Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow of the Dragon ❯ Sakura and the Price of Betrayal ( Chapter 26 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Lord Archive 
As revenge is plotted against Asaba for his betrayal against Naoko, another secret comes to damaging light.
Anime/Manga: Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.27.2013 | Updated On: 10.01.2013 | Pages: 10 | Words: 10.1K | Visits: 338 | Status: Completed
As revenge is plotted against Asaba for his betrayal against Naoko, another secret comes to damaging light.
Anime/Manga: Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Supernatural / Romance / Drama | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 09.27.2013 | Updated On: 10.01.2013 | Pages: 10 | Words: 10.1K | Visits: 338 | Status: Completed
"Meiling-chan!" Naoko called out, not surprised the girl was walking to school alone rather than with Syaoran or anyone else.
"What is it, Yanagisawa?" the Chinese girl questioned.
Naoko pouted. "I figured I needed to tell you something before anyone else."
"Oh?" Meiling wondered.
Naoko turned away. "I'm no longer dating Asaba and I don't wanting you getting revenge for me."
Meiling blinked. "What did he do?"
Naoko huffed. "Apparently some girl named Megumi."
Meiling scowled darkly. "Is she the same girl that tried to make time with Syaoran?"
Naoko could only shrug. "Don't know. I might not have even met the girl. Asaba's mother walked in on him and told me about it."
"I assume you have something planned for them, if you don't want me to go after them," Meiling guessed.
"Well, I do for Asaba at least. I'm going to make sure everyone will trust Yamazaki-kun's stories more than they trust a word from Asaba before next month's Dragon comes out. With that issue he should be able to figure out just who Konagi Noa really is," Naoko explained.
Meiling smirked. "Not sure if that'll be as satisfying as kicking him in the balls, but he'll definitely find out what he lost. Mind if I take care of this Megumi girl if she is the man stealer I think she is?"
"Be my guest," Naoko replied.
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Card Captor Sakura: Shadow of the Dragon
Chapter 26: Sakura and the Price of Betrayal
By: Lord Archive
Card Captor Sakura belongs to the fine ladies of CLAMP. Used without consent, all rights reserved.
Author's Warnings:
This contains mature themes not intended for children under thirteen.
This series contains:
Adult situations.
Sexual situations withOUT detailed description of sex nor the naked human body.
Brief moments of violence, some cases involving people getting severely injured and possibly death.
Occasional use of vulgar language.
Japanese humor: which include bathroom jokes, panty fetish and shocking situations.
Depictions of criminal activity committed by fictional characters.
References of homosexuality.
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A girl with long brown hair and a boyish face raced down Tomoeda Elementary School's hallway, only coming to a screeching halt as she found her best friend. "Shiori, did you do something stupid?"
Shiori looked at the young painter strangely. "Yuki, you should know me."
"Of course you've done stupid things," Yuki deadpanned. "However, I'm asking if you've done something to get your beloved in trouble."
Shiori blinked. "I can only wish I did that sort of stuff with him, but I'd make sure not to get into trouble. Why?"
Yuki glanced down the hallway. "I was seeing Kimura-sensei when the police showed up to talk to the principal. They said they were from the sexual crimes task force."
"Sexual crimes?! But I haven't done anything with him!" Shiori protested.
Yuki shook her head. "So we can hope it has nothing to do with your excessive crush. But I'm not sure Terada-sensei is safe."
"Why wouldn't he be safe?" Shiori demanded.
"You remember the girl he was with during the junior high festival?" Yuki asked seriously.
"The one that lied about Terada-sensei having a fiancee? None of the other teachers I asked think he's even dating." Shiori returned.
"That might not be a lie if she was talking about herself. Terada-sensei wouldn't advertise he's dating a girl who is in junior high," Yuki pointed out.
"There's no way he's with that bitch!" Shiori protested. She then took off running straight towards the principal's office.
Yuki smirked wryly, yet gave chase to her friend who thankfully did not barge into the office, rather stopped just outside of it and tried to eavesdrop. Yuki could only hear some muttering, nothing she could make out into words.
