Author: Thanks everyone, for reviewing and subscribing!
Author: M r s . R a d c l i f f e 1 3 , glad you like my random notes xD. I forgot what I was going to put in originally because it took me a while to write the chapter. I'll try and make longer chapters! While I was writing chapter four, I thought I had done a lot since it was like four pages in OpenOffice but when I uploaded it, well...it shrunk like fingers do, in the bathtub, after a long time. Next chapter...*doubled-space everything!! * I'm kidding, ha ha.
Author: I used to think bemused and amused were the same thing. Bemused actually meant puzzled. Now, I've gotta go back and re-read every book with that word in it, in a new light.
Chapter Five
Yukito Tsukishiro hummed to himself as he walked home from the grocery store. I've got toast, French bread, sweet bread, ham, cheese slices, pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, some bacon for later... He ran through a long list of items held in the brown paper bags he was holding. Maybe Toya would like some later, I'll pack a few sandwiches for him, I only need six after all. Oh shoot, forgot to buy something to drink, maybe I'll buy some juice before meeting Toya, there won't be time after our job starts. Hey isn't that Sakura? She's walking with a friend...that's odd, it's not Tomoyo.
He stood there for a moment, pondering if he should catch their attention and say hello to Sakura. He decided to gauge their moods. Sakura was looking down at her hand with a bemused expression on her face, Yukito realized she was holding hands with a young man, who seemed only a little older than her and had a grin on his face like the cat who got the cream. Maybe I better leave them alone...Even as he turned to walk away, Sakura noticed him and called out, "Yukito! Hi!"
Uh oh, I was caught. Yukito turned around and smiled at Sakura, "Hey Sakura, I was just getting groceries." He lifted up his arms full with three large bags, almost overflowing with food. Yukito glanced curiously at her friend. Sakura noticed and introduced him, "This is Syaoran, he's a....friend. Syaoran, this is Yukito Tsukishiro." The pause didn't escape Yukito's notice and he glanced at their joined hands. Sakura blushed and hoped Yukito won't mention this to her brother.
"Urmm...so are you and Toya are working late tonight? Is that what the snacks are for?" She asked. Yukito replied with warmth, "Yeah, Toya takes so many jobs, he never finds time to pack a decent lunch or extra snacks, so I bought more stuff." Sakura was grateful, "Thanks for taking care of him."
Syaoran followed their exchange warily, who's this person and what's Sakura's relation to this Toya guy? He was surprised to find a tiny seed of jealousy growing, after all, he had barged into her life and shouldn't be surprised if she had a boyfriend. It was probably too much to hope that other guys won't notice the kind and beautiful person she was. He studied Yukito's face closely, not bad looking, he's pale all over, even has dark grey hair. He was looking into Yukito's honey brown eyes when the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stood on ends. Something was peering through at Syaoran, studying him too, with icy, crystal silver eyes. He's not what he seems...Syaoran tightened his grip on Sakura's hand, and swallowed a growl threatening to burst out of his throat.
Sakura glanced at Syaoran's tight expression and decided to cut her conversation short. "It was nice seeing you, Yukito, we're gonna head off, lots of things to do. Tell Toya not to work too hard, okay?"
Yukito seemed puzzled but replied, "Sure Sakura, talk to you another time and it was nice to meet you Syaoran." Syaoran gave a stiff nod while Sakura waved good bye. Yukito headed off, his mind already occupied with what sandwiches he was planning on making when he got home. When he was out of sight, Sakura turned to Syaoran, "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. She was unconsciously rubbing little semi-circles on his hand with her thumb. Syaoran relaxed now that Yukito was gone and pretended to grimace in pain. "My back aches a little, it was probably from dodging your fiery attack last night."
"What should I do?" Sakura asked apologetically. "Can you rub my back a little?" She hesitated and he added, "Please." She falteringly put her hand between his shoulder blades and started rubbing in a clock-wise pattern.
"A little lower, I think it was a muscle in my lower back...please" Syaoran grinned while her attention was focused on rubbing downwards. "Lower..."
She flushed a deep red as she caught on and punched his arm, just in case he really was injured in the back. Syaoran chuckled as a red-faced Sakura skated away, making him run to catch up. They stopped at a local bakery for Sakura to pick up a small delicious looking strawberry cake and much to Syaoran's amusement, she didn't slow down for him.
Sakura unlocked the front door and let Syaoran in, still amazed he wasn't the least bit out of breath after jogging besides her and not lagging behind at all. She perched on the edge of the step in the shoes area and took off her skates, watching Syaoran politely take off his shoes. After handing him a pair of green indoor slippers, she put on her pink straw ones and marched into the kitchen and dining. Syaoran followed, glancing at everything on the way, hoping to learn more about Sakura.
