Void

A/N: See, told you I'd be quick! My compensation for making you wait for chapter six ;p But here is Touya in all his glory, with some more Yukito thrown in. Hope you like it!

It's now … two a.m., and I'm doing this instead of preparing for my presentation tomorrow. Which makes me an idiot. So I'm off to do that, and I won't say anything more. Just my usual thanks to the awesome reviewers who I adore, and of course the fabulous SilentCynara. Without you guys there'd be no story.

Chapter Seven: Warning

"You have twelve new messages."

"Xiao Lang, this is your cousin, who you owe several shopping sprees and a car in order to compensate for what you're putting her through. They're not going to be stalled any longer – they're talking about sending someone down to Tokyo to find out what's taking you so long. You'd better come up with some evidence that you're actually working down there, or the elders are going to kick your –"

Syaoran pressed the delete button, and then ended the call to his voicemail, refusing to listen to another eleven similar messages from his family.

They could threaten him all they wanted. He had more important things to do.

He looked a bit out of place, he knew. He was sitting at his table in the coffee shop, impeccably dressed in a Versace suit, and he was reading a decrepit book at least four centuries old. It was virtually falling to pieces in his hands. But he had to feel like he was doing something to help her.

Besides, he could feel her watching him, and he couldn't help but hope that his actions would make her feel a little better.

Sakura certainly seemed more cheerful this morning. She was flitting about, talking and smiling with the customers and her colleagues. He didn't know why she was happier today, but he certainly welcomed the change. It was hard to read Sakura sometimes – he found himself yearning for the days when they first met, and she was a wide open book.

He watched her as she handed a tea to a blushing high school boy, before tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Syaoran noticed that the strap of her bra was showing, which made his face flame red.

Growing up just made things too complicated.

He wished, more than anything, that Sakura hadn't walked in on him yesterday in what was practically her underwear. It had added yet another dynamic to their already complicated, twisting relationship. For ten years, he'd loved Sakura the girl – the sweet, innocent twelve-year-old who was love and light and happiness incarnate. She was still all of those things, but yesterday had very forcibly made him realise that she was no longer a little girl. It was a very strange thing to love a memory of a girl one day, then love a woman the next. Loving a woman was very different.

Syaoran knew all about sex – how could he not, it was everywhere. Books, television, movies … he'd even had the harrowing experience of being educated on it by some select members of his clan. But he'd never actually done it – mostly because he'd yet to actually want a woman in that way.

Meiling used to tease him that he must be gay. His mother had gently hinted that he may feel more comfortable 'settling down' with someone once he got closure. He didn't want closure. He wanted Sakura. But since he couldn't have her, he'd resigned himself to eventually marrying some random woman that his elders picked then ensuring that she produced an heir.

He had responsibilities, after all.

But yesterday, he'd experienced for the first time what it was to actually desire a woman – even though she was still mostly covered, he'd definitely felt the pull and the heat that he'd always thought was exaggerated in the books and the films. And it was yet another complication that he really, really didn't need.

The solution was simple. He just had to stop thinking about her like that.

Syaoran groaned miserably, his head falling onto the table with a thunk.

Suddenly he heard her giggling, and he raised his head slightly to see what had caught her attention. To his embarrassment he realised that she was giggling at him and his display of despair. Syaoran blushed, realising he was being watched, but he smiled slightly at her.

Sakura beamed back. 'Hard?' she mouthed, pointing in the direction of the books.

He nodded. They were hard, so technically he wasn't lying.

She made a sympathetic face, pouting at him slightly. He blushed again, and for some reason that only made her laugh harder.

A customer called for her so Sakura turned away from him, and Syaoran sighed in relief. He was never sure how to act when she was all … he didn't have a word for it, but he knew what he meant.

Several minutes later, he felt her staring directly at him. Looking up, he saw that she was leaning against her hand, gazing at him intently. Once again he blushed, and he frowned curiously at her, wondering if something was wrong.

Seeing that she'd been spotted, Sakura giggled and ducked her head behind the tills.

