Void
A/N: Here's chapter two! Thank you so much for all your reviews … it's nice to see people I recognise from 'One Week', and also some new readers, which is exciting! I really hope you like this and that it meets your expectations …
I'm glad most of you seem to be enjoying this idea, or are at least interested by it. Personally I think the concept of the Void card is interesting, and potentially very frightening, which I hope to put across here. I don't think it was used to the extent it could have been in the CCS movie, but this may well be because scary soul-sucking cards don't really fit with the sweetness and bubbles that is CCS. Not that I have anything against the sweetness and bubbles ;p
I know a lot of you have questions … bear with me. They will be answered in time. It's no fun if I give away everything in the first chapter –grins-
Chapter Two: Interference
It was four minutes past ten. He was late.
Sakura frowned slightly, wondering where on earth the dark-haired man could be. He always got here at ten, on the dot, every day. Why wasn't he here? Was he sick, maybe? He didn't look like the sort of person who got sick. Or maybe he'd been called to an emergency business meeting, or had been hit by a truck, or –
"Sakura-chan! A little help over here?"
She looked up at Hana's cry, seeing a huge queue of people and Hana trying to take orders and work the machines at the same time. Sakura blushed, embarrassed that she'd been daydreaming (particularly about him) instead of doing her job. They were short-staffed that day after a girl had called in sick, and Sakura knew she needed to pay attention.
She rushed over with a muttered apology, smiling at the next customer as she logged onto the till system. She couldn't help but glance at the clock though. Six minutes past.
The next half an hour was a blur of people and smiles and money and shouting, but finally, at thirty-nine minutes past she heard the bells over the door jangle, and she knew before she even looked up that it was him. Her heart leapt as the door was pushed open and he walked through, catching her eye and blushing slightly as he joined the queue of people.
Inside Sakura beamed, happier than she probably should be to see him. She tried to temper her reaction though – he was so shy that she was sure an overly-enthusiastic greeting would scare him – and simply waved. He nodded in reply.
"Sakura-san," Michio shouted, rushing over to her and looking downright terrified. "I spilled coffee on the woman by the window and now the whole table's furious …"
Sakura sighed, not wanting to leave the till and the chance to serve the man, but Michio looked so frightened that she didn't have the heart not to help him. "Come here," she smiled at him kindly, waving him round the counter. "Do the till for me while I sort them out, ne?"
"B-But," he stammered, "What if I mess that up too?"
"You won't," she beamed. "I trust you. Just shout Hana-chan if you have any questions."
Sakura headed towards the table Michio had indicated, fighting the urge to smile apologetically at the man waiting patiently in the queue. She was sure he wouldn't mind someone else serving him – it wasn't like he came here for her, he came for the coffee.
Sakura didn't like it when they were short-staffed – it felt like you were needed in about six places at once, which in turn stressed you out and made everything seem twice as hard to deal with. As soon as she was done calming down Michio's customers (which took a round of free coffees and pastries and a customer services number), Hana was shouting for her again because she'd managed to crash the till.
"Sakura-san!" her boss called her as she was half way across the floor. "Everything all right?"
She smiled at him. "We're coping."
"Excellent – I'll go on my fifteen-minute break then," he said, having not had one all morning. He placed a basket of pastries on the counter and said, "I'll leave you in charge – put these out when you've got a minute, and call me if you need me."
Sakura nodded, already standing at Hana's till and pressing buttons. "You just turned it off, Hana-chan," she grinned in amusement.
Hana glowered resentfully at the till. "Stupid technology, stupid Shiori-chan …"
"It's not her fault she's sick," Sakura replied patiently, her eyes roaming the shop as she recovered Hana's previous transaction.
"Sick?" Hana let out an unladylike snort. "She's not sick, she's hung-over … and he's at his usual table, Sakura-chan."
Sakura's face heated up. "W-What? I wasn't, I-I mean – who …?"
Hana shook her head before moving onto the next customer. Sakura looked over to see that he was indeed sitting at his table, and he was staring at her again, which only flustered her more. Deciding she needed a distraction, she turned to grab the basket of pastries – but it wasn't where her boss had left it.
Frowning, Sakura glanced up and down the counter, before ducking behind it and searching there. It was nowhere to be seen.
