Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Card Captor Sakura - Altered World ❯ Interlude: Li Syaoran's Dilemma II ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Card Captor Sakura - Altered World
Card Captor Sakura - Altered World

Notes: This fanfic will be S+S, and will deal with more mature concepts later on. Read at your own risk. I'm poor; don't sue. I don't own CCS at all.
Sorry to E+T fans, I'm going full canon.

Interlude: Li Syaoran's Dilemma II

Syaoran was awake. He turned his head and looked at his clock. Its blaring red lights read 2:30. He turned his head back towards the ceiling. Sleep never came easily, not since he lost control of his mind and body. Control was everything. Handling a sword without control meant that one could lose a limb. Magic without control could unintentionally demolish cities. And he had lost it. Simply to one girl. He groaned in frustration and ran his hands furiously in his hair. Just her, why? There were other women that had better figures and flaunted it more than she had. He frowned at the memory of a classmate 'accidentally' bumping into him in the halls. He wasn't blushing back then because of the physical contact but the embarrassment of her hanging off him. It had taken a while to pry her off while explaining to fellow classmates that they were not in a relationship. There had been more subtle gestures from other women; he was not interested at all. It had strangely repulsed him when they pushed themselves on him. During these past months, he had learned to control his strange rushes of desire around most women except on one single girl. She had done nothing deliberately to confuse him, but why he had no control? He buried his head into his hands. Another sleepless night.

"Li-kun, why did you want to see me for?"
"It to discuss about my… problem," said Syaoran gruffly, trying to keep his pride intact. He would have not asked for assistance but he realised that he wasn't improving on his situation. He wanted to get rid of this problem. Badly.
"Hmm?" she said as if she was oblivious to what he was implying.
Was Daidouji playing with him? He felt anger surge within him. He looked down at her to glare straight into her eyes. She stared calmly back at him like if nothing was going on.
"Well, I want to be able to control myself around that girl," he said finally in a rush of words.
"Here," she said simply, pulling a tape out of her black shoulder bag.
"Huh?" was his confused reply.
"I thought you might ask me sooner or later so I prepared a tape. I was wondering how long it would take for you ask… It was getting heavy, carrying it to school everyday," she said smilingly.
He looked down to stare at his hands with a faint blush on his face. Feeling sheepish, he began to fiddle with the tape his hands and then stopped suddenly. He raised his head to look at her.
"You planned this already?"
"Yes, a long time ago."
Something clicked. He stared at her.
"That's why you were testing me before. You wanted to see if I had gotten over my problem," the words poured out of his mouth in his sudden realization.
She simply nodded.
"Why are you doing this?" he questioned, his gaze full of distrust. He locked his eyes onto hers and tried to pry into her soul. She continued to stare strongly straight at him, without even blinking.
"It is simple really. I am doing this for Sakura's best interests. No doubt it would horrify her if she knew she was merely an object of desire to most men. I have carefully removed all threats throughout the years. She still remains as naïve as ever."
Another revelation sprang into his mind. Daidouji acted as a protective shield for the girl. She would block all the unpleasant things in society for her. She would attack fiercely anything that would cause her harm. Do anything for the girl's happiness.
"Your case was different however. Unlike the other men I have encountered over the years, you have no wish to bed Sakura. You are just a confused boy trying to handle your hormones. Despite your coldness to Sakura, you are decent. You have made an effort to still your lust, and I am willing to help you for that."
The obsessive, non-stop videotaping girl seemingly faded from his vision. A woman who cared for her friend in ways that could not be worded superimposed over the fading form. He blinked at his sudden grasp of the character underneath the extremely bizarre surface.
"Besides, despite how much you have hurt her, I can tell that Sakura honestly wants to be friends with you. It would hurt her a lot if she realised you lust after her. She trusts you in some sort of way. I also trust Sakura's judge of character, she may be naïve but she can tell which people have good intentions."
"Why so much for one girl?"
For one moment the barrier around her eyes cracked, and he could see a flicker of something within her soul. He could not understand it. It was completely foreign to him.
"She is important to me," she answered with a wistful smile.