She was trying to make him blush, he realised. Syaoran shook his head in bemusement, before turning back to his book. Then he felt her eyes on him again, and he looked up.

She laughed, hiding behind the tills again.

He turned red, but he couldn't help but laugh at … whatever she was doing. It had been ages since he'd seen her like this, and it made him happy to see her happy. She was adorable.

Sakura finally stopped giggling, and mouthed, 'Sorry' in his direction. He shrugged, his cheeks still tinged pink, before she blew a kiss playfully at him then skipped off help Hana move some tables by the door.

Flirting. That was the word. She was flirting with him.

Syaoran's head hit the table again. He was never going to understand women.

xxx

"Oh my God, you were flirting with him!"

"W-What?" Sakura stammered indignantly. "I – no – no I wasn't!"

"You blew him a kiss," Hana pointed out.

"I – well, I …" she spluttered, before turning bright red as she realised that Hana was right. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "Since when do I do things like that?" she asked weakly.

"Since him," Hana replied gleefully. "He's bringing out the best in you, Sakura-chan. I knew you could be a flirt."

"I'm not!" Sakura protested weakly. "I wasn't trying to flirt with him. I just wanted to make him smile … he's working so hard …"

For me, she added to herself.

"You know, I'm going to start keeping a diary of everything that transpires between the two of you," Hana gloated. "Then after a week or so I'll show you, and you can try to tell me you're not falling in love with him. Plus I'll be able to show it to your kids. The two of you would have beautiful children."

Sakura turned to Hana with wide eyes, blushing furiously. "I-I'm sorry?" she croaked.

"You and Mystery Man over there," Hana mused, placing her pen in her mouth thoughtfully as she gazed at Syaoran, who had resumed flicking through his book. "What with that gorgeous hair, and your bone structure, and those smouldering amber eyes …"

"Hana-chan …" Sakura wailed. "You have to stop saying things like that! He wouldn't like it!"

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him!" Hana sang happily, beginning to construct a pyramid out of the paper cups. "What is his name anyway – actually no, don't tell me. I rather like calling him Mystery Man … it suits him."

"Hana-san!" Kenji groaned, stalking up to her from across the shop. "Will you please put the cups back how they were and do some work! Anything – cleaning, waiting tables, manning the till. I'm not fussy. Just do something to justify me presenting you with a pay packet at the end of the month!"

"Chill, boss," Hana beamed at him. "I'm on it."

Kenji sighed heavily, before turning to Sakura with a serious look on his face. "I need to make some calls, but when I come back out you and I need to have a chat, okay?"

Sakura gulped, a feeling of dread settling inside her stomach. "Um … o-of course, Kenji-san."

She watched Kenji leave for the office, gnawing on her thumbnail nervously. She was running over the last few days, trying to think of anything she'd done wrong, but she was drawing a blank. But she knew the look on Kenji's face – she was in trouble.

"Kaijuu!"

A smile spread over Sakura's face, all negative thoughts momentarily disappearing. "Onii-chan!" she cried, bounding up to her brother and throwing her arms around his waist.

"Yeah, yeah, get off me," Touya grumbled, refused to act as pleased as he felt – it had been a long time since he'd gotten a hug from his little sister. "I don't want people knowing we're related."

"Be nice, To-ya," Yukito scolded him.

Sakura stamped on her brother's foot, and then turned to Yukito with a grin. "Good morning, Yukito-san!"

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" he replied, equally as happy as he ignored Touya hopping around on one foot.

"I see you were kind enough to drag onii-chan out of bed to see me," Sakura smiled. "Is he behaving himself?"

"Sometimes," Yukito grinned back. "How's everything going?"

"Pretty good!" she said brightly. "I've got a couple of days booked off work next week … oh, and Tomoyo-chan's going to take me to one of her fashion mingling party things!"

"No boys," Touya interjected.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him, stretching up to ruffle his hair. "Silly onii-chan," she giggled. "Do you two want coffee?"

"Is it free?"

She glared at her brother. "Yukito-san's is."