"Please sit down, I'm going to get tea started, would you like anything?" Sakura inquired as she moved around in the kitchen taking down cups, a tea pot, and tea leaves from various cabinets. Syaoran studied the frilly pink apron she donned over her white school blouse and dark skirt and smirked, "Anything?..." Sakura blushed and corrected herself, "I meant, to drink. Tea, water, cold juice or soda?"
"Tea is fine, since you're already making it. What was the cake for?" Syaoran asked.
"You'll see..." She said cryptically and then raised her voice, "KERO!! Come have cake, I bought it fresh!"
KERO?! Syaoran looked around alarmed, expecting a giant beast to lunge out at him. Instead he heard a small thump upstairs and a tiny high-pitched voice yelling and getting louder as the source came closer. "Yaaaaaaaaaaaayyy!! Sakura, you always know how to treat me special! Does it have those huge strawbe--"
A yellow ball flew to a stop at the doorway to the dining room, it had tiny white wings attached to its back and a long tail ending in a white tuft of fur. Beady black eyes focused on Syaoran from the front of a round head with similar teddy bear ears on top, twitching in curiosity at finding a guest. Then an unholy light flared in its eyes as recognition dawned between the two. Syaoran toppled his chair backwards as he stood up fast and pointed at the-- "stuffed animal that talks! That's Kero? That's the beast that attacked me?!"
Meanwhile, Kero was in a similar pose, he had floated backwards a little in surprise and was pointing a tiny paw at Syaoran, "That brat from last night!!"
Syaoran doubled over in laughter and clutched his stomach. Sakura deftly stepped between them and held up a plate with a slice of cake on top and a fork. "Don't transform Kero, I can explain, first have some cake." Kero eyed the cake but wouldn't be put off, "I just told you this morning to be careful! What were you thinking when you brought him home?" Sakura looked chagrined but explained how Syaoran had tracked her down and he would have eventually known where she lived anyways. Kero calmed a little and took the cake to settle across the table from Syaoran, who was still twitching on the floor. "Didn't I always tell you to expect the unexpected? I was right." Kero said with his mouth full.
Sakura put a napkin in front of him and said, "If I'm to expect the unexpected, that makes the unexpected expected, so this shouldn't surprise you." She left Kero to work through that, and put a slice of cake in front of the recovered Syaoran and served tea.
"Now, what would you like to know Syaoran?" Sakura asked, her hands around a cup of tea.
"How long have you been after werewolves?" He asked immediately.
Sakura paused a little before answering, "...I've been looking for werewolves, ever since I was old enough to understand they were the reason my mother died. I never witnessed the murder, but my brother Toya did..." She trailed off. Syaoran felt a brief relief that Toya was only her brother before a surge of anger at the rogue wolves surfaced. "I'm sorry about your mother..." He clenched his fists at the sadness on her face and promised to beat the hell out of the next rogue he found. Syaoran cupped his hands around hers to try and comfort her. "Thank you...in some ways, I'm better off than Toya, he was older and knew her longer, I was only three but from what I know, she was a gentle person and didn't deserve th-the...way she died" Sakura finished awkwardly.
Syaoran winced, most rogues killed gruesomely...
"Was this your mother?" He gestured at the picture to the side with a vase of flowers next to it. The frame held a beautiful woman with large, sparkling beryl eyes, dressed in a flowing white dress, her long blue-grey hair curled down her back like a waterfall. She looked happy in the picture, her gaze focused somewhere off camera, love in her eyes and showing in the way she glowed.
"Yes, she was a model, one of the best, she and my father were deeply in love. He was a professor and she was his student, but it turned out well. Remind me to tell you, one day, how they met, it's a lovely story..." Sakura smiled gently while she softly touched the glass above her mother's face. Syaoran solemnly said, "I won't forget." Sakura turned her smile to him his heart skipped a beat at the tenderness in them. Sakura cleared her throat.
"What about you, Syaoran, are you a...werewolf?" She asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer. Syaoran took a chance, looked into her emerald eyes and answered gravely, "Yes...I am, are you going to kill me now?"
The tension in the room thickened and Kero prepared for the worse but Sakura, without breaking eye contact with Syaoran, held up a hand to stop him.
