A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while since I've written anything and believe me, I know how some of you want me to continue writing some of my old fanfics but I don't think I have the heart to continue some of those really crappy ones. I have nothing planned out for them. But after recently reading some CCS fanfics to rekindle my old flame for the adorable anime, I've come to be inspired by this plot. I hope you all enjoy it and for everybody's sake, I hope I end up keeping up with it and finishing it. Loves and enjoy! Don't forget to review!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I don't own nothing but this storyline. Please don't sue me, I need to go to school.
Chapter One
Another long workday was coming to an end and Kaori was spending the last few minutes before 6 o'clock cleaning up the bricks in the play area. Her late shift at the daycare ended in a couple of minutes and she was ready to drive home and kick back on the sofa to some nice soft music. The children today were extra rowdy for some reason and two of the boys had gotten into a huge fight resulting in thrown cars and red bumps on nearly everyone's heads. The young worker was just glad that all the kids were picked up already. That was… all except for one kid: Midori Kinomoto. Midori's mother was always nearly late in picking up her child and arrived at exactly 5:58 everyday to pick up her child. Just a few minutes later and the young mother would have to pay a fee. But never yet had that happened and she was quite happy about that. She couldn't spare to give away 5 dollars just for being a few minutes late.
Kaori sighed as she packed up the last of the toys and straightened up to look at her small charge. Midori was quite stunning for a child with her long, dark chocolate-brown hair and brilliant green eyes. She smiled often and made friends with everyone that was agreeable towards her. Her outgoing and bubbly personality made her quite a favourite with the staff. Her mother was also quite beautiful although a bit too young to be properly married with a kid. From the looks of it, she had just come out of university and since nobody else came to drop off and pick up Midori but her, it did not seem like she had a husband either.
The doors opened and the familiar sound of a parent entering the school was heard. Kaori looked up with an expectant look on her face to greet Sakura Kinomoto with a smile on her face. "Mommy!" Midori left off the chair she was sitting on and scrambled towards her mother excitedly. She was always one of those kids that wailed for half an hour each morning whenever they get dropped off before getting distracted by toys. Sometimes, Kaori would wonder how on earth kids were so short-minded, not that she was complaining, of course. It was easier to distract a child who was crying by showing them popup alphabets and things like that.
Sakura ruffled the dark hair on her child's head playfully. She was looking tired and disheveled but it was still evident on her face the radiant youthful beauty that the woman still possessed. "I'm not late am I?" The brunette asked as she strode quickly towards the desk and signed out her daughter hastily while Midori, who was all ready to go, attached herself to her mother's leg.
"Nope, you're right on time, like usual." Kaori said, cheerfully although secretly disappointed that she would not have her 5 dollars today. Sakura smiled back and knelt down so that she could be able to pull her daughter into her arms. Midori clung to her mother's neck as she was lifted up and carried in her arms. "Goodbye Midori, I shall see you tomorrow morning, right?" The worker asked while closing the binders and stacking it up along with other folders and loose papers.
"Yah, bye bye Kaori." Replied the two-year old child, waving at her before hiding her face into Sakura's shoulder. The mother nodded politely and walked out of the building. The high summer sun was still shining brightly in the sky, not yet time for it to go to sleep. Neither of the two minded as they walked towards the bus stop for as long as the sun was high up in the sky and it was still bright outside, they knew they were safe. Although Tomoeda was usually considered a peaceful and quaint town, it was no different from the city when the moon rose and darkness took over.
Sakura's arms were getting tired from holding up Midori but her daughter had fallen asleep after telling her all about her day and how she had fought with this other girl for the kitchen toy set and how one of the kids had accidentally hit her in the head with a toy car. The young mother smiled at her daughter's sleeping face and stroke her hair softly while the bus pulled over and allowed her inside. After paying the fare for herself, Sakura sat down and leaned Midori against her chest while resting herself. It was quite a long ride until she reached Tomoyo's house, her best friend who had allowed her to stay with her until she had enough money to buy her own apartment. But before that, she would have to find a job.
It was hard to find one that suited her needs, for Sakura needed a job that was an early shift that ended before her daughter was out from preschool. After all, she had to pay extra money for Midori to be in the extended hours time and the young mother had to save up every penny that could be saved. It was also possible to leave Midori with Tomoyo while she went away to work night shifts at restaurants but that prevented her from spending the most possible quality time with her daughter. She needed a job that allowed her to pop in whenever she wanted to, tend to things that made her look like she was working hard, allowed her to leave the office to pick up her daughter and bring her to work with her. Of course, there were no jobs that she could find that fit that description. Everything seemed to be too tight for Sakura which is why she was still currently job searching. Although worries about her job still weighed heavily on her mind, the brunette was much too exhausted to think anymore about them and promptly fell fast asleep to the rocking of the bus.
About 40 minutes later, the bus pulled out in front of the Daidouji mansion and Sakura woke up right on time to realize she should get off right now or she'll have to walk an extra mile with her sleeping daughter on her shoulder. So the mother quickly pushed Midori back up so that she could carry both her and her purse. Politely thanking the bus driver, she stepped off the bus and walked towards the intercom on the gate. A low, male voice greeted her and allowed her inside, the gates opening slowly. Another thank you was spoken and Sakura quickly slipped inside and approached the front door. While fiddling for her keys, the door opened suddenly, scaring the brunette.
"Sakura! You're finally home, really, next time you should just call me and one of the chauffeurs will get you!" It was Tomoyo Daidouji, a successful fashion designer and best friend to Sakura Kinomoto. Her azure eyes sparkled with delight when she noticed Midori's sleeping form and immediately reached out to relieve Sakura of the weight. "Ohhh, Midori's fallen asleep again! Must have been a long day at preschool."