The girls jumped as the door suddenly opened. The police officers stepped out of the office, with one of them carrying a couple yearbooks and a video tape marked Tomoeda Class of 2003.
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The school day came to an end and hushed whispers once again echoed in the classroom. Not long ago they would've had something to do with Kinomoto Sakura, but now the main topic was Asaba Shinji, Yanagisawa Naoko and Inoue Megumi. Naoko quickly gathered her stuff and stormed off for home.
Sakura frowned at some of what she heard. At least her friend was being painted as the victim, but she didn't particularly like how Asaba was being seen as a stud. "I still can't believe he did that."
Chiharu sighed. "I'm trying to figure out why some other girl would want him."
"It's because a certain someone blurted out he was bedding Yanagisawa," Meiling groused. "Apparently she likes trying to take other girl's boyfriends."
"Tell me about it," Misora intruded. "She's been flirting with Hisao since before the marriage camping trip."
"Not to mention Syaoran during it," Meiling added.
"She did?" both Syaoran and Sakura chorused.
Tomoyo bit back a giggle. While she wanted to laugh at the fact Li could still be blind to such things, this was the most Meiling had talked to the group since Saturday afternoon and didn't want to chase her away.
Meiling nodded. "Now Yanagisawa has something planned for Asaba, but Inoue needs to be put in her place."
"What do you have in mind?" Misora wondered.
"Well, as much as I'd like to, beating her up isn't a real option," Meiling complained. "I figure the best way to get back at the slut would be to have a manipulative bitch figure out how to hurt her the most."
"Manipulative?" Misora wondered.
"Bitch?" Sakura echoed.
Tomoyo let out a forced giggle. "At least this means you'll have to talk with me."
"Well, any ideas?" Meiling pressed.
Tomoyo frowned a giggle. Had Inoue hurt Misora by sleeping with Gotoh, she'd be less inclined to aid with this, but that her friend was the victim of a boyfriend stealer she felt something should be done, especially as Li was also a target. "I'm going to need more information first. Give me a few days to come up with something."
Asaba did not feel relieved when Yanagisawa's friends left. At least he did not have to fear being jumped by either of the Li cousins, but he knew how intelligent and devious his ex-girlfriend could be. Whatever the girl planned, it wasn't going to be good for him. Eventually the rest of the class moved off to their various clubs or left for home. It took a moment for him to realize he was alone, his three friends had left without a word.
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"Why didn't you tell the others you're pregnant?" Takashi questioned as his young wife sluggishly followed behind him.
"What am I supposed to say?" Chiharu returned. "We might still delay this. I'm not particularly ready to start a family. We're barely getting use to playing our screwed up game of house as it is."
"Maybe, but it is still the point we need to start a family at some point," Takashi returned.
"While I'm in junior high?" Chiharu shook her head. "This is just too soon."
"Too many things in life come before you're ready for it," Takashi muttered out as if he was cursed.
Chiharu could only nod. Their forced marriage, the death of her father, being pregnant, and not to mention his older sister dying from an accident years ago-- life wasn't going to let them grow up at a slower pace. "I'll tell the others after we've talked to our families. If we decide to delay things, they don't need to know."
"May as well deal with my parents first," Takashi suggested irritably.
Chiharu frowned at the suggestion, knowing this wasn't something her husband wanted to do. He was already under a lot of pressure to do well in school because of his marriage to her. A baby would only increase the need to do well, while at the same time make it harder to study properly. "Can't we wait on that?"
"This isn't something that will just go away," Takashi returned. "This isn't something I particularly want to be dealing with yet either, but it is something we have to do."
Chiharu didn't offer any reply as they now took a slight detour and were now walking towards his parents' home. Her husband did not bother to knock, rather he strode straight inside.
"Hey, Mom, I'm home," Takashi called out.
Mrs. Yamazaki came out of the living room. "Oh, Takashi, Chiharu-chan, what brings you here?"
