Shadow of Greed

By: DEVILZ CHIK

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Author's Notes:

I'm sorry for the very late update. I am very glad though that people still send me reviews about it. It always makes me work on it. However, I've just been busy these days. It's quite exhausting. But here's finally Chapter 3 for all of you. I hope it was worth the wait.

Summary:

Sequel to Your Shadow. No moments forgotten, no feelings vanished. Sakura and Syaoran meet again – are they ready to be together now… with the shadow of greed looming over their eyes?

Disclaimer:

I don't own CCS.

Enjoy reading now.

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chapter three: everything's alright

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Normal Point of View

Hangover.

Sakura could not remember the last time she had one. Her head felt like it was going to explode. It was too heavy for her entire body. And the annoying ringing of the phone was not helping her condition at all.

She lazily reached for her phone on her nightstand, clicked the answer button and spoke out as best as she could, "Hello?"

"Not a good morning, huh?" her brother's voice was unmistakable.

She replied something incoherent. Her brother just laughed.

"Well, I already sent someone to take care of you and I hope you two take care of each other," he said, but none of it was really registering in her mind. She was slowly starting to lose grip on her phone and she was slowly drifting back to sleepy land.

"Sure," she replied.

"I gave him your keys, I hope you don't mind," her brother kept talking. "And you do know who I'm talking about, right?"

"Hmm, who?"

"Li Syaoran, of course."

She was definitely getting up now.

No matter how much her head hurts, hearing Li Syaoran's name absolutely meant bad news.

"'nii-chan, can you repeat what you just told me?" she asked slowly, putting the phone super close to her ear to make sure she would hear him correctly.

"I knew his name would perk you up," Touya said. "I said Li is coming over there now. He has your keys. He's your guard for today. Agency said so. Sorry, Sakura, you remain to be an ally and they chose you to protect him for the meantime since I'm off chasing those people now. Be nice to each other now. Take care!"

And without letting her object, without waiting for her to protest or react to what he said, he just hung up and all she could hear was the annoying repeating sound of the busy tone.

She screamed into her pillow.

She hated her brother.

-

-

Sakura didn't bother to take a shower.

She bothered to brush her hair, though and change into nicer clothes than her pajamas. She bothered to feed Kero as well. However, she didn't bother to clean up the rest of the mess in her house as she waited for Li's arrival.

She figured maybe she could pretend to be on the bed and just let him clean. As far as she remembered, that guy could not stand a messy room.

When Kero came running towards the door, she knew he was here. He was here. Again. He could be her worst nightmare by now, completely forgetting that he was momentarily the man of her dreams. She shivered at the thought.

She hoped none of their high school times together would creep up to them later.

As she opened the door, she decided to quickly go straight to her room and rest. He could deal with himself better than anyone she knew. All the bodyguards around him were basically a pretense and all for show.

Without any greeting, he walked in. He was dressed simply: a plain black polo shirt with jeans. She averted her eyes from his figure. Ah, he really could still take her breath away.

"Have fun, feel at home," she said insincerely and started walking back to her room. However, he grabbed hold of her wrist. "What do you want?" she spat.

"Did you eat breakfast yet?" he asked nicely, taking in how she looked like.

She freed her wrist from her grasp and attempted to fix her hair. She tried to look pleasant already, wasn't that enough?

"What do you care?" she said bitterly towards him.

Syaoran didn't even wince. "Your brother sent me here to take care of you and that's what I'm gonna do."

He dragged her to the kitchen and forced her to sit down on one of the stools. His eyes scanned the room and he was absolutely disgusted at the mess from last night.

Sakura smirked. "Well, I'm going to rest now," she chimed, knowing full well that he would not leave the messy kitchen before it was cleaned up. And it was better like this – he would be done by… the end of the day, by the time he needs to leave.

That was what she was hoping for anyway.

But… "Okay, fine, go back to your room," he called out to her. "Don't lock the door, though. I'm going to make breakfast for you."

She ignored him and continued walking. Well, good luck with waking me up.

But after a while, her sleep was disturbed as soon as the scent of what he was cooking reached her nose. Why did she have to keep the door open again? He just said not to lock it, so maybe closing it would be fine, but why did she have to keep it open?

It smelled good. Pancakes smelled good. Pancakes. Pancakes.

Before she knew it, she was lifting her blanket, getting up from her bed and walking back to the kitchen. Syaoran only turned to look at her as she settled back down on the stool and kept cooking his magnificent pancakes. Sakura knew he was smirking and she decided that she would let him win this time since those pancakes smelled really good.

And the pancakes did not just smell good, it tasted good as well.