"But kaijuuuuuuu …"

"I'm not a kaijuu!" she wailed in protest.

"Give me free coffee and I'll think about stopping calling you that," Touya teased her.

"Yeah right," Sakura said, before demanding, "Give me a hug. A decent one."

Touya made a huge production out of rolling his eyes, but hugged his little sister tightly anyway. "It's good to see you, kaijuu," he muttered gruffly, releasing her. "You don't come by nearly enough any more."

"I know – I'm sorry," Sakura sighed, moving behind the counter and gesturing for them to follow her. "Things have been a bit … crazy, lately."

"You're too thin," Touya observed bluntly. "And you're pale. Have you been getting enough sleep?"

"Silly onii-chan. Always worrying about me," Sakura said gently, carefully evading the question.

Touya saw through the trick, but for once chose not to push his luck. Or rather, he'd wait until they were in a less public place to berate her for not taking care of herself.

Yukito was looking at her worriedly too, but he attempted to keep the conversation upbeat. "Anyway, the reason we're here is that we're going to your father's next week for dinner, and he wants you to come as well, so we said we'd drop by and ask you."

"We wanted free coffee," Touya threw in.

Sakura smiled at the thought of a home-cooked meal with her family. "Sounds great."

"So you'll come?" Touya asked sceptically.

Sakura laughed, busying herself with making up their coffees. "You sound surprised."

"I am," Touya grunted. "You're always busy."

"Oh, onii-chan, I'm not that bad!" Sakura sighed. "I'm just a normal person. I can't stay home every night because you want me to."

"I don't want you to," Touya replied grumpily, taking a long sip of the Americano she handed him. "I just want you to go to … approved places with approved people."

"No Y chromosomes," Yukito interjected with a grin.

"Onii-chan, I love you, but I refuse to become a recluse for you," Sakura smiled at him, taking the mug from his hands and placing it on a tray next to Yukito's latte. "Now, let me take these over for you."

The two men followed Sakura to a table by the window, letting her do her waitress bit and hand them their drinks.

"Do you need a lift to otou-san's?" Touya asked her.

"I can get the subway," Sakura replied. "But thanks for the offer."

"Kaijuu …"

"Onii-chan," she echoed, grinning at him playfully. "I'm a big girl."

Touya took to grumbling under his breath in an immature fashion, before picking up his Americano and taking a long gulp. Sakura had resumed talking to Yukito about trivial things Touya didn't care about (the dress she was wearing to Tomoyo's party), and so he amused himself by assessing his little sister's place of work. The pretty girl that reminded him of a vulture (Shihobu? Shiori? Shika? He couldn't remember) was leering at him and Yukito from behind the counter (maybe he should make an informative 'we're together' placard for him and Yuki), and the weird girl he'd met before (Hana, he remembered that one) was flicking her gaze between their table and another with decided interest.

He peered across the shop to see what else she was staring at, and was met by nervous and yet defiant amber eyes.

Touya proceeded to spit his coffee out all over the table.

"Touya!" Yukito cried in alarm.

Sakura grabbed some napkins and began to clean up the mess, watching her brother with wide eyes. "Onii-chan … what's the matter?"

He didn't answer her – he just continued to glare straight ahead.

"Onii-chan?" Sakura repeated worriedly, following his line of vision to see what he was glowering so fiercely at. "What is it –?"

"Sakura-san?" Kenji called out to her suddenly, emerging from the back office and beckoning her to follow him. "Can you come through for a moment, please?"

Sakura hesitated, torn between helping her brother and trying not to get into any more trouble with her boss. Eventually the latter won out, and she squeezed Touya reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'll just be a second, onii-chan …" she said, shooting an anxious glance as Yukito. He nodded slightly, and Sakura turned to follow Kenji into the back room.

The second the door closed behind her, Touya leapt out of his seat, grabbed a surprisingly unresisting Syaoran by the collar of his shirt, and hauled him out of the front door.

xxx

"Two dozen plates, fifteen mugs, an entire order of vanilla syrup, three chairs … need I go on?" Kenji listed, looking sternly at her. "This doesn't look good, Sakura-san."

