Chapter 14 Unexpected

Damn. Shaoran thought as he let go of Sakura a little bit. He then started to help her up when he saw Sakura's face register shock from seeing something behind him. From out of nowhere a man's face emerged. His eyes were bulgy and red-shot. His facial hair added to his gruesome look. Hair wild and everything.

"Watch out!" Sakura shouted.

It was a good thing that Shaoran was in kendo. But still they engaged in a very deadly fight. "Sakura! Run! Get out of here!" Shaoran kept telling her.

"I'm not leaving you here!" Sakura said as she got the flash light and as she did she saw that the thing she tripped over in was a leg of a dead body. The body was still fresh and bleeding out. What made it a little more frightening is that the victim's eyes were wide open. Sakura wanted to scream but stopped herself as she gathered her courage and shown the light towards where Shaoran was fighting the man. Sakura stood there not really sure on what to do. Her mind scrambled to think of that to do. Shaoran continued telling her to get away but she refused to leave her best friend there knowing that this man had already killed.

The man was strong. It looked like he was high on something. Shaoran fought hard against him. Sakura then picked up some rocks and threw it at the man to try and distract him. It worked and as he charged at her, Shaoran overpowered him and rendered him unconscious.

Shaoran was panting really hard as Sakura went up to him and embraced him as he her. She was trying to keep herself in check. She didn't want to break down. Shaoran knew that she was scared out of her wits. "It's ok. It's ok. He won't hurt you. He won't hurt us anymore. It's ok." Shaoran said. He felt her nod. When they broke off from each other, Shaoran asked, "Why didn't you go? I told you to leave."

"Right. Like I'm really going to leave you here alone with that killer in the dark?"

Shaoran hugged her again in relief that nothing bad happened to her or to them and said, "Come on. Let's get out of here. I don't know about you but I really don't feel like finishing this activity. I had had enough for one day." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as Shaoran took her hand and started to lead outside.

Outside, Naruhito and the others' eyes flew wide open when they saw Shaoran and Sakura leave the cave all bloodied. "What happened?" Naruhito quickly asked.

Shaoran and Sakura were catching their breaths a little bit as they looked at him. "Was that part of the mission?" Shaoran asked. Naruhito didn't seem to understand.

"There's a dead body in there which I happen to trip over and to top it all, there was a man who tried to kill us. He's there unconscious but we're not sure for how long." Sakura then answered.

Everyone did a double take. A dead body? A killer? In there? Naruhito then told one student to call the police which he did as he quickly ran towards the Inn. "Tell me what did he look like?" Naruhito quickly asked Shaoran and Sakura.

They looked at each other, simply taken aback with the question. "Well he had bulgy, blood-shot eyes. Slightly long, unruly hair. Overgrown facial features." Sakura said.

"Did he have a scar on his left temple?" Naruhito asked.

"Yes." Shaoran answered.

Naruhito shook his head and said, "That man has been in the news around here for a week now. He's a mental patient who escaped. It seems that he had already killed someone again. You two are fortunate that nothing bad happened to you."

Sakura closed her eyes. She didn't know if she was going to take that comment as a really good thing or something. It felt like a stab inside her chest. Shaoran could guess what was going through her mind.

Naruhito then motioned for the others to head back to the Inn as he called Yamaguchi-sensei to tell him what had happened. Naruhito didn't even allow Rika to stay. He only told Shaoran and Sakura to stay to report to the police before heading back. They would want a statement from them. As they waited and while Naruhito was on the phone talking with the Principal, Sakura sat on a large rock nearby. Shaoran watched her and walked towards her. He then sat next to her.

"You ok?" He asked.

Sakura let out a tired sigh and gave him a small smile. "Define ok after something like this. But yeah…I'll live. You? I hope you weren't hurt that bad. Geez if only I knew how to fight I could have helped you."

Shaoran smirked. "You did well. You were able to distract him so I was able to over power him. We did a pretty good job under those circumstances. But it's not something I want to happen again."

"Ditto. I won't forget this any time soon."

Shaoran nodded as Naruhito walked towards them. There was much sadness and concern in his eyes. Shaoran and Sakura didn't want to say anything. They were all silent until the police came.

An officer walked over to them and took their statement. As they were talking, Sakura turned away as they were taking the dead body away and the man into custody. She had enough of it inside her head that could last a lifetime so she didn't to see anymore.

Shaoran laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The officer empathized with them. He knew that it was a really scary ordeal. He just reassured them that he wouldn't be hurting them any more and that everything was going to be fine from there on. They didn't have to think about anything anymore. He then excused himself so Naruhito ushered them back to the Inn.

Naruhito walked them back. As they walked he said, "I'm really sorry. I never imagined that this would happen."

"It's alright, Seiji-san." Sakura said.

"Yeah. It's not like any of us wished it to happen. It just happened, Seiji-san." Shaoran said. Naruhito nodded.

When they entered the Inn, they were quickly met by Yamaguchi-sensei, Ryu, Shiho, Kenishiro, Rika and a few others. Shaoran and Sakura were still covered with blood. They were quickly asked if they were alright. Sakura gave them a small smile and nodded. Shaoran nodded himself. It was clear that they didn't want to talk about it just yet. The Principal nodded as he ushered them to freshen up. Shaoran and Sakura bowed with gratitude and went over to their rooms while he talked with Naruhito. The others stood there, not quite sure on what to do.