Sakura smiled thankfully and stepped inside the mansion, closing the door behind her. "She was telling me all about the fights she got into and how she got that bump on her forehead." She replied, nodding to the small red mark where the toy car had smacked her in the head. The girl checked the time on her wristwatch and nodded in satisfaction at her timing. It was exactly 7 o'clock now and supposedly Midori's bedtime. After handing her purse to a waiting maid, the mother took back her daughter and shook her gently. "Midori, sweetie, it is time to get ready for bed. We'll get you washed up and put you right back to sleep, alright?" Midori's sleepy head only nodded in agreement and the two ladies cooed at her before heading up the stairs.
"So did you have any luck today?" Tomoyo asked, implying about her job searching. Sakura shook her head sadly and gave a quiet sigh as she rounded the stairs towards her room.
"I just can't find anything that's just right." Was the reply and silence followed it. Talking about jobs was always so depressing because the dark purpled hair girl always felt bad that she was well off while her best friend couldn't even find a suitable job. Sakura wasn't one to take in charity and it took Tomoyo a while to convince her stay at her house for a while until she settled in properly.
The fashion designer gave a small gasp as if she suddenly remembered something before putting a delicate hand on her best friend's shoulder. "Eriol's here tonight, why don't you come down later and we'll watch a movie or something?"
Sakura smiled, giving Tomoyo a knowing look at the mention of the girl's boyfriend before nodding. "That would be nice, thanks. I'll just give this one a bath first before I head down. You two pick something out and … I'll join you later." She gave her friend a wink before disappearing behind the door, satisfied to see a faint blush grace the pretty dark-haired girl's face.
Showering Midori is no easy task, even if the little girl was sleepy and drowsy. One splash of water on her face and she'd be up and at 'em, splashing water out of the large tub. The bathroom that Sakura used was quite luxurious and so that also meant that the tub would be large enough for the child to swim in. The minute the tub was full, she would jump in and happily splash the water up. Sakura, on the other hand, preferred not to get wet although really did not have much of a choice.
"Midori, calm down, I need to wash your hair." She said, sternly to her excited child before wincing as a splash of water came towards her.
The girl laughed at her mother's expression and grabbed a rubber ducky from the edge of the tub. "Mommy, look what Ducky can do!" And with that, Midori would raise the toy up in the air and come down on the water hard, sending water everywhere. Eventually, Sakura managed to get her daughter washed up and dried in record timing and not before long, Midori was fast asleep in the little bed Tomoyo had given her as a birthday present. After changing into her pajamas pants and an oversized t-shirt, the young mother headed down to the living room.
Embarrassingly enough, Sakura found her two closest friends on the couch in a deep lip lock and nearly made enough noise to set off the alarm just to run away from the room. That, of course, caused the two love birds to spring apart in surprise and look up to see who had intruded, only to see long honey-colored hair disappear behind the doorframe. Tomoyo and Eriol exchanged guilty looks with each other before scooting over to opposite ends of the love couch. "Sakura?" The young man called in a gentle, coaxing voice and the two watched as their friend peeked out from behind the frame.
"I'm sorry, I should have been quieter!" Sakura babbled with a blush on her face.
"Oh, psh, we're sorry. We know how you usually feel about the whole lovey-dovey stuff." Replied Tomoyo with a hesitant smile on her face. She patted the space between her and her boyfriend and minutes later, the three of them were chatting over hot apple ciders. After talks about the latest movies and how Midori was doing, the topic soon steered towards Sakura's nonexistent job.
The young mother shifted uncomfortably as Eriol pressed her for details about where she had looked and what exactly does she want in a job. "I don't know, I mean I checked restaurants and shops at the mall. I tried everywhere, I swear!" She said, exasperatedly, taking a sip of her drink.
At this, the dark blue-haired man sat back, looking deep in thought. This gave the other two time to finish up their cider and place them down on the coffee table before turning back to him looking expectant for a really good suggestion. Eriol opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if actually deciding whether or not to say what he wanted to say before giving a sigh and leaned back. "My cousin is in need of a personal assistant. The position pays well and it can be quite flexible depending on how much he needs you at work. It's a lot of fetching things like coffee or a suit from the dry cleaners so it's nothing difficult." He licked his lips and continued. "But… he fired the last one after discovering that she stole 5 grand from him so he's been a bit iffy on hiring a new one. But he needs someone to run his errands so you could give that a try."
Sakura stared at Eriol in mixed emotions of exuberance and hesitation. "It pays well?" She asked, her mouth feeling rather dry even after the hot drink. She got a nod in response. "Is he… well-tempered? Why did the previous one steal money from him? Who is he?"
At that point, the blue-haired man reached forward for the daily newspaper and flipped it over so that the front page was starring straight at all three of them. In big bold letters was the title: LI SUES ANOTHER ONE. Sakura reached forward and quickly skimmed through the article only touching on brief points such as "Syaoran Li goes to court once again to sue another one of his assistants whom he accuses of stealing another couple grands" and "considered 'mean, cold, and ill-tempered'" and finally "3rd richest eligible bachelor". The brunette stared at the article before glaring accusingly at Eriol. "He's your cousin and you've never told me? I didn't know you were related to Syaoran Li!"
Eriol reached over and snatched the article away and threw it onto another couch. "Yeah, we don't usually get along that well but we keep in contact. He was in a particularly bad mood when I last visited him about business, grumbling about mistrusting assistants. I asked him if he wanted to hire another one and he was very reluctant to have to waste more money on another court case, but believe me, the man needs his coffee and his secretary is a bit too busy to do that for him."
Tomoyo placed a caring hand on her best friend's knee and looked at her with big, encouraging eyes. "What do you think, Sakura? Will you give this a try?"
With a sigh, Sakura ran a small hand through her long locks of hair and fell back against the seat. "Alright."