"I know," Sakura said miserably, hanging her head. He was listing about half of the things she'd touched in the last twenty-four hours.

Kenji sighed heavily, taking his glasses off and cleaning them with the edge of his shirt. "I don't know what to say. I can't believe you'd take them –"

"I didn't, I swear!"

"I mean, for one, you had access to the management functions the entire time I was sick. It would have been more sensible to take money," Kenji pointed out grimly. "And for another … no. I know you would never steal from me."

"I really wouldn't," Sakura mumbled, feeling close to tears. "You've been so kind to me, I would never …"

"I know," Kenji said gently. "But the fact remains that I left you in charge. If it was just one thing, even two, I could let it slide, but this … Sakura-san, even you must see this is ridiculous."

Sakura nodded quickly, unable to meet his eyes.

"What it boils down to is that we've taken a massive loss because you've somehow managed to overlook someone – a member of staff, a customer, I don't know – robbing us blind. I mean, chairs? How could you possibly have missed someone taking chairs out of the store?"

She didn't have an answer for him, and so she kept her mouth shut.

"I hate to do this," he sighed. "But I left you responsible for this store, so I'm going to have to dock your wages to compensate for the loss."

Sakura's eyes widened, and she desperately wanted to protest, but she had nothing to say in her defence. After all, it was all her fault … just not in the way that Kenji thought it was.

"That seems fair."

"I'm glad you agree," Kenji said heavily. "You're a good waitress, Sakura-san – I'd hate to have to lose you over something that can be rectified by just keeping your eyes open."

She wanted to tell him that she'd do better, but she knew the problem was likely to get worse.

"We'll say no more about it." He sounded kinder now, but Sakura still couldn't bring herself to look at him. "Let's just … try harder from now on, ne?"

"Yes, Kenji-san," Sakura replied, bowing hurriedly before dashing out of the room.

Shiori-chan was hovering by the lockers, and smiled at Sakura as she headed for the shop floor. "Guess you're not the golden girl any more, huh?" she gloated.

Sakura paused, wanting to turn around and defend herself. But what could she say? Shiori was right – she was tainted now, submerged in a void that she could see no way out of. She was affecting other people, making them unhappy … what defence was there for that?

She didn't turn round. She just kept walking.

xxx

Before he had fully processed what had happened, Syaoran found himself dragged down a nearby alleyway and slammed against the wall.

"You …" his assailant growled. "How do you have the gall, the guts, to show your face here again?"

Syaoran refused to say anything, and Touya tightened his grip on his shirt.

"Answer me, gaki," he hissed threateningly. "You break her heart, you leave her as nothing but a shell, and you dare to come here … sitting where she works and sipping coffee as if you've done nothing wrong?"

Again Syaoran said nothing, and Touya lost his temper. He let go of Syaoran's shirt, reared back, and punched him square in the jaw.

Syaoran's head snapped back, but he stayed upright. He didn't even lean against the wall. He just stood there, his head hanging down, refusing to look Touya in the eye. To say the older man was surprised would be an understatement – he knew how skilled Syaoran was, even if he'd never say it aloud. And surely by now Syaoran would have taken over his clan, making him even more skilled and even more proud. Yet the boy hadn't ducked, hadn't fought back, hadn't even defended himself.

Somehow feeling angrier at the lack of response, Touya grabbed Syaoran's collar again, glowering in his face. "What the hell are you playing at? You could easily have avoided that!"

"I didn't want to," Syaoran replied evenly, still looking downwards. "I deserve it."

Touya scowled. "Quit playing games with me, gaki …"

"I'm not playing," he insisted. "Hit me a couple more times, if you want."

For a while, Touya was tempted to take him up on the offer. But there was something so … broken about the man in front of him that he couldn't bring himself to do it. At least not right now.

"I'm not going to hit someone too weak to fight back," Touya spat out. "I'm just going to warn you – get out of here. Now. I don't ever want to see you round here again."

