Clamp owns CCS, I don't. Just borrowing some characters and adding new ones.
A.N. It's been awhile. Got a little busy with work. So here's the new chap. Hope you'll enjoy this one. Any feedback will do.
Meeting Syaoran, Loosing Sakura
Chapter 6 – The Bargain
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The restaurant was cozy, the ambience was relaxing and the food was great. Sakura was enjoying a late lunch with Syaoran. He was kind enough to lay low on the teasing game and kept his thoughts to himself. She doesn't need it right now.
She caught him looking again at her. "What?"
He sheepishly smiled before answering her question. "I was just wondering. Why do you always act so tough and mean all the time?"
She raised her brow at his out of nowhere question.
"Why do you do it when you can be naturally sweet?"
"I'm not acting at all Li. I don't do bullshit."
"See? You're doing it again."
"Doing what?" her irritation was slowly pilling up. She did not like the topic at all.
"I know you know what I mean. Why don't you try showing your softer side more often? It suits you."
"Don't start with me Li. The end will be ugly." She scowled.
It didn't bother him. He was now used to the act. And he would continue to push it. "You won't win this time." His tone was firm.
Sensing this, she stopped frowning and gave him a blank face. "Try me."
Before he could further irritate her, the door swung open and Meilin came in. She looked around for a bit then she smiled seeing their table. She ran towards them. "Am I interrupting something?" She asked seeing the scowl on Sakura's face.
"Yes you are."
"No you're not."
The two answered at the same time making her frown.
"What did you do this time Xiao Lang?" she eyed her brother.
"Don't give me that look Meilin. We were just talking. I'm trying to knock some sense out from our dear friend."
"Fuck you Li! If you really are a friend you won't fucking change me into someone I am not!" She nearly shouted. Her blabber was cut short when her phone started ringing.
She stood up and went inside the washroom. Meilin took over her seat and glared at her brother. "What are you doing?"
"This is none of your business Mei. Stay out of it." He was back to his calm self.
"Oh! It's my business Xiao Lang. Have you forgotten we are talking about my best friend here? And don't give me that cold shoulder."
He smiled. "You are being silly." He shrugged his shoulders not wanting to say more.
Meilin was about to say something when Sakura came back. The scowl never leaving her face. "I need to go Meilin. Daidouji wants me in the office now. She really is annoying."
She kissed Meilin on the cheek before leaving the restaurant. The cold shoulder hurt Syaoran but she felt the need to completely ignore him upon leaving.
"You're digging your own grave. What are you doing?" Meilin didn't waste time to rant.
"Look I'm just trying to convince her that smiling is better than scowling. She does that all the time."
"No she doesn't. She's only like that around men, especially around you if you haven't noticed that. Why do like pissing her off?"
"It's fun." was his simple answer.
Meilin nearly pulled out her hair. "Why are you being a jerk? You were supposed to be a gentleman. Mother will surely have a heart attack if she sees this jerkiness."
Syaoran immediately gave her a serious face. "Mother had been calling. She wants us home immediately. I asked for two more weeks. But knowing our mother she might jump into our private jet and drag us home anytime soon."
"What?! Why didn't you tell me?" Frustration was filling her in.
"What difference will it make? The way I see it you will never be ready to leave."
"No! I don't want to leave yet." She was now panicking. "Brother you have to help me." She pleaded with all her might. She never called him 'brother' unless she badly needed something.
"You don't have to beg Mei. I can clearly see that. But I can't promise you anything now. I hope you understand that as well." He sighed to release the tension. "I am not as tough as you when it comes to defying Mother."
"You would have been a cooler brother if you were defiant son. I guess you are living to our Father's expectations." She sadly gazed at him. "I'm just the black sheep, and a proud one."
Sakura took deep breaths before entering the office. She would not give the lady the satisfaction to see her flare up just by the sight of her. Daidouji was on the phone when she came in. She immediately bid farewell to the person on the other line while Sakura settled on the couch. She crossed her legs, with a blank face she waited for her boss to speak.
"So have you decided?" She smiled gleefully at her.
"I already told you. I'm not modeling for you."
Tomoyo laughed at her response. "Oh! But that's not what I was asking you." She stood up grabbed two glasses and poured whiskey. She handed one to Sakura and she instantly gulped hers. "I was asking when will you be moving to your condo?"
"What?! Are you drunk or something?" Sakura almost wanted to laugh. Is she drunk or what?
"I'm serious. You are moving to your condo next week. But I want you to choose the date."
Sakura couldn't decide what to say or do. Tomoyo was just talking nonsense. "I suggest you sober up and stop wasting my time. Good day Miss Daidouji."
"Wait!" Tomoyo called out. "Starting tonight you will no longer work here. Spend the rest of this week for rest. I'll see you when it's time to move. You can take your exit now." She smiled amusedly.