Takashi tapped the ground with his foot. "Um, we've got something to discuss."
"Oh? Is something wrong?" Mrs. Yamazaki wondered.
"I... I think I might be pregnant..." Chiharu forced herself to announce.
Mrs. Yamazaki clasped her hands together. "That's certainly something we need to talk about. Best to wait until your father comes home so we can talk about this properly."
Chiharu sighed. "Maybe we should call my mother as well and see if she's available to talk as well."
Takashi nodded. It would hopefully keep his father in check.
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Syaoran wasn't particularly paying attention to anything as he walked toward the school gate after finishing soccer practice. His thoughts were on the troubles surrounding his girlfriend, who was currently at Tai Chi class. He did not notice the girl in front of him until he had literally bumped into her. He blinked and immediately muttered out, "Sorry."
"No need to apologize, Syaoran-sensei. No harm done," Megumi replied, smiling cutely at him.
Syaoran scowled. "Don't be so formal, Inoue-san."
"So, you know my name now," Megumi observed.
"By now everyone at school knows what you did with Asaba," Syaoran retorted.
Megumi shrugged. "They're all overreacting. I just wanted to see what Yanagisawa saw in him."
"You won't see it that way," Syaoran retorted.
Megumi folded her arms. "I certainly didn't. He wasn't even as good in bed as Yanagisawa made him out to be."
"You can't find love that way," Syaoran pointed out.
Megumi looked away. "I wasn't looking for love. It was just sex after all. I have no intention of dating him. She can have him."
"That's not how things work," Syaoran shot at her.
"Of course that's how it works. It's not cheating if there's no love in it. So what if all I want to be is a mistress? I won't have to deal with being married and if I got pregnant a few thousand yen would take care of that problem," Megumi defended.
"So all you want to be is a prostitute?" Syaoran demanded.
Megumi shrugged. "It's good money, and I certainly wouldn't need to spend years in school to end up in a job I hate."
"I'm sure your parents are so proud of you," Syaoran remarked sarcastically.
Megumi leaned toward him. "My father could care less about me. He only pays for me and mother because she's a good lay and that she doesn't go public with the fact I exist."
Syaoran could only look at her in disgust, words failing him.
"Now... how about showing me what Kinomoto sees in you?" Megumi offered.
"Love can't be seen the way you're going at it," Syaoran repeated.
"I told you I'm not looking for that," Megumi returned.
"And that's why you didn't see what Yanagisawa saw in Asaba, and why you'll never know what Sakura sees in me," Syaoran growled out. He then stomped past the girl. "I will do you one favor and not repeat this to Meiling. She already dislikes you, I don't want to give her more reason to send you to the hospital."
"Your loss." Megumi huffed and walked back onto the school grounds.
A nearby bush began to shimmer, a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors washed over it before changing into a normal looking first year male student. In reality the boy was Tomoyo cloaked by The Illusion which Sakura had cast on her so she could spy on Megumi without raising any suspicions. While Sakura was not one to go for revenge, something had to be done about the girl who had hurt Naoko. With video camera in hand, Tomoyo followed her target, already planning to have her boyfriend's company do a little check to find out just who was the girl's father.
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"Hey, Shunsuke, wait up," Asaba cried out on his way to school.
Tsuda turned around. "What do you want, Asaba?"
Asaba was confused at the glare he received and his friend not using his personal name like he normally did. "What's with that attitude? And why did everyone take off yesterday? I thought we were going to be gaming."
Tsuda folded his arms. "Do I really have to spell it out? You had a good thing going on with Yanagisawa and then you go and fuck a slut."
Asaba huffed. "You're just jealous."
"I was when you were dating Yanagisawa. I sure as hell wouldn't have cheated on her," Tsuda returned.
"It was just sex, nothing more," Asaba replied bitterly. "It's really being overblown. Megumi literally offered me a chance to know what it was like to have sex with a girl besides Yanagisawa. If things continued they way they were, I'd only know her that way. I'd never know if a different girl would feel the same or not."