"Shiho, can you check up on Sakura? Tell us if we could come inside the room." Ryu said. Shiho nodded as she went to check up on Sakura. Rika, Ryu and Kenishiro stood there.

"I guess I should check up on Shaoran."

Rika said but before she left, Ryu said, "I think you should leave him alone for awhile. He will come to look for you when he's ready. Let him freshen up a bit and then go to him if you must." Rika seemed reluctant in accepting the advice.

"Rika, you should know that Shaoran isn't the type who would just open up just like that, even if you are his girl friend. He's a guy who's stoic and all. Ryu's right. Let him be for a while." Kenishiro said. Rika seemed defeated, just stood there before heading to her room at the opposite corridor.

After a while, Sakura sat in her bed hugging a pillow. She let her damp hair down as she wore her only pair of pants left and a shirt under a warm jacket. Shiho sat in the bed with her.

A knock was then heard from the door. It opened and Ryu and Kenishiro asked if they could enter. Sakura smiled and nodded. Soon after, another knock came. This time it was Shaoran. When he entered, he was a little surprised to see that the whole student council was there.

"I just wanted to check if you were ok." Shaoran said as he entered.

Sakura smiled at him and nodded. "How about you? Does anything start to hurt or something?" Shaoran grinned.

"Are you sure you're ok, Sakura-sempai?" Shiho asked.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "I never thought that a leadership training could be this eye-opening experience but it's ok I guess. I shouldn't complain because it's a normal thing in the line of work I want to enter. I should learn not to be squirmish about it. It's another part of humanity, that's all." Sakura answered.

"What you want to be a mortician or something?" Shiho asked.

Sakura laughed. "No. Of course not. I want to be an ambassador or simply a diplomat. You get sent to other countries, even those who are at war and you get to interact with those kinds of people or happenings." She answered.

"Will you tell your parents about what happened?" Shiho then asked. Sakura closed her eyes.

"Do you want me to tell him, Sakura?" Shaoran offered.

"Mother…I guess she knows…that's why nothing bad happened…she was watching over us from heaven…and my dad…definitely. I will tell my dad. My brother…well I'm not so sure about. Yes. I will tell my dad and not my brother, that's it." She answered.

"How come? Kinomoto-san will eventually find out." Kenishiro said. Sakura laughed a little bit.

"Well it's because I have this thing…I know it's stupid but I'm honestly trying to get over it." Sakura said then paused. "'nii-chan has this gift. He can see things that I can't. As a kid, he would always scare me that there was something beside me and tells me that it wants to get me. I got so brainwashed that I'm embarrassed to admit that up until now I'm scared of ghosts, goblins, scary stories, living dead. How am I suppose to tell him that now? Like, 'you know what 'nii-chan, all those years you've been telling me about the living dead, guess what I finally saw a dead person in the flesh so to speak.' Right. Like I'm actually giving him the license to torment me for the rest of my life. No thank you." She added which made everyone laugh.

After awhile, the guys left. Shiho and Sakura continued talking. They retired to bed. But after a while, Shaoran left the room again and was walking down the corridor when he happened to spot the zen garden of the Inn. It brought his mind farther from where it was already. He hadn't even noticed that Ryu joined him.

"I was just thinking…you and Sakura…you know her very well…do you think that she's really alright?" Ryu said.

"She's shaken up with the experience. That's understandable. Sakura is strong and if she says that she's ok, then she's ok. At first it may seem that she's only saying that because she's trying to convince herself about that too but she knows what she's doing." Shaoran answered as they walked down the corridor.

They then saw Sakura walking alone along the garden's edge that led to the beach. The strong sea winds was blowing her hair across her face. She then stopped and looked at the sea beyond. Her mind seemed to be far away as well. Ryu was about to go to her but Shaoran stopped him.

"Let me talk to her." Was all Shaoran said as he made his way towards her. She was already making her way to the beach and soon sat in the sand.

Ryu stood there and watched Shaoran sit next to her. He was soon joined by Kenishiro. "They have been best friends for the longest time. I'm sure he can talk to her as she can talk to him. Also, they've been through it together. I'm sure they can figure it out on their own. We just have to let them." Kenishiro said.

Ryu nodded. He kept on looking. "I know that. I know that Li Shaoran will always do everything in his power to help and protect Sakura as she is willing to give up anything for him as well. I just hope that he really knows what he's doing. I hope he can help her out through the emotional turmoil of this without bringing the pain that has been looming around them lately into it." Ryu then headed to his room. Kenishiro wasn't sure about what Ryu was talking about as he took a glance at Ryu and then at Sakura and Shaoran before heading inside as well.

Sitting there on the sand, neither spoke for a while. Sakura hugged her knees and laid her chin over her knees.

"Are you really alright, Sakura?" Shaoran asked.

"Yeah. I'm just tired that's all. The funny part about that is that I can't sleep." She answered.