She started falteringly, "I've...never actually killed a werewolf before...knowing you changes things, now my nameless enemy has a face..." Sakura closed her eyes. "In the first place, Kero was never meant to track down were-wolves, he was meant to protect me, as his Mistress, and is the guardian of whoever wields the cards that are the basis of my powers...We've never come face to face with the enemy, only just miss them or pass over their location." Syaoran mentally sighed in relief. "I'm glad, ...rogue werewolves are no laughing matter, you saw how fast I got to you, I may be better trained than most but we are dangerous creatures, especially the rogues, they won't hesitate to eliminate threats."
Sakura nodded, "Your speed at dodging Fiery was amazing, I didn't expect you to come at me like that and you also have control over the elements."
"Yes, I used to use Fulus, paper talismans, but I've progressed over that, magic runs in my family." Syaoran said. "Being a werewolf is actually a curse, the soul of a wolf and the soul of a human are bound together by ancient magic at birth. It's unnatural."
Syaoran looked at Sakura and Kero, both were absorbed in his story of the origins of werewolves. He continued, "We were cursed by a Goddess of Nature, one who hated how humans multiplied endlessly and ruthlessly took from the Earth. Unlike animals who take only what they needed, humans took more and more because they were able to see further into the future and decided to gather supplies to prepare for events to come. However, She saw that humans also strip-mined the earth, out of greed for precious metals and rocks, destroying entire lands, causing chain reactions that worsened over time."
Syaoran paused to take a breath and continued, "My family started out as the Li Clan, we were a section of the cursed werewolves that was able to control the blood lust She set upon us at birth. We convinced Her humans are a part of the Earth as much as Her other children, the animals and plants. Some of us might not be respectful of the land or are ignorant but we were simply utilizing the tools given to us for survival. Instead of letting werewolves hunt and kill innocent or guilty humans in-discriminatory, She might be better off teaching us a way to co-exist."
"Long story shortened, She was weakened and lost control before lifting the curse. Now we help her hunt the rogues, the ones who refuse to control themselves or are addicted to blood lust." Syaoran finished.
Sakura and Kero were silent, mulling this over. Suddenly Sakura noticed that it had gotten late and the sun was setting, about time she usually started cooking supper. She collected the empty cups and plates and dumped out her own cold tea that she never drank. She turned to Syaoran, "Would you like to stay for dinner? I usually cook for my brother and I, when it's not his turn, and Kero, of course, but Toya is going to be home late tonight so I usually leave his portion in the refrigerator."
"Yes, please." Syaoran said, happy she asked. Kero let out a stiff 'humph' and went to perch on Sakura's right shoulder, keeping an eye on her and Syaoran. Sakura smiled and got to work getting out pans, pots and food materials. Syaoran offered to set the table and she handed him the plates, napkins and utensils. A hour and a half passed with them working in synchronicity, Syaoran chopping and Sakura preparing and cooking. Finally, she left the pots and pans in the sink filled with water and the three of them settled down to eat. Kero didn't hesitate to dig in, the aroma of rich tomato sauce on top of the lightly, steaming strands of spaghetti with meat balls drifted around the table.
Syaoran had just taken a delicious mouthful when the three panel window in the living room burst inwards, spraying the sofa and couch with glass shards. Some tiny shards flew as far as the dining room but bounced off a semi-transparent shield. Syaoran glanced at Sakura, checking if she was okay but her wand was already out, having summoned a Shield. He turned back to the intruders and let out a thunderous growl, displeasure on every note, that Sakura felt rumbling from standing next to him.
Kero burst forth from his winged cocoon, a roar already on his lips, his nose ridge bunched into an angry snarl. He immediately tackled one of the six werewolves and ripped into the grey wolf's side with wild abandon, claws a deadly scalpel and wings sprayed with blood.
Syaoran leapt over the tangle of Kero and enemy, changed in mid-air, ripped through his constraining clothing and with brown fur covering him, landed atop a distracted black wolf. He sank his wickedly curved fangs into the black wolf's neck and hung on, crushing its breathing passage, then with a wrench ripped the throat out, splattering fur and blood across the wall.
As soon as Kero had transformed, Sakura had called on the Wood, to trap two of the wolves in entangling branches and roots, then called the Sleep to knock them out. She turned around in time to see a red wolf leap at her with fangs dripping and yellow eyes gleaming with glee before its open jawed muzzle was smashed into the wall by a flying jump kick from Meiling.
"Oh! I am soooo pissed at you Syaoran!! This is what happens when you try to lose me, I always find you later, in trouble!" Meiling screamed at Syaoran's general direction before she turned and smacked the sixth wolf's astonished face, punctuating each punch with a sound, "Argh! Grr! You! Stu-! Pid-! Prick!" Sakura blinked and backed away from the ferocity of Meiling using the wolf as a punching bag for her frustrations.
