'm here to ask you to be my skating partner for the couples' skating event,"

Sakura blinked. "What?"

Syaoran made an exasperated noise. "You're quite the daft one aren't you? Absolutely slow to catch on," he complained, "Heavens know how you can have so much raw talent in skating. I'm asking you to be my partner!"

"Partner?" the dumbstruck woman asked.

"Yes, yes! In professional ice-skating!!"

Author: So, hope you guys can give your feedback on this! I'd like to write more, but I'm short on time. I'll try updating soon again, but in the mean time, I hope this will serve as a good introduction for their meeting!

Luv,
sakura-pichu16296