"Wow, I have to admit that these…" she chewed more. "…are really good."

-

-

After her breakfast, her hangover was surprisingly subsiding. She might have even forgotten about it as she watched Syaoran cleaning her kitchen with grace and care.

"Can I go back to my room?" Sakura asked him as she put away the plate she used.

Syaoran stared at her for a moment before cracking a smile. "Aw, Sakura, you don't have to ask permission from me," he teased. "I serve you today."

He winked and tingles went up her spine. She shivered.

"You're creepy," she stated. "Don't you dare do something bad when I'm sleeping!" she warned him.

"I will never do something bad to you," he assured her.

He chuckled afterwards, which Sakura ignored as she made her way back to her room.

She was getting comfortable on her bed and sleep was really taking over her until she heard Kero's barks. Then, she heard her front door slam open and at the same time, Syaoran burst into her room.

"Hey!" she exclaimed but the horrified look on his face was telling her that this was an emergency. He shut the door behind him after Kero ran after him.

"There's probably five of them," was Syaoran's simple sentence.

There were people trying to get in the room now. Kero was endlessly barking and growling at the door. Sakura did not even try to shush him. From that simple sentence, Sakura knew quickly what he meant by it.

She got up quickly and reached from under her bed for her pistol. She opened her bedside drawer and took out another gun, which she threw at Syaoran's direction. Syaoran caught it easily and was ready by the door.

After a few more moments, the banging of the door stopped.

"We don't want this to be messy," a voice said from the other side of the door. "It's better for everyone if Mr. Li would go with us quietly."

The two locked eyes with each other.

And I thought Touya was after these guys. Why the hell are they here? Unless Touya's been…

"Impossible," she finished with a whisper. She signaled Syaoran to stay away from the door. Kero was still barking. She quickly shushed him and the dog stopped and ran under Sakura's bed. The poor dog probably saw the menacing eyes of Sakura.

Syaoran was confused with her actions.

"Sakura, I know you're strong and very skilled but you can't take them all down," he pointed out.

"I know," she said quite calmly.

Syaoran watched her tuck in the gun behind her. She quickly walked to her dresser, took out a hair tie and started fixing her hair. He gave her a credulous look.

"Sakura, it's not the time to fix your hair!" he scolded her.

She just rolled her eyes.

"It's going to be hot wherever they're going to take us," she commented.

Syaoran felt like the world had just turned upside down. He rushed over to her to make sure she was not kidding. He searched her eyes and figured that she was definitely serious.

"We're going with them?!" he repeated.

"We're coming!" Sakura shouted at the door.

"Good, good, now let us in!" demanded the voice from behind the door.

"You've gone crazy," Syaoran told her.

Sakura quickly went to her bathroom and he heard some fumbling with bottles in there. She then went out and he could tell that she put lotion in her hands. He rolled his eyes – she was the most organized hostage he ever met. (Well, he hadn't really met any hostages before… but he could not believe how calm she was!)

And to think, she should be having a hangover.

"You ready?" she asked him and he just slowly nodded. "Kero-chan…" she called the dog. Kero quickly ran to her and she held him in her arms.

She then prepared herself to open the door.

"We're coming out now, I'm opening the door," she informed them. "Li is coming with you under three conditions!"

There were murmurs from outside.

"What three conditions?!" they asked.

"One: I go with him. Two: The dog goes with us, too. Three: No one gets killed," Sakura said plainly.

Arguments soon followed.

"The dog?!"

"We can take the girl, she's harmless."

"The dog?!"

"The dog is no problem, too, goddammit! It's a small dog!"

"The dog?!"

"As long as Li goes with us peacefully, we have an agreement," the voice replied to Sakura.

Sakura beckoned Syaoran to stand behind her as she opened the door. Syaoran still had a gun in his hand but he raised his arms as soon as he saw the men from outside. There were five men waiting for them. They slowly went inside the room and surrounded the two of them. Kero was growling in Sakura's arms.

"We had an agreement – no one gets killed!" Sakura reminded them, keeping eye contact to the person she assumed to be the leader.

"Drop your guns!" the leader commanded. Syaoran slowly put his gun down. He did the same to Sakura's gun from her back.

"Get their guns!" another command. Two men walked forward and picked up the guns. "Makuto, handcuff them!"

And so, they were handcuffed. Sakura's right hand and Syaoran's left hand.

Syaoran wished to the heavens that Sakura knew what she was doing.

They walked out of Sakura's apartment conspicuously and silently. Kero also remained silent.

Then, they found themselves at the back of a delivery truck. Three men joined them at the back to watch over them, guns ready.