"I'm sorry," Syaoran said quietly. "But that's something I can't do."

"What the hell do you want?" Touya asked, knowing that desperation was seeping into his voice no matter how hard he tried to stop it. "You destroyed her, don't you know that? You have to keep away –"

"I know you're trying to protect her," Syaoran ground out. "But I'm not the worst thing that could happen to her right now. And I bet you know that, Kinomoto."

Touya faltered slightly. "I only know what Yuki knows – and that's not a whole lot."

"You know something's wrong," Syaoran challenged.

"It doesn't matter if it is!" Touya yelled. "Sakura has plenty of people to protect her – she's got me and otou-san and Tomoyo and Yuki and those freaky protectors of hers – she has people that love her! She doesn't need you!"

"Maybe not," Syaoran said, still as evenly as when the conversation began. "But I'm not leaving her."

"Fine time to be noble now, huh?" Touya raged. "Now, after you've made her miserable. Ten years, gaki! That's a long time to live with a broken heart."

Finally Syaoran looked at him, and Touya was almost frightened by the coldness in his eyes. "Tell me about it."

Touya's face softened slightly, although his grip on Syaoran's shirt remained as tight as ever. "Where were you?" he asked, his voice now quiet and almost sad. "Where were you when that – whatever it was, whatever it did, I don't know. It … destroyed my little sister's soul, and you weren't there to stop it! You know the only reason I didn't beat you to the ground on day one was because you protected her! We had an agreement, Li! Sure we never said anything, but you knew – you could stay if you took care of my sister! You were supposed to look after her when I couldn't! And you left her – you left her alone and she's gone! And it's your fault – it's all your fault!"

Syaoran regarded the man in front of him, who was breathing heavily and was glassy-eyed. "Why do you think I let you hit me?" he asked grimly.

"I don't want to hit you, I want answers!" Touya growled. "Where the hell were you?"

"I thought I could stop it by myself!" Syaoran snapped. "I let us get separated – and yes, I left her! Believe me, nothing you say will be able to make me feel any worse about it than I already do."

"You left her to play hero and she ended up paying for it!" Touya snarled.

"Exactly," Syaoran agreed. "So like I said, feel free to hit me again."

Touya evaluated him for a second, before letting go of the younger man's shirt. He realised with a start that Syaoran was now only an inch away from him in height. He was used to glaring down at chest level.

"I'm not going to hit you," he decided. "You look like you're punishing yourself enough for the both of us."

Syaoran didn't answer, and the two men stood in silence for a while.

"You know," Touya said suddenly. "Saving her this time isn't going to change what happened back then."

"I know," Syaoran agreed bitterly. "I can't change that. But I can't let it happen to her again."

Touya wasn't completely sure of what the boy was talking about, what this infamous 'it' was that had hurt his sister, but he could make some fairly accurate assumptions.

"It must be hard," Syaoran said. "For you and Tsukishiro-san. Just knowing half of what's going on all the time."

"We know more than you'd think," Touya replied grimly. "But don't tell her."

Syaoran nodded slightly.

"You know, I still hate you," Touya said.

"I'd be concerned if you didn't," Syaoran retorted.

Touya was quiet for a while, then turned to glare at the younger man. "You stay. You save her – and don't you dare mess up this time, gaki, or I'll hunt you down myself. And then you go back to Hong Kong, and you never, ever go near her again. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," Syaoran replied quietly.

"I bet she smiles for you," Touya said suddenly, under his breath, and Syaoran wasn't quite sure that he was supposed to hear this bit. "She stopped smiling for us – really smiling – ten years ago."

Syaoran didn't know what to say to that. He thought of the smiles and the laughs she'd generously bestowed on him earlier, and he felt his heart twinge. If he was the only one she was like that for … what did that mean? Did it mean he had a chance, however slim, however tiny?

"I want those smiles back," Touya said softly. "And you're the only one who can do it. That's the only reason I'm letting you stay."

Syaoran nodded. "I understand."

"Of course you do," Touya muttered. "You know what it's like to live without her smile."