Sakura slammed the glass unto the table, nearly breaking, before walking out. She took in some more deep breaths before heading out. The club was almost half empty aside from the cleaners. She shook her head. "People are getting crazier."
Her eyes almost fell on the pavement when she saw Syaoran's car parked right in front of the club when she came out. He stood leaning on the passenger's side smiling brightly at her.
"What are you doing here Li?" She stood right in front of him, her hands on her waists.
"I'm giving you a ride home. Come on." He opened the door for her.
"Oh God! Am I cursed today?" She helplessly looked up as if God was looking down at her.
Syaoran laughed at her action. "Get in before they start thinking you have gone mad." The smile on his lips remained.
For the nth time she took a deep breath and got in. "I'll probably curse myself for doing this." She whispered to herself as Syaoran turned to the other side.
When they drove away from the club Sakura closed her eyes. The day was too far from ending yet she felt so tired. People just kept forcing their ideas on her without even considering her thoughts.
"About earlier, I'm sorry. I guess I got a little carried away."
"Oh no you didn't. You got too nosy." She said without opening her eyes.
"I guess your right. Just… Well, I'm sorry okay?"
"Yeah. Now shut up and bring me home. My head's being a pain in the ass, whatever that means."
The last thing she remembered was hearing him chuckle. She got really exhausted from all the absurd conversation and emotional attacks and fell asleep.
He parked the car in front of the apartment. She was so peaceful in her sleep he didn't have the heart to wake her up. She twisted a little to reposition herself.
"Stupid Li." She murmured in her sleep.
He just shook his head. No matter how tough she may look like, she couldn't keep up with her pretense. It would wear her off. He took his time to watch her sleep when she started snoring.
"Whoa!" Syaoran burst into laughter. It was so damn hilarious. He didn't bother holding back or he might choke. His laugher awakened Sakura. And that earned him a slap. "Ow! How can you be so violent just after waking up?"
"You're an asshole." She grabbed her bag and went out of the car.
He followed her after locking the car. He was smiling while holding his reddened face. Sakura didn't bother closing the door knowing that he's right behind her.
Sakura did her make up darker than usual. She avoided the puzzled look from the other girls in the dressing room but they just kept staring at her totally forgetting the meaning of the word rude. "Would you fucking mind your own business?" She glared at them through her mirror.
They finally looked away and she continued fixing herself. Shouta came into view with an irritated look. "I thought Miss Daidouji made it clear that you will no longer work starting tonight. Leave now Aya."
She gave him a fake smile. "Where did the drooling boy go? Someone else's dog now Shouta?"
"Dammit! Leave now before I loose my job!" He pulled her up by squeezing her arm.
Sakura immediately jerked away freeing herself. She pointed a finger at him. "Don't you ever touch me again Nagasaki! I swear I'll kill you. You hear me?! Don't you ever do that again!"
She pushed him hard but he didn't budge. Sakura hit his body hard as she walked out of the dressing room. The rage inside her was highlighted by her dark make up. Anyone who would see her now will get goosebumps.
She pushed the door open and shot daggers to the ladies in the washroom. Everyone scrammed out not wanting to pick a fight with her. They knew how violent she can become when aggravated. As the room became silent she locked the doors and slowly allowed her knees and legs to wobble as she dropped to the floor. And for the first time after five years she cried not because of Touya.
Only Touya can make her cry, dead or alive. Only her precious brother could. She shut herself from the world for the sole reason of preventing anyone from hurting her more. But today, everyone seemed to break in her walls and directly punched her in the guts. It's painful but she wasn't hurt. She was crying out of desperation, frustration, rejection and fear. Fear was always there. It did not leave her.
"Meilin! We've talked about this!" Syaoran followed his sister out of the car.
"You can't stop me Xiao Lang. This is the last time I'll be working with Sakura, the last time I'll be myself. So no I'm not listening to you."
"I'm warning you Meilin. I'll make sure you will regret defying me." He gave her a final warning. He kept getting the vibes that Yelan would show up anytime soon. He couldn't let her see Meilin stripping in a club. The fact that he lied to her about it was enough to anger their mother.
Meilin halted. He really was serious. She hated begging him but she was willing to do it now. With a puppy face she turned to face her brother. "For the last time, please let me in. Please Brother."
"Come on Mei. You can't use that right now. You now it won't work."
"Fine! But can you at least allow me to greet and say goodbye to my friends? Please?" She begged again.
"God!" He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm coming with you. Make this quick."
"I love you Xiao lang." She grabbed his arm and went inside the club.
Tomoyo stared at the vacant couch. Sakura wasn't just stubborn; she's in charge of her life. Manipulating her should not have crossed her mind. "Ahh! The things I do for love."