When the truck started moving, Sakura yawned.

Her headache was coming back.

-

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Syaoran's Point of View

How romantic could this be?

I could not believe that I was going to be in close proximity again with Sakura like this. Handcuffed together, kidnapped and taken at a back of a truck. Hold that thought – could this still be considered kidnapping when we technically went willingly with the bad guys?

I glanced over at Sakura beside me. I could tell that her eyelids were getting very, very heavy.

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep in a situation like this," I told her.

She only cracked a smile while lazily petting Kero with her free hand.

"We're going to be alright," she whispered to me.

She had then already closed her eyes.

She had already leaned her head on my shoulder.

But before she drifted to sleep, I felt her grasp my left hand and gave it a light squeeze, assuring me that everything is alright.

I was not sure whether there was any meaning to what she just told me. Does she still remember the song that I gave her seven years ago? Leaving her was the hardest thing I ever did and coming back was also as difficult. Seeing her once again filled the void that I was carrying for seven years. My heart still had the special place that she occupied from seven years ago. And now I wonder, was it the same for her?

All of a sudden, the truck stopped.

I looked at the three men with us at the back and saw their surprised expressions.

"Uh-oh," I heard from the front.

The three men became alert and ran towards the door. They had their guns ready as they waited for the door to open.

Through the commotion, Sakura stirred and rubbed her eyes.

"That was quick," she said and yawned. She noticed that I was looking at her. "I told you we'll be alright." She winked and went back to petting Kero.

"What are you talking about, girl?!" one of the men demanded.

Sakura only smirked at them.

"We're probably not in motion right now because the driver realized that we are being followed ever since we left my apartment," she started explaining. "He also probably noticed by now that this vehicle is now surrounded."

We slowly stood up.

Wow. I was definitely impressed.

We could hear movements from behind the truck. Someone was trying to open the door. The three men looked expectedly. Sakura chuckled.

"Wanna bet that it's my brother opening that door?" she asked me, her face brightening.

The men already had their guns ready… they were ready to shoot the person from behind the door.

And shoot they did. As soon as the door opened wide, revealing the morning sun, they pulled the trigger and shot the two men with black masks. They looked back at us and decided that it was better to run for their lives. They ran outside but just as soon as they stepped out, men grabbed them and knocked them unconscious.

"So I guess I lost that bet," Sakura continued as the trouble ended.

I could only now breathe out in complete relief.

"Sakura!" I recognized Kinomoto's voice.

"Coming, onii-chan," Sakura replied.

We slowly got off the truck and were assisted by Kinomoto's men. As soon as Kinomoto saw his sister in one piece, he hugged her tightly, checking everywhere if she was not hurt.

"I didn't know what to do if something happened to you!" Kinomoto said, still slightly frightened for his sister. "I didn't mean to make you the bait. It was not the plan at all! They slipped from our sight, so we had no idea that they saw Syaoran going to your place," he explained. "But oh, you handled it so well!"

"She really handled it well," I commented, a bit embarrassed that I was scared at first when Sakura decided that we would go with the bad guys. "She even slept while we were inside."

"I was still sleepy," she pouted. "It was too early for something like this. Did you get my signal from the bathroom or from the drawer?"

What? What bathroom? What drawer?

"Drawer," her brother replied.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"When I opened the drawer and took out the gun to give you, it triggered an alarm back to Touya," Sakura quickly explained.

Oh. Wow. I put the pieces together and realized that Sakura's apartment was much secured. I wonder how many more precautions exist in her apartment. Being aware of Kinomoto's over-protectiveness, he probably designed the security system in her apartment.

"I was only living by myself for one year, if you're curious," she informed me and that confirmed that it was difficult for her to move out of the house.

"We'll get those cuffs off," Kinomoto said as he called one of his men to work on the metal object between us.

-

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Kinomoto along with his men drove us to a hotel. They checked in a room for us so that we could our statement about what happened today. Kinomoto told us that the men were just sent to scare me. They were not planning to "kill" me at all, which was why they were willing to take Sakura along… and the dog.

"They were hired to do such a simple job," Kinomoto further explained. "But they were bad at it. They even shot at their own team."

When they needed to report back to the agency, Kinomoto bid us goodbye and told us to stay in the room for a while. He left a few men outside the room to watch over us.

"Wash up," he told us, leaving some clothes on the table. Where he got it, don't ask me. "And I trust you both enough to be adults and not do anything stupid. Your reunion had been tough so far, but gaki, if you touch my sister…"

He left his sentence hanging like that. He walked out of the room and closed the door.

And that leaves me with Sakura alone in this big room.