"Hana-chan, did you move the pastries?" Sakura asked worriedly.
"No, they're where Kenji-san left them," she replied.
"No … they're not," countered Sakura, looking around in confusion. If no one had moved them … how could a massive basket of pastries just disappear? She placed a hand where they had been before, but quickly recoiled in horror. The surface tingled with tainted magic.
Sakura swore softly, something she only did in the direst of circumstances. They were gone … just like the rest of the things she had 'misplaced'.
"How's it going?" Kenji asked jovially as he re-entered the shop.
"Uh …" Sakura stammered nervously, wondering what to say.
It might have been the guilty look on her face, but he noticed the fact that the basket was missing right away. "Sakura-san … what happened to the pastries I asked you to put out?" he asked.
"I don't know!" she cried, looking round as though she expected it to pop out of thin air. "I swear, I didn't touch it – I just went to help Hana-chan with the till and the next thing I knew it was gone!"
"Gone?" Kenji echoed. "What do you mean, gone? Did someone steal it?"
"No!" Sakura denied frantically, not wanting to get anyone in trouble. "No, I mean – I didn't see anything! It was there one minute and then the next …"
Her boss sighed, clearly angry. "Sakura-san, there was over 35,000 yen's worth of produce in there …"
"I'm sorry!" Sakura apologised, not knowing what else to say.
Kenji looked at her, his desire to be strict warring with the fact that he really did like her. "Look, I know we've not had enough people in today … but this doesn't look good. For someone to just walk out with a whole basket of pastries and no one to even notice …"
Sakura hung her head, even though she was sure that wasn't what happened.
"Don't be ridiculous. I took them."
Her head shot up to see her latest obsession standing there, a somewhat bored expression on his face.
"Y-You took them?" Kenji stammered, taken aback by this abrupt confession. "But – but why, what …"
The man rolled his eyes. "I'm having a business brunch in half an hour and I wanted those goods served there. So I took them and sent them home in my car."
"You don't just take people's things without asking!" Kenji exploded. "I don't care how big or important you think you are, you're not stealing from my shop and getting away with it!"
As Kenji continued to shout, the man drew out a cheque book from inside his jacket, scribbled out a figure, then tore the cheque out and handed it to him. "I think this will be more than adequate to cover the cost of the goods and make up for your trouble."
Kenji took the cheque and looked it over huffily. Then his jaw hit the floor.
"I trust that will be all?" the man asked. "I really have to leave for my meeting – thank you for your assistance."
Sakura stared after him, wide-eyed, as he swept off towards the door. She'd never imagined him to be … haughty … before. He'd always seemed so quiet and shy …
But as he opened the door to let himself out, he glanced back and caught her eye. He looked … worried. Then, as if realising what he was doing, he shook his head slightly and walked out the door.
He hadn't taken those pastries. She'd seen him sitting at his table. And what's more, she'd felt the magic all over the countertop when she'd touched it. He hadn't done a thing.
He'd just covered for her.
"Well … I don't know what to say to that," Kenji said, looking slightly flustered. "Come on, everyone, back to work …"
He'd covered for her. She couldn't believe it. He'd come over and acted like an ass and forked over an incredible amount of money … just to stop her getting in trouble. You didn't do that for random strangers.
For a split second, she wondered if he could be part of the reason that the things around her were disappearing. After all, if drama series and crime novels and her own life had taught her anything, it was that enemies were often closer than you thought. There was just something too convenient about him appearing right when all this started and being there for her at the right time …
And yet despite that, every single instinct within her body was screaming that she had got it wrong. He couldn't be an enemy.
Enemies didn't look at you like you were their world.
xxx
"Kero-chan! I have a very very very very big problem!"
"Can it wait? I'm playing Crash Team Racing!"
"Kero-chan …"
"How serious is it on a scale of one to ten?"
"Twelve."
She heard a heavy sigh from the other room. "… Okay, I'll pause the game."
Sakura rolled her eyes, sinking down into a chair at the kitchen table and burying her face in her hands. Whether she liked it or not, she had a situation to deal with.
"All right, I'm here, what's up?" Kero asked impatiently, his eyes flickering between her and the living room door.