Syaoran open the door to his apartment and locked it behind him. He hung his jacket in his closet and replaced his shoes with slippers. The encounter with Daidouji was strangely tiring. He hoped he would never have to deal with 'true' Daidouji again. He pushed the tape into the VCR. He sat down in his recliner and pointed the remote control at the VCR. He pressed PLAY. And gaped at what he saw. The girl in short skirts, tank tops, and various swimwear, male classmates would jump him if they knew he had such a tape. He continued to stare at the screen with his mouth hanging open until the tape ended. Two hours had passed. His face was flushed and he felt abnormally hot. His mind began to swim with uncomfortable images and he felt a strange burning sensation. He looked downwards and panicked. He stumbled for the phone and with shaking fingers, dialled a number.
"Hello. Daidouji residence."
"Daidouji Tomoyo, please," he stuttered and hoped she was home or he could commit suicide.
"Ojoo-sama, you have a call," a servant's voice came from the phone.
"Hello. Daidouji Tomoyo speaking."
Rage surged through him when he heard her voice speaking calmly and he took out some aggression on her.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING GIVING ME A TAPE OF ALL THAT!"
"There wasn't anything really bad. I thought that it would be good idea so that you would be able to get used to Sakura-chan when she was wearing less… Did not work very well by the tones of your voice."
"IT DIDN'T WORK ALL RIGHT! IT MADE THINGS WORSE!"
"Hmm… how did it make things worse?"
Suddenly Syaoran was standing stiffly and was incredibly silent.
Daidouji uttered a single word and his entire body turned into a shade of bright red.
"Well is that it?" she said breaking the silence that had trailed after her previous word.
"Err…" he said finding himself unable to give her a clear answer.
"I'll take that as a yes. I suppose you want to get rid of it, am I correct?"
She waited for an answer and decided to continue when she was apparently not going to get one, "You could take a cold shower… or…"
He slammed down the phone hurriedly. There was something about her tone when she said the last word he really did not like. He ran to the bathroom, and from there the only sounds in the house was the spray of water coming from the shower nozzle.

Syaoran stood in front of the door in complete uncertainty. Since the previous attempt to cure his problem had ended drastically, and completely mortified him, Daidouji had suggested tackling his problem head on. Daidouji had found a day where the girl was at home and alone. He had the perfect excuse. Kinomoto Fujitaka had once invited him over to the Kinomoto house to look at his archaeology books. Syaoran had been very interested in the seminar that he gave in the auditorium of the school for helping students pick their careers. Syaoran had been also disappointed and angered to learn that he was that girl's father. Why had she gotten such a good father when he had none? He suppressed his anger; he had a task to do. He raised his hand to knock the door and hesitated. Shaking his head furiously, he completed the action.
The girl opened the door. She looked slightly disappointed for a moment to see that it was he, but quickly brightened anyway. He flushed a bit at some memories of the visions that previously had appeared in his mind. She interrupted him before his mind could go farther, "Hello Li-kun, what brings you to my house?"
He snapped out of his trance and said, "Your father said that I could look at his archaeology books. May I come in?"
"My father is not home at the moment but I suppose he would not mind if you looked at his books. Please come in," she said while moving to the side, allowing him entrance. He walked in a removed his jacket, which she took from him and hung in her closet. He took off his shoes and she quickly placed a pair of slippers in front of him. He said his thanks and entered. He faintly remembered the interior from the last time he had came, bright yellow walls with polished hardwood floors. She leaded him left, to the basement with a spring in her step, she was happy? What for? He left his puzzlement alone and continued to follow her.

Syaoran was studying the books with very intensely. It was a collection of notes from Kinomoto's last excavation in Egypt. Surely he was supposed to spend some time in that girl's company to get used to her, but he couldn't resist doing some reading. It had been a relief to see her wearing a short sleeve shirt with a neckline that reached above her breasts and a pair of jeans. As he continued to read, he became faintly aware of her presence. He looked up and behind and asked, "Why are you watching?"
"Nothing, just checking if you need anything."
"Everything is fine," he said as he turned around and continued to read. He felt the air around him shift, and knew that she too, was reading, over his shoulder. He ignored her and continued to read. There were occasional flickers of movements from her, and he felt annoyed at the distractions. Another flicker. The strands of hair was falling out from behind her ear again. He turned around and raised his hands to her hair. She became rigid and a bit of shock was displayed on her face. He removed an existing clip on her hair and let the strands fall. Brushing back the aggravating strands of hair behind her ear, he clipped them so that they would not fall again. He faced the desk again and resumed his reading.
She blushed slightly, feeling confused at the somewhat intimate contact. She opened her mouth to thank him but felt uncomfortable doing so. Instead she asked, "Would you like to take a break for tea?"
He glanced at his watch and realised he had been reading for three hours already. He nodded.