Touya stared hard at him for a long time, and although Syaoran didn't flinch under the gaze, the sorrow – not the anger – in the other man's eyes was making him feel downright uncomfortable.

"I don't just want you to save her – I want you to fix her. Fix my sister," Touya ordered one last time. "Fix her, then leave her alone so she can be happy."

"I promise."

Satisfied, Touya turned away and left Syaoran in the alleyway, staring blankly at bricks and cement.

xxx

She'd left her alone in the darkness this time – Sakura didn't know how long she'd been there, but it was long enough to reduce her to a hysterical mess.

There was no way to describe what it was like in the void, in the nothingness. It played with your mind, your heart, your memories … making you believe that you were alone, that there was no hope, no future, no love. Even someone like Sakura, who had the strongest heart imaginable, couldn't bear it for long before she crumbled.

Part of the problem was that she felt as if she was reliving a distant memory. She'd been in the void before, a long time ago. And now when she dreamt, the memories came back. The aching, burning misery in her chest as part of her soul was physically ripped away …

"Have you had enough?"

Sakura raised her head to confront her tormentor, but she couldn't see anyone.

"Now do you understand what it's like to be me?"

"Please," Sakura begged, and she hated how pathetic she sounded. "Let me out."

"I'll let you out," the Void taunted. "You'll just be back tomorrow night. But for now … I'm taking some of my friends to keep me company."

Sakura didn't know what she meant, and she couldn't bring herself to care. She was remembering again – the cold, the dark, the agony in her chest as she tried frantically to hold on to the part of her that was being torn away, screaming for him again and again.

"He won't come," the Void taunted her. "He can't hear you."

Sakura didn't know who the Void was talking about, or who she was screaming for. She just wanted him so badly.

"He won't come. He can't come!" the Void gloated gleefully, sounding almost manic. "He's as trapped as you are!"

For some reason, knowing that just made the pain worse.

xxx

This time, when Sakura woke up, it was Kero hovering over her head. He looked as close to frightened as she'd ever seem him, and on impulse Sakura grabbed hold of her guardian, hugging him tightly to her chest.

"Sakura? Are you okay?" Kero asked softly, his voice trembling slightly.

"I'm okay," Sakura assured him, rocking back and forth as she tried to convince herself of that fact. "Shhh, Kero-chan, don't worry. I'm all right."

"You were shaking, and screaming, and …" Kero trailed off anxiously. "It sounded like she was torturing you."

"N-No," Sakura protested. "She didn't touch me."

Which was technically true.

"Do you want me to call Tomoyo?" Kero offered.

Sakura's eyes widened. "No!" she protested hurriedly. "You know she's at her mother's tonight, you can't drag her all the way back!"

"What about the kid?"

"Syaoran-kun?" She went quiet at that suggestion. Suddenly she was struck by the urge to agree, to have Kero bring Syaoran here to her. He would make it better, she knew he would.

"No," she replied, though it was far less forceful. "No, let him sleep."

"But –"

"I'm fine, Kero-chan," Sakura insisted, trying to smile for him. "It's fine. They're only dreams, they can't hurt me. I'm going to go watch TV for a while, okay?"

"But it's two in the morning –"

"I'm not tired."

Kero bit his lip, looking like he wanted to protest, but he didn't dare go against his mistress's wishes. She was tired, she was exhausted, but the poor girl didn't dare sleep.

"It's all right," she said softly, scooping up her guardian and kissing him on top of his head.

She's more concerned with comforting me than herself, Kero realised with a pang. "Call me if you need me?" he asked almost pleadingly.

"I will," Sakura promised, smiling slightly. "Don't worry, Kero-chan. Everything will definitely be all right. After all, it's not like she's gotten any worse, right?"

"Right," Kero agreed weakly, watching sadly as Sakura left the room.

How was he supposed to tell her that five of her cards had disappeared while she was dreaming?

A/N: -flexes fingers- And now for some fluff! With substantial quantities of misery thrown in, of course (c'mon guys, it's me!), but hey, fluff is fluff!