"You know yesterday," she said slowly, her words muffled by her hands. "When you said something not normal was up? I think … I mean, I know … you were right, Kero-chan."
"What happened?" he asked, suddenly serious.
"It wasn't that big a deal," she admitted, finally looking up. "This huge basket of pastries disappeared at work – but when I touched the counter where they'd been, it was – it was cold and dark and just … I'm not making sense, am I?"
"No," he agreed, "But I understand."
"Oh, Kero-chan," Sakura wailed. "Why is it doing this? They vanished in front of the whole shop – if someone looked up at the wrong time or if Kenji-san had checked the CCTV, or if … how would I explain that?"
"Did anyone see?" Kero asked anxiously.
"I don't think so," she replied. He might have done, but she couldn't be sure.
"Did you get into trouble?"
She blushed furiously, avoiding his eye. "N-No."
Kero frowned, knowing she was hiding something. But there were more important problems to deal with. "You think it was the Void?"
"I don't– I don't know," she sighed, wringing her hands together. "I mean, how could it have done anything? I didn't give it an order, and it's sealed away. It shouldn't be able to do anything without my permission, right?"
Her guardian nodded his agreement. "That's how it's supposed to work, yes."
Sakura shot him a suspicious look. "It is sealed, right?"
"Of course it is," Kero said in surprise. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I don't remember it properly," she replied in frustration. "I don't remember anything from back then properly. I just thought that maybe I'd messed up and not done it right, or something. That would explain why it was acting up …"
"But not why it waited ten years to start," Kero pointed out. "Look, I promise, you sealed the card exactly like you were supposed to. That's not the problem."
"Then what is?" Sakura asked forlornly.
Kero remained silent for some time, thinking over her question. He had no idea why this was happening – he'd witnessed the sacrifice she made all those years ago, seen her change from a giddy girl in love to a more reserved woman with what could only be described as a hole in her heart. He'd heard her cry out the kid's name in the night, knew full well that her subconscious was suffering in the way the Void had desired. So why, why was it tormenting her again? What more could it want?
Eriol – the closest thing to Clow in this life and therefore the most trustworthy source available – had said it required a sacrifice of feelings. In Kero's opinion, there were no stronger or purer feelings it could possibly have received from anyone. So why hadn't the sacrifice held?
As though she could read his thoughts, Sakura suddenly announced, "There was a sacrifice, wasn't there?"
"Yes," Kero replied carefully, not knowing how much he could say without hurting or upsetting the strange way her mind had adjusted to cope with the loss of a huge part of her soul.
"I remember Eriol telling me I had to give up a feeling," Sakura muttered, her face screwing up in concentration as she strained to remember. "That was right, wasn't it?"
"A sacrifice was made," he nodded, knowing she wouldn't push the matter. Her own mind wouldn't allow her to.
"Maybe … whatever it was has run out," she suggested tentatively. "Maybe it needs more from me."
As he had predicted, she didn't ask him more about what sacrifice she had made. She never did when this topic came up. The fact that she didn't ask was part of the sacrifice – her mind wouldn't even allow her to be curious about what she had lost.
"Sakura-chan … it can't have run out," Kero told her gently. "Feelings don't just run out."
"Well, something's happened," she sighed. "And if sacrificing my feelings worked before, maybe if I do it again the card will calm down."
Kero frowned. He couldn't deny that was a possibility, but it wasn't supposed to happen like that. The card had taken more than enough from his mistress.
"It might do," he agreed slowly. "But think about it, Sakura-chan. You'd have to sacrifice your love for your father, or your brother, or Tomoyo-chan … you can't possibly want to do that?"
"Of course not!" she replied, aghast. "But I'm sure I didn't want to sacrifice whatever it was the first time round, and I did it anyway. I don't remember much, but I remember how bad this card got … towards the end. I won't let that happen again."
"But Sakura-chan," Kero protested, "Whatever you sacrifice, I can promise it won't be as strong as the first sacrifice you made. And if that one didn't hold, these ones won't either. You'd have to keep making sacrifices over and over to placate the damn thing –"
"I won't let it hurt people, Kero-chan!"
"You'd be left as nothing more than an empty shell!" he cried. "As your guardian – as your friend, I can't let that happen! Not to you!"