"You seem very interested in archaeology," Sakura stated, feeling that she should start a conversation.
"It's different from maths and sciences that I'm used to studying," Syaoran replied and then sipped some tea.
"How was your life back in Hong Kong?" she half asked/wondered.
"Nothing much, training and studying."
"What did you do for fun?" she asked innocently and was met with an uncomfortable stare. She realised she said the wrong question and apologized, "Sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
He didn't show any emotion that hinted the acceptance of the apology, so she felt increasing uncomfortable. She reached for a biscuit and knocked her empty cup onto the floor, which thankfully did not break. She bent down to recover it. And gave him a good view of her chest. He felt his hand go limp and gawked.
"Li-kun! You spilled tea all over yourself!"
He looked at his hand and found that the cup was dangling from the handle. His shirt and pants were soaked.
She giggled and he glared at her.
"Seems that we are both clumsy today," she said smilingly, "I'll find something that you can change into."

Syaoran walked out down the stairs, and Sakura walked over to scrutinize his attire.
"A bit long, but then again Onii-chan is tall," she commented, "Wait stand still for a bit." She walked close to him and put her arms around his neck.
"W-w-wh-" he stuttered and flushed. He realised that she was flipping his collar down and relaxed. He watched her continue to straighten his shirt and flushed again as her face came close to his. It was not as racy and uncomfortable as flushing because he saw something he shouldn't see. Different.
"There, all better," she said and smiled, walking backwards away from him.
He couldn't find words to say but continued to flush.
"Kaijuu, I'm home."
"Onii-chan! Don't call me that! Anyway, is Yukito-san coming over soon?" she said as she ran to the door.
"No. Whose shoes are those?" Touya asked. He had returned home from medical school during the summer vacation to visit his family.
"Oh that's Li-kun's. Li-kun come over and meet my brother!"
Touya frowned, a boy? Touya was greeted by an unruly haired Chinese boy who was wearing his old clothing. His frown deepened and he glared at the kid.
"Why is that Chinese gaki wearing my old clothes?"
Syaoran met his hostile glare and was about to retort except that Sakura defended him.
"Onii-chan, be polite to my guest! Anyway father invited him over to look over his books. Oh, and the clothes are because he spilt some tea over his so I lent him yours."
Touya definitely didn't like the boy; Sakura was being too nice to him.

It was a week before the end of the summer. Syaoran waited for girl in the park with his arm crossed. It had been decided after a few more visits that going to her house while her brother was around was a bad idea. She had arranged a meeting at the park to lend him a few books to him and she was late.
"LI-KUN! Sorry! Sorry for being so late," a female voice cried, waving her hand and running over.
He looked disapprovingly at her as she rested her hands on her knees, gasping to recovering her breath.
"Here the books. What time is it? It's 4: 37! Ah! I'm late for the movie! Got to go! Bye!"
She turned around and ran but a sudden gust of wind blew up her skirt. Syaoran glowed red and ruffled his hair with his hands when he realised he was staring. So damn frustrating. He couldn't take it anymore.

Sakura was startled when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist. Then she realised that the pair of arms was tying the sleeves of a jacket together. The jacket was familiar.
"Li-kun?!"
"It's cold. Pull the sides of the jacket together when the wind blows," he said lamely.
"Err… thank you."
Now with that out of the way, he headed toward the group of boys that were making wolf whistles before. He cracked his knuckles and grinned, time to take out some stress.

Ojoo: Miss
-sama: honorific to denote extreme respect
-kun(forgot this one for a long time...): honorific to address someone who is lower in class that you or used when girls address boys that they do not know too well in the same classroom as them
-san: honorific to describe respect
gaki: brat

Author's Notes:
To my dedicated reviewers, Care and Empress Sarah: Can I say that you guys are the best? I was having lots of problems writing this chapter. Whatever I wrote sounded dead even though I had planned this out. Especially since I saw that I had no reviews from the last chapter to inspire me. You have saved this chapter.
Also to everyone else: Am I really that bad to receive so less reviews for chapter five? Please don't say yes.
It took a lot of courage to write the tape scene… my face was somewhat burning when I wrote it.
Okay, Syaoran had previously seen Tomoyo as some weird obsessive girl so he didn't expect to see much in her. Syaoran goes to Tomoyo for help because he feels she is the only one that really knows about his problem. I know that Tomoyo's feelings for Sakura should be in the light but for plot reasons…
This chapter took a lot longer to write for some strange reason but I love it.
Did a drawing of Syaoran. Made him look too young though…
Help me write better, do the poll please.

March 27, 2001, Christine Chan aka Kinomoto Sakura of Ffnet