The whole day had been awkward enough for us already and this situation was adding to the awkwardness. We spent minutes just staring at each other. Kero was comfortably sleeping in the corner. I wish I were a dog right so everyone would just ignore me.

"You can shower first," she told me. I only nodded and went to the bathroom quietly.

I stared at my reflection in the bathroom. I was slowly starting to hate myself for not being able to say anything meaningful to her all day. She even handled the situation better than me, and I was the guy. Until now, she was the one protecting me. Until now, she was still the same strong Sakura.

When would be the time that she would depend on me?

That she would trust me again to be by her side?

That she would tell me that she loves me?

But, she held my hand a while ago, didn't she? Was there meaning behind it?

I washed my face quickly and inhaled a long breath.

This was probably the perfect opportunity I could have in a lifetime. A time like this would never come to me again. I was never brave enough to ring her doorbell during those times that I went back here. But now… I know I am.

Gathering up my courage, I went out of the bathroom and walked up to Sakura.

-

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Normal Point of View

"I didn't hear the water, is there a problem?" Sakura asked Syaoran when she saw him come out of the bathroom with the same clothes on.

"Yes," he replied to her.

She looked at him curiously.

"What… is it?" she slowly asked, finding his actions very weird.

She had cocked her head to the side to examine him. Did he hit his head? Was today too traumatic for him?

"I…" he started.

"You…?" she asked him to continue.

But when a minute passed that he still had not spoken a word, Sakura gave up and walked away from him.

"If you don't want to shower yet, then I will!" she declared, making her way to the bathroom.

But she didn't get far because Syaoran grabbed her wrist and turned her around to look at him. He then rested his hands on her shoulders. He was surprised that she did not shrug them off. For her part, she was interested what he was up to.

"Li Syaoran, if you're playing games with me, I'm going to beat you up," she warned, looking at him straight in the eye.

"I'm not… playing games with you," he told her. "I just want to ask something…"

"Well, hurry it up!" she demanded, getting impatient.

"A while ago, when we were in the truck, before you fell asleep," he slowly began. "You held my hand…"

Hearing this, Sakura shrugged off his hands from her shoulders. She avoided his eyes.

"So?" she asked.

"I just want to know if…"

"If what, Li?!" she burst out. She turned towards him again, her eyes blaring. "If I still had feelings for you after all these years? If I still had feelings for you after you left me without saying bye properly? If I have been waiting for you to come back?!"

Tension filled the room.

"Do you really want to know?" she continued. His silence told her yes. "I can't bring myself to understand why you still want to know. Does it even matter now?!"

Syaoran slowly walked towards Sakura. He stopped when they were only an arm's apart. He did not break his eye contact with her. He was memorizing every detail on her delicate face. He was admiring the way her eyes glowed with emotion.

Sakura, on the other hand, refused to be intimidated by his height. Standing so close to him, she felt small, but she was not going to back away. She was there to show him that she was strong, that he was not going to make her cry anymore and that he could not cause her the same pain and suffering she had felt before.

Carefully, Syaoran brought his hand up to tuck some of her bangs behind her ear. Sakura drew back slightly but did not pull away completely.

"Yes, Sakura, it matters," he said in a serious tone.

His hand lingered on her face.

"Why?!" she demanded. "Coming back doesn't make things the way they were before!"

"Because I'm here to stay to get you back," he declared.

It was almost like a declaration of his love and determination. His statement did not soften Sakura's expression on her face, though. She was still glaring at him and it was clear that it was going to be difficult for Syaoran to accomplish what he just said.

"I don't believe you," she spat.

She was ready to walk away from him but Syaoran brushed her hair back smoothly so her head was tilted up to him. He leaned closer and dove in for a kiss.

It had been too long since both of them felt like this. Like this. Like time stopped and all they could think about was the person that was in front of them.

It had been too long that Sakura thought she had forgotten how soft his lips were… how gentle he was when he kisses her… how tight he holds her in his arms.

It had been way, way, way too long for the both of them.

So they cherished every moment of it.

Sakura's hands had climbed up around his neck.

She had already leaned in closer to kiss him deeper.

He already knew that she believed him now.

They were both already smiling as they share their passionate kiss.

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end of chapter three.

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Author's Notes: Don't you just love me for updating this story? Haha! Well, I don't have future plans specifically for the next chapter so I can't provide any previews for now. All I know is I'm going to come up with my very first intense, romantic "scene". And I can assure you that they will be undisturbed.

Please review! It might take a while for the next chapter to be up since I'm working on updating my other stories. I'm trying to catch up.

Thanks for reading!

With lots of love,

DEVILZ CHIK