Disclaimer: CLAMP owns CCS. This goes for all chapters.

Black crows screeched loudly,dotting the sky as they flew past the crimson sunset.

Fourteen-year-old Kinomoto Sakura laid in a pool of her blood, waiting to die. She could feel the emptiness, her river of life slowly draining from her. Everything she had was gone…was she really alone? Breathing hard, she recalled the events that just took place…

Flashback

"You stupid bitch!" Tomoyo cursed as she threw Sakura on the rocky ground. The sharp rocks pieced her delicate skin and the first sensation of pain seeped into her body, but that was nothing compared to what would happen next.

Anguish spread over Sakura as a knife slowly, painfully jabbed into her ribs, followed by a sharp kick. Hard boots slammed into her face, although it seemed like hundreds.

Sakura could taste the metallic sweetness of blood in her mouth. Already, purple bruises began marring her once clear skin. It had only been five minutes since the beating began, but Sakura found she could barely move.

Her body screamed, wanting to stop the endless stream of physical abuse. Tears begged to be released. She was choking on screams she refused to let out.

A tinkling sound was heard as someone picked up the rocks from the ground. Jagged stones rained down upon Sakura's small body. Hearing the cracking sounds, she wondered if those were her bones breaking.

"Bones make no difference if my soul is breaking too," she thought silently. The pain was overwhelming now, but still, she would not make a single sound. Any moan or tear would strip her on any dignity she had left.

Although her body was broken, her pride remained. She would not give her tormentors the satisfaction of seeing her weakness, but she was falling apart each second.

Her veins felt like they were going to pop out at any time. Her brain was uncomprehending to what was taking place.

She was so stupid, so naïve to believe that Tomoyo was a good person. All those memories they shared…did it all mean so little? How could it be so easily shattered?

"Look at me, slut."

Sakura didn't want to obey, but she knew what would happen if she didn't listen. Her eyes felt glued shut, like they carried the weight of the world. She stared into the cold amethyst eyes of Tomoyo Daidouji, her former best friend.

"What did I do?" The words came out of Sakura in a soft whisper. Her voice was raspy and hoarse and her throat had red lines from when Eriol had stepped on it.

Her lungs felt crushed. Maybe they were. Sakura found it was hard to breathe.

Tomoyo laughed bitterly. "What did you do? I was so nice to you. I gave you everything. I made nice clothes for you so you didn't have to wear your ugly rags. I even put up with your little-miss-perfect façade. And how do you repay me? You stole my fucking boyfriend, my and only true love!"

Sakura wondered what she was talking about, but Tomoyo continued. "That's right, you whore. I saw you kissing Eriol behind the dumpsters."

"Kissing Eriol? But he forced me…" thought Sakura. She tried to say it, but her voice deceived her. She knew there was no way claws could be scratching at her throat internally, but that's what it felt like.

Sakura wanted-no needed, Tomoyo to understand. After all, she was her only friend. But the next words that came out of Tomoyo's mouth killed any compassion Sakura had left.

"Look at your ugly face now. No one will like you. No one ever did. No more will your tricks taint the world. You thought you were so good. Always getting the admiring and envious looks. Those should've been for me. I'm way better than you'll ever be. You're pathetic."

Sakura laughed. "I always knew you were jealous. And you're wrong. As long as a bitch like you is living, I will always be better."

Sakura had never said spoken such harsh words to anyone before, but it felt good to do so. It didn't even matter that she could feel blood rising in her throat and every breath she took felt like a thousand knives stabbing at her.

She paid dearly for those comments as more stones pelted down on her frail body and a loud smack was delivered to her already bruised face, but Sakura no longer cared. The pain was long numbed by a new feeling of power that had crept up upon her.

The cuts didn't matter anymore. The blood didn't matter. The pain didn't matter. Did she matter?

Tomoyo was surprised to see a new fire burning in Sakura's beautiful emerald eyes. That sparked her anger even more. "How dare that bitch look at me like that even when I am much more superior than she is."

She motioned to Eriol to do something, anything, to try and harm Sakura even more.