They fell silent, each one avoiding looking at the other. Then finally, Sakura smiled.
"Kero-chan … thank you."
The guardian shrugged. "I just – I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that can't be the only solution."
He'd seen the damage it had done to her already. He'd be damned if he let it hurt her any more.
Sakura nodded in agreement. "Okay. I'm sure we still have time. We'll figure something else out."
Kero sighed heavily, moving to sit on his mistress's shoulder as a sign of support. She was right. There had to be something else they could do. Something that didn't involve chipping away at pieces of his friend's heart until nothing more was left.
There had to be something else that card wanted. Something that even Clow Reed hadn't foreseen.
xxx
Li Syaoran burst into his hotel room, flinging the door back so hard that the handle struck the wall, leaving a dent. He glowered at it, slamming it shut before starting to pace uselessly up and down his room.
This wasn't supposed to happen. He'd accepted not being able to be in her life because he'd thought it meant she would be left alone to live her life.
His cell phone bleeped at him from his trouser pocket and he snatched it up, flipping it open to stop the noise but refusing to acknowledge the text that read '39 messages on voicemail'. Across the room, a red light on the hotel phone was blinking, indicating that he had messages there as well.
He sat on the bed, then got up again. He paced over to the window, looking out at the lights of Tokyo glittering in the pitch black night. He flung his curtains closed.
What was he supposed to do now? How could he just leave her when …?
When what? He didn't even know what was happening. It could be nothing; heck, it may even be something she'd done herself for reasons he didn't know. Except that the aura he'd felt today was in no way connected with his Sakura. She had been light and warmth and everything that aura wasn't. She couldn't have been responsible for it.
Wait. 'His Sakura?'
He sighed in frustration – that was his real problem. He couldn't let go of her.
At least not until he knew for sure that she was okay.
Suddenly his cell phone began to ring again. Syaoran went into his bathroom and shut the door, determined to ignore it. The ringing continued, and he realised he was being childish. The least he could do was see who it was.
He wasn't answering if it was his mother, though.
He glanced at the phone without much interest, seeing 'Meiling – Mobile' displayed on the front. He debated with himself, reached for the catch, pulled back, put the phone on the bed, picked it up, flipped it open, and half closed it again before finally holding it to his ear.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" a voice roared out of the speaker.
Bad decision.
Syaoran sighed heavily, psyching himself up for an ear bashing. "I'm still in Tokyo –"
"TOKYO?" Meiling screeched. "What the hell are you doing there? You were supposed to be home three hours ago – do not tell me you're stupid enough to have missed your flight?"
"No, I –"
"And more importantly, why didn't you call and let anyone know you missed it?" she interrupted.
"Meiling, I didn't miss –"
"We've all been worried sick!" she wailed, clearly not listening to a word he was saying. "We thought something must have happened to you – it's not like you to be so irresponsible! We called the airline, your hotel, we called your cell phone like a hundred times –"
"Meiling, I found Sakura!"
He regretted the words the instant they were out of his mouth. For some weird reason, he'd wanted to keep that knowledge to himself, his own little secret. That way no one could tell him he was being ridiculous, pining for a girl who no longer knew his name.
"You found who?" She sounded stunned.
"I didn't mean to, I …" Syaoran scowled, kicking the desk in frustration. "I only went to get coffee, and … and she was just there …"
"Tell me you didn't do anything stupid," Meiling said warningly.
"No!" he snapped defensively. "I've barely even spoken to her."
"Then why the hell aren't you here in Hong Kong?" Meiling demanded. "Do you have any idea how pissed off everyone is with you?"
"I don't care," Syaoran retorted childishly.
"So what?" she spat, "You're not coming home so that you can sit and drink coffee and stare all day at someone who doesn't even know you? Xiao Lang –" Meiling stopped herself, realising her concern was making her come across way too harsh, as always. "Xiao Lang, I know you don't want to hear this, but … it's over. You and her are over. And I'm telling you this because you are my cousin and she is my friend and I love you both. I don't want to see you hurt again."
Reality stung, Syaoran thought to himself. But that didn't mean he was giving up.
"I meant to come back," he said through gritted teeth. "I really truly did. But something happened today and –"
"What happened?" Meiling asked.