She stood up, walked around her table and stopped in front of the glass cabinet where her collection of wine and whiskey were displayed. She lovingly examined each bottle before picking up her most favorite.
"I'm taking this matter seriously." She sighed, placed the bottle on her table and grabbed her phone. She tapped the screen and began typing her message. It said: Plan B tonight.
After sending the message she dropped the phone on her pocket and looked up. The ceiling was white like the rest of the room. She searched for two things: the smoke detector and the sprinkler. She found the sprinkler first, there were two in the room. The smoke detector was at the back corner of the ceiling.
"It's show time then." She lazily pulled off her stiletto and aimed at the smoke detector. She didn't hit it the first try. She finally smashed it with her shoe after a couple of tries.
She then opened the bottle she placed on her table and poured it all over the carpet. She lighted a cigarette, puffed it once and dropped it on the floor. After doing so, she hastily grabbed her bag and made sure that her office was locked before leaving the club. She rode her Mercedes at maximum speed and drove as far away as she could.
Meanwhile, the lighted cigarette slowly burned the carpet until it created a small fire. The alcohol that she poured earlier caught the fire and the small flame became huge starting to consume whatever was in the room. With the smoke detector gone, there was no stopping the fire.
Sakura rested her head on her knees while hugging her legs. She had not moved from her position even after her tears dried out. She didn't feel like glaring at anyone right now. She just wanted to be alone.
The tranquility of the silence brought by the empty washroom was enough to calm her. She was slowly reliving her memories of Touya when she heard faint screams outside the door. At first she planed to ignore it. But the screams became louder and she could already hear people running everywhere.
She raised her head and adjusted her eyes to the darkness. 'Is there a power outage?' Just as her vision cleared the thick black smoke covered the room and she started coughing. She covered her nose as she unlocked the door. It didn't open so she tried again. Panic rose to her when the door didn't open at all. She pushed it with her body but it was no use.
The smoke was hurting her eyes and she coughed every time she breathed. She immediately dropped to the floor and crawled towards the sink. She covered her nose and mouth as she desperately turned on every faucet. She used tissue to clog the sink so the water would overflow.
She dropped to the floor again hoping and waiting that it would work. She could already feel the heat of the unseen fire. And judging by how thick the smoke had become it will take just minutes for the fire to consume the comfort room as well. "Oh God help me."
Her tears poured out as the water from the sink slowly dripped down to the tiled floor. Relief crossed her mind for a second but she knew it wasn't enough. So she started shouting, calling out for help.
"Xiao Lang…" Syaoran halted as he felt Meilin's trembling hands. They got out of the club just as the fire alarm was made. The building didn't have any sprinklers or fire detectors. If not for a utility guy who shouted that a fire has started from the owner's office no one would be able to get out in time.
"Xiao Lang…" panic was now in Meilin's voice. Her grip tightened as her tears rolled out. "Xiao…" her eyes were unfocused as she searched through the crowd. "Xiao Lang, I… Sakura… I can't find her."
"Meilin! Look at me. Get in the car. I will look for Sakura." He held both her shoulders as he forced her to understand every word he said. Meilin nodded and with that Syaoran made his way through the crowd and bolted in the burning building.
The fire already consumed the right side of the building. Thick smoke covered his path. "Sakura! Where are you?!" He went in further and continued to call out her name. He dodged a falling wood as he went deep into the inferno. The heat was absorbing his body fluids making him dizzy. "Sakura!" He called out again.
He was about to give up when he heard someone cough from behind the wall. Water came out from the same door. He removed his shirt and soaked it and put it back on. "Sakura!?" He heard a faint "I'm here."
Syaoran saw a part of the ceiling had jammed the door. With so much adrenaline rushing out through his body he kicked the blazing wood and grabbed the knob. It didn't turn. He kicked it with so much force that the door flew open. To his relief it flew sideways missing Sakura who was sprawled to the wet floor.
"Li?! Oh my God!" She stood up embracing him like her life depended on him. "Thank you Li. Oh God!" She buried her face on his chest.
He embraced her as well, glad that she was okay. "We better go. The building will collapse any minute now."
They held each other's hand as they ran avoiding the falling debris. Both started coughing non-stop while finding their way out. Fire was everywhere Syaoran could hardly remember the way out. He was about to turn right when Sakura's grip hardened and she pulled him to an opposite direction. In a matter of seconds they were out.
"Where's your car?" Sakura asked. "I don't want to go to the hospital. Please Syaoran, take me home."
He didn't even realize her calling him by his first name. He nodded and led her to where the car was parked with a mourning Meilin standing beside it.
"Xiao Lang! Sakura!" She went out of the car and hugged them both. "I'm just so happy you're both here." Her cries got wilder.
Suddenly there was a loud boom followed by a crashing sound. When they turned all that can be seen was fire and debris. The building collapsed together with the fragile hope of the people who considered it home.