"Sakura." Shaoran said gently. He then laid a gentle, reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't lie to me." He warmly said. Sakura closed her eyes as tears started to roll down. She wept silently.

Shaoran then pulled her close to him and wrapped a reassuring arm around her and let her cry on his shoulder. "It's ok, Sakura. I'm here. Don't hide the pain. You were really scared back in that cave. It's hard to just forget all that in a split second. Shhh…" He whispered.

"I don't even know why I'm crying. You know I've been scared about that sort of thing forever and it doesn't really bother me seeing a dead body up close but I was really scared that you were going to be hurt really bad and I couldn't do anything but watch. I was really scared…Shaoran…I was really scared…" Sakura said as tears continued to fall.

Shaoran tightened his embrace and said, "I know. It's ok now. Nothing is going to happen. I promise. You're fine now. We're both safe." He whispered. Shaoran tried his best to comfort her. He couldn't tell her that his fear was that something bad was going to happen to her at that cave. That was what kept him going. But somehow he chose not to tell her. She was shaken enough. He knew that it might push her away in a way because like she said, things were a little complicated now.

But the more Shaoran thought about it, the more it felt like it was a necessity to tell her exactly the truth. They had never kept anything from each other. He wasn't sure when it started but it didn't feel right and he wished that things would just return to the way they were. In order to do that, he knew that he had to come clean about his thoughts too.

"Do you know what kept me going? I was thinking of you. I didn't want you to get hurt. You were already scared and suddenly it happened. I wish I could take it back. I wish I should have just dragged you out there when I saw the body. But I didn't and I can't take that back. So when I was fighting the man, I was only thinking of how to get you out of there safe. I was scared too. So please don't cry anymore." Shaoran finally said, swallowing his pride.

Sakura broke away from him. She couldn't quite believe what he had just told her. But then again she knew that he would never lie to her about that. Shaoran wiped her tears and smiled at her. Sakura returned a small, tired smile. Shaoran then held her face with both hands and made her look at him. He smiled again and said, "Don't go around feeling guilty about something that is not your fault. You helped me remember? It's over. We're both fine. It's ok now." Sakura nodded. Shaoran gave her a nod before embracing her again. "You'll always be safe when you're with me. Remember that." He whispered.

From a distance, Shaoran didn't know that Rika was there watching them. She could feel this pang of pain. She didn't understand why she felt this jealously inside of her. They were best friends for crying out loud? But Shaoran was never that affectionate to her like he was showing Sakura at that moment. She shook her head as she headed to her room.

The next day, Naruhito conducted the leadership seminars and said before they were to leave and head back to Tomoeda, "Presidents you were expected to create treasure from trash because you are the ones who lead the others in order to achieve something of value. Vice presidents you were told to create a fan with gold leaves because like the presidents, your job is very important as it ensures the beauty of the project as you help with each detail. Secretaries you were taught to be electricians because you relay the information to the student body. Treasurers you were made to clean and take care of the shrine because as the ones responsible for the monetary affairs, you carry much integrity of the whole which you must always remember. The lamp you did as a group signifies your projects. Nothing can be achieved if you do not work together and do your jobs well. Last night's events were suppose to teach you that through darkness you will see light. We never intended to have it go the way it did but as leaders you must keep in mind that nothing that you do is insignificant. Everything is important. Remember this well."

As they were preparing to leave, Naruhito walked over to where the seniors and the juniors were who were preparing to climb the bus. He then pulled Sakura and Shaoran aside. He then said, "I want to apologize again for what had happened last night. I wish I could take it all back. I should have gone first to make sure that it was safe. I knew that there was a psycho loose at that time and I hadn't done any precautions. I'm really sorry."

Sakura and Shaoran looked at each other and then at Naruhito. "It's really alright, Seiji-san. Nobody asked for it to happen. At least now, that man is in custody and no one is going to get hurt anymore." Sakura said.

"We cannot change what happened and at least we didn't get hurt from the ordeal. It's alright, Seiji-san." Shaoran then said.

Naruhito gave a tired nod. Sakura and Shaoran felt really sorry for him. He had just lost his father and then he had that happen. It was too much for anyone. They felt that they were the ones who were supposed to apologize but Naruhito wouldn't hear of that.

Having thanked Naruhito and having made sure that everything was in order, Sakura boarded the bus followed by Shaoran. They headed to their seats. They were glad to be going home. It was certainly a leadership training that they would never forget. It brought things to them that they never really expected.

Sakura was a little torn inside. It wasn't from the previous night's event but rather she knew that as much as the experience brought her and Shaoran together, she can't allow herself to get really close to him once they get back. Things had to return to the way they were before it happened. She had to avoid him. She can't destroy his heart again. It stung deep inside Sakura. It was a heavy truth that she felt was weighing in on her hard. She couldn't complain though.

(to be continued…)

Ok I know this chapter is like a slap in the face sort of thing. It's weird how things turn out, isn't it? Well anyway, I don't know if you can call this a twist but hey it's a start. Anyway, thanks to those who kept reading up to this chapter and also to those who sent in their reviews. It is very much appreciated believe me. Please do send your reviews for this chapter as well. Thanks.

Michiko