"I – I'm not sure, but I think …" He sighed, not knowing how to explain that he had seen nothing concrete, but at the same time he knew that something wasn't right. "Something disappeared, this basket thing, and … I don't know, Meiling. It felt like … before …"
"You mean when …?" she began, and she could almost see him nodding at the phone. "Oh."
"Exactly," Syaoran muttered. "And so I just thought that maybe I should … stay here for a while. Just to make sure she's all right …"
"How can that possibly be a good idea?" Meiling asked incredulously.
"I never said it was a good idea," he bit out. "I just –"
"Xiao Lang, she's not your concern any more!" Meiling cried. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry … but you're only going to get more hurt the longer you stay there. You have to walk away. You have a life here in Hong Kong –"
"I don't have a life, I have an existence," he retorted bitterly.
"You listen to me, Li Xiao Lang," she snapped. "You are the leader of this Clan. We look to you for guidance and we cannot afford to have a depressed leader right now. You have too much to do – too many responsibilities to throw everything away and mope around in Tokyo over someone who cannot love you back!"
"I don't want to mope!" Syaoran replied angrily. "I want to make sure she's okay."
"How are you going to do that if you can't even talk to her?" demanded Meiling.
"I don't know, I haven't thought that far ahead yet!" he yelled.
He could hear Meiling sigh on the other end. "You know I'm just saying this because I care about you?"
"I know," he said, running his hand through his hair in embarrassment.
"I don't want you hurt."
"Meiling …" Syaoran took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "I promise you, it hurts more than enough as it is. It can't get any worse."
"They won't let you stay there," Meiling pointed out. "The Elders will be furious, and you don't even have a valid excuse to give them."
"I'm the leader," he said, somewhat arrogant despite himself. "They have to do what I say."
"Don't be stupid," she groaned. "They can make your life a living hell, and you know it."
"… Can you buy me some time?"
"ME!" she exploded. "What on earth do you think I can do? If they won't listen to you, they're not going to listen to a spoiled little brat without a drop of magic in her!"
"Don't say things like that about yourself," he said irritably. "Look, just … tell them something fell through. Like … I don't know … tell them I haven't gotten Tanaka to sign some document."
"But Tanaka signed everything –" Meiling protested.
"We know that, the Elders don't," Syaoran pointed out. "Meiling … please. I'm begging you. Just buy me some time until I know what I'm dealing with here."
"But –"
"I swear to you, if it's nothing or if it's something I can't help with, I'll come straight home," he promised, although he knew he'd struggle to stick to it. Even today, he'd been unable to keep himself from getting involved. He couldn't stand seeing her being shouted at for something that wasn't her fault, so what had he done? Gone over and acted like a haughty, arrogant jerk and very nearly blown his cover. She probably thought he was strange now. Not that it mattered what she thought of him any more.
"Don't worry, Meiling. I'm not stupid enough to force this – I know that will only hurt her more. And that's the last thing I want, so …" He trailed off, embarrassed to have revealed so much.
Meiling huffed in frustration. "I'll talk to them, but that's all I can promise you –"
"Thank you," he sighed, collapsing onto his bed. He'd have to book the hotel room for more than an extra night now.
"Just … oh, please be careful, Xiao Lang!" Meiling cried worriedly. "I don't want you hurt again. Either of you."
"Stop worrying," he said. "I'll be home before you know it."
"You'd better be."
Syaoran stared at the phone for a long time after she hung up. It was a strange world in which he acted on his feelings while Meiling was the rational, sane one.
He knew he was probably making a huge mistake. But at the same time he knew that something was very wrong. He'd seen the look on her face when she'd touch the spot where the basket had rested. He knew she was scared. And someone like her should never have to be scared.
This time, he wasn't going to leave her.
A/N: I may have jumped the gun a bit … reading back, there's a lot less SxS than I thought there'd be and a lot more boring set up. However, I THINK it's safe to say the set up is now over and the WAFF is coming.
I'll try not to be too long with the next one. I'm driving up to uni today, and it depends what my end-of-the-semester workload is like as to how quickly I'll be able to write. As always, details of my progress will be posted regularly in my profile. Until next time …!