Eriol took one last, long drag at his cigarette before exhaling into the cool autumn air.

He bent down near Sakura. "I'm sorry," he thought.

With a quick thrust of his wrist, he drove the still burning cigarette into Sakura's soft skin, followed by a dozen more swift kicks to the knife wound in her ribs. Sakura's head tilted forward as she coughed crimson.

The shadow of pain and guilt crept into Eriol's heart as he watched life fade from Sakura. He didn't want to do this, but Tomoyo had threatened if he didn't participate in her little "fun", she would kill his precious kitty, Mr. Bubbles.

Mr. Bubbles was a gift given to him by his parents, who died in a car crash years ago. He couldn't let Mr. Bubbles die too.

Eriol had no doubt Tomoyo would make true on her word if he didn't help her.

Tomoyo had said it wouldn't hurt Sakura as much if Eriol wasn't there. Her exact words were, "A friend will hurt her mind. Her love will hurt her soul." Eriol knew Sakura didn't love him. He had asked her out and she rejected him in front of the whole student body.

Tomoyo came from a powerful and wealthy family and she always got what she wanted.

Although he knew a cat's life wasn't as important as Sakura's, he also knew Tomoyo wasn't going to let Sakura die. She would just cause as much pain as she could, physically and mentally. It wouldn't be fun for her to have Sakura die and not get to see the aftermath of the torment she caused.

Tomoyo had always hated Sakura. She hated how Sakura seemed to be perfect. Almost everyone fell for her charm, but Tomoyo knew better. Her innocence was all a disgusting act. It sickened her how no one else could see it.

Yet, Tomoyo was a bit jealous of Sakura, so she decided to befriend her in hopes of gaining some attention. It made her hatred for Sakura much worse, as she soon discovered Sakura seemed to have no evil in her.

Despite Tomoyo's attempt to have Sakura's popularity rub off on her, it didn't work. She was constantly in Sakura's shadow. Everyone laughed at her behind her back and called her Sakura's little dog.

She clenched her fists as she thought about what she had to go through everyday. She knew it wasn't her fault she got laughed it. It was Sakura's. Yes, that was it. Sakura probably started every joke circulating around!

Intensified by her anger, Tomoyo walked over to Sakura's unmoving body. She had waited a long time for this day. The day Sakura would be destroyed, if not in life, then in spirit.

Too long had Sakura taken away everything Tomoyo should've had. Too long had she overstayed her presence in the lives of everyone around her. Tonight, it would all end...

Lifting her stiletto-clad feet, she brought it down hard on Sakura's chest. Over and over, her foot hit Sakura until all energy was drained out of her. Blood trickled down Sakura's chin as she coughed and spluttered.

Tomoyo had never before seen such a beautiful sight. She wondered why she hadn't done this from the beginning.

"Am I jealous of you now?" spat Tomoyo. She grinned. No one could ever like Sakura now. Everyone they knew was actually very superficial, but they didn't dare show it.

Sakura would be scarred and everyone would be embarrassed to be seen with her. Sakura would be embarrassed to be herself. Thinking this made Tomoyo's spirits soar much higher. Everyone would love her now, not Sakura.

Sakura would never tell anyone what happened, she was sure of it. Someone as weak and pathetic as Sakura would have trouble even thinking about what just happened, and besides, she was way too kind for her own good.

"I have more important things to do. I'll leave you here. Spend your last moments suffering. No one will come to save you. No one cares."

"No one will come to save you. No one cares." Those simple words echoed around Sakura, blocking everything else out. "It's true," she realized. "No one is coming…no one will come…Friends forever, huh? Forever is nothing but an empty promise the could never be kept..."

With one last glance at the bloody mess, Tomoyo left, chuckling softly to herself. "I hope you die, Kinomoto. I hope you die…"

At that moment, Tomoyo wasn't the only one wishing that.

End Flashback

Rain fell hard as if the sky shared Sakura's sorrow and washed away traces of the distress that had just happened, though it couldn't wash away Sakura's feelings.

The last thought that ran through Sakura's mind before her world went black was, "Please, let me leave this world now…"