"And if Yanagisawa had sex with some other guy, you wouldn't be upset?" Tsuda challenged.
"Okay, I wouldn't exactly like it, but if it was a one time deal I wouldn't have dumped her," Asaba retorted.
"And you wouldn't worry that the next time some guy showed interest in her, she would screw him as well? Yanagisawa can hardly trust you to keep your pants on anymore. What would happen to her had she married you, had a couple of your kids, and then you dump her for another girl?" Tsuda growled as he advanced threateningly.
"I would've never left her!" Asaba protested.
"The fact you screwed that slut says otherwise!" Tsuda clenched his fist tightly.
"There won't be a second time with Megumi. I knew that going into it," Asaba protested.
"And what if the slut changed her mind and wanted to be more?" Tsuda pressed.
"A girl like Megumi and a guy like me? That would never happen," Asaba denied.
"Yanagisawa can't trust that. You wanted her to risk tying her life to you, and then one pretty face made you forget her." Tsuda grabbed his former friend by the shirt. "You had everything I wanted, and you threw it away like the stupid moron you are."
Asaba blinked. "Wait... You like Yanagisawa?"
Tsuda replied by punching Asaba's face.
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As class began for the day, homeroom was interrupted by the principal entering the classroom. He coughed nervously. "During the course of the day I'll be pulling a few students from this class for a little... conference. I'll start with Sasaki Rika."
Rika was rather confused, as were most of the other students. Still she got up and followed the principal. They did not go to the principal's office, rather they ended up at the audio visual room. She was directed to go inside, but her school's leader had not followed her. She swallowed nervously at the two people in the room.
"Sasaki Rika, please sit down," the one closer to her commanded with a sense of authority. "I'm Detective Shiido, and this is Detective Inaba."
Rika shifted nervously. Had someone found out about her relationship with Terada and reported it? She had to be careful and make sure not to expose how much they had done together. "What would you want with me?"
"We want you to know if anyone is threatening you, we will protect you. There is no need to cover up for someone that is hurting you," Detective Shiido informed.
"I assure you no one is hurting me," Rika replied quickly.
"Is that really the case?" Detective Shiido pressed. "You can be honest with us. We'll take care of the person and make sure you will never be a victim again."
"Why would you think I'm a victim of anything?" Rika honestly asked.
Detective Inaba reached over and pressed play on a tape.
Rika's eyes went wide with shock.
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Tomoyo was the fourth girl called out of the room, yet the previous girls had yet to return. While confusion was present in the others, she already suspected where this was going to lead. She took the seat in the AV room without being directed to sit down.
"Daidouji Tomoyo, I'm Detective Shiido," the closer of the two men in the room began. "And this is Detective Inaba."
Tomoyo bowed her head in greeting. "I take it you found one of my stolen video tapes."
"Stolen tapes?" Detective Shiido questioned.
"A few months back a number of video tapes were taken from my home," Tomoyo informed.
"And did you report this theft?" Detective Shiido asked.
"If I am here because of such a tape, you would know why I did not report it to the police, rather hired a private investigator for the matter," Tomoyo returned neutrally.
Detective Inaba reached over and played the video tape. "Are you saying the one who recorded all of this...?"
Tomoyo looked at the screen with a pained heart. The image had undoubtedly been shown to Rika, Chiharu and Naoko already. The scene was them changing into swimsuits. Though the angle was poor with the camera sitting on a bench, her friends were visibly naked. "Was me." She continued to watch, not because of any lustful desire but knowing a clue would soon emerge.
"So it is no surprise that the other girls accused you to be the one who made this," Detective Shiido commented harshly.
"None at all." Tomoyo noted her transition flowed into the following scene with the camera focused on a less than fully clothed Sakura. The soft melody used over the original audio continued to play but then the tune skipped ahead, the scene changing abruptly.
"That scene change wasn't there originally, was it?" Detective Inaba observed.