Syaoran whined in wolf form, and Meiling whirled on him, "YOU! Yooouuuuu!" She narrowed her eyes when he tried to give her puppy eyes with his tongue lolling out the side of his jaw. Meiling shuddered, "Ewww, please don't do that with blood on your mouth, that just makes it creepy beyond all measure." Syaoran abruptly stopped in embarrassment.
Kero moved behind Sakura to protect her and additionally keep an eye on the knocked out wolves. Meiling turned to Sakura, "When Syaoran changes back, he'll need clothes, not to mention a shower, if you don't mind?..." Sakura nodded and said, "Shower is upstairs and I'll get some of Toya's old sweats for you." She picked her way carefully across the floor littered with glass, blood and bodies. Syaoran padded after her, claws clicking on the wooden floor leaving a trail of bloody smudged prints. Meiling started picking up the glass while listening for any neighbours or the police approaching. Kero silently watched her.
Sakura led Syaoran to the bathroom down the hall, pausing midway to grab sweats and an old T-shirt from Toya's room. She left him inside the bathroom with instructions on how to adjust the water for the shower stall and where the soap was. When the sounds of water being turned on and draining started, Sakura leaned back against the wall opposite the bathroom door and sank down, putting her head on her knees. The adrenaline was wearing off and her hands were shaking. Soon her entire body was shuddering in horror.
Syaoran opened the bathroom door, spilling out warm steam and paused in the middle of towelling his hair dry. He came out, lifted her up and hugged her to him, tucking her head under his chin. Her shaking receded a little as he gently rubbed her back in a comforting motion, up and down, up and down. "Shhhhhh, it's okay..." He continued to make soothing noises until she stopped shuddering altogether.
Sakura was enveloped in heat, she breathed in Syaoran's male scent and soap while the lingering warmth from the shower sank into her body, calming it. She went limp in his arms, suddenly worn out from the day's events. Syaoran easily held her slight weight against him and continued to rub her back. She gathered the remains of her energy and tried to pull away, "I still have to clean up the living room and the kitchen..." Her body gave a violent shudder as she remembered the blood splattering on the wall. Syaoran tightened his grip on her and said, "Forget it, I probably led them to you, so it's my fault, my mess, I'll clean up." To finish the debate, he swung her into his arms, so that she wouldn't have to step through the bloody paw prints and went to the door with the pink paper sakura petals. He stayed long enough for her to fall asleep, not taking long at all because as soon as her head hit the bed, she passed out, overwhelmed.
Syaoran got a used rag from the hamper and started wiping up the blood on the wooden floor. When he got downstairs, he saw that Meiling had already picked most of the glass up and closed the curtains. He handed her a rag to wipe the blood away, the hardest being the splattered wall. He gave up after doing the best he could but the wall was left with a faint pink tinge to it, only really visible from the side. As they worked on storing the uneaten food and washing the dishes, they discussed the attack. "It was definitely planned well, no neighbours even came over to check the noise, though we did end it quickly, and no signs of the police. Could they be after Sakura?" Meiling pondered. Syaoran remained silent and Kero just split his attention between the conversation and the sleeping hostages.
Suddenly, Syaoran slammed his palm on the counter top in anger, "I should have been more careful, what if something had happened to her? It's unthinkable...I keep letting my guard down around Sakura." His voice softened as he mentioned Sakura's name.
Meiling rolled her eyes and exchanged a glance with Kero, who rolled his shoulders in a shrug, ruffling his wings. Just then, one of the unconscious wolves started to stir, ears and paws twitching. Syaoran's head shot up and like a blood hound, honed in on the waking wolf. He stalked over and using a violent twist of magic, forced the wolf to recede and the human to emerge. A man appeared naked, curled into a fetal-position on the floor where the wolf was. He looked up into Syaoran's cold amber eyes and saw Death, personified, and whimpered. A slow feral grin spread across Syaoran's face as he said, "Let's talk."
End of Chapter Five.
Author's Notes:
*I heard "Doesn't expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?" from somewhere, I don't know where, I credit whoever came up with it.
*It always astonishes me that Cardcaptor Sakura came to America as 'Cardcaptor' and they cut out Sakura and Syaoran's love story because they deemed it inappropriate BUT they kept Chiharu's abuse of Takashi, (a.k.a. She strangles him) and just explained it away as sibling rivalry between cousins.
*I tried to make it longer but my eyes are burning xD I give up! *splashes water on her face *
* Tell me if anyone wants to change the rating ha ha, maybe it's too violent.