"No it wasn't. This does work to add evidence on who took the videos. It is because of a personal family situation dealing with Sakura-chan's relationship with Li Syaoran. There is someone in his family against it, which if this person has returned home to Hong Kong, well..." Tomoyo trailed off knowingly.
"Extradition would be nearly impossible," Detective Shiido spat out. "Who is he? We might be able to catch him before he leaves."
"His name is Li Wulong, though I don't know how much that would help. The only pictures I had of him were in a wedding video that was among the stolen tapes. You might not have any record of him being in Japan. He might even be working from China using others to try to irreparably damage Sakura-chan's relationship with Li-kun," Tomoyo informed.
"And why would he want to interfere with that relationship?" Detective Shiido wondered.
"Because he wishes for his granddaughter, Li Meiling, to marry Li Syaoran and that Sakura-chan regrettably has questionable breeding on her father's side, especially considering her father was her mother's high school teacher even while they were married," Tomoyo explained. "And I'm afraid you can't expect any help from either of the Li cousins, as they very much view this as a family issue."
"You do understand that child pornography is not a minor issue," Detective Shiido informed harshly.
"I'm also aware that possession is not a crime, only the manufacture and distribution of it. The tape was made from incidental images I captured when I was in elementary and compiled for personal use only. I never made any extra copies," Tomoyo retorted.
"And how do you think your friends feel?" Detective Shiido shot at her.
"Betrayed. Not only that I had made such a tape, but that I failed to warn them of it's existence once it was stolen," Tomoyo returned.
"You know we'll be talking to Kinomoto Sakura next," Detective Shiido warned.
Tomoyo bowed her head. "I know... No punishment the courts could offer will compare to that."
Detective Shiido stood up and went to the door. "You'll need to wait at the principal's office. We aren't done."
"I understand." Tomoyo left the room with sad, heavy footsteps.
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In an unused club room Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko sat around a table, having said very little to each other, only confirmed to each other what had been shown.
"Can you believe Tomoyo-chan did THAT?" Chiharu finally broke the silence.
Naoko gazed at her. "Actually I'm surprised I didn't realize this sooner. She took videos of EVERYthing, especially of Sakura-chan."
"I guess the rumor that Tomoyo-chan is a lesbian isn't a rumor," Rika said with a sigh. "I'm sure if we watched the tape fully, we'd find we're barely in it."
"What do you..." Chiharu's eyes widened. "Sakura-chan!"
"Exactly," Rika agreed. "She has always been the star of Tomoyo-chan's videos. And likely would've been even if it wasn't for Sakura-chan's... hobby."
"Right..." Naoko affirmed. 'Hobby' would be a safe way to refer to Sakura's magic, in case the detectives decide to eavesdrop.
"Of course Sakura-chan was the star," Chiharu barked out with a huff. "We know why the video got out there: to attack Sakura-chan, to dirty her name even more. We got dragged into this mess again. Now because of Tomoyo-chan's video, only the gods know how many dirty old men have seen us naked."
"Not to mention if any of us become famous for whatever reason, or Yamazaki-kun or our future spouses for that matter, this tape could come back to haunt us," Naoko added.
"As if being married at fourteen wasn't already a strike against Takashi being a politician," Chiharu groused. "What are we going to do about this? We obviously can't tell anyone about what Tomoyo-chan made."
Rika shrugged. "It's just another secret to add. Though unlike Tomoyo-chan, we should warn the ones we love that would be hurt most if this gets out."
"But what should we do about Tomoyo-chan? What she did... I can't even put into words how upset I am," Chiharu hissed out.
"She did betray us," Rika acknowledged.
"Honestly I'm less concerned about who has seen me, and more worried about it getting out that I appeared in child pornography," Naoko bemoaned.
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Sakura stared at the video the police detectives were showing her. "Tomoyo-chan... why?" She was starting to get a very good idea at just how many times she had been naked in front of her best friend. She could tell some of it had been incidental, but others... the ones where she was the most... exposed could only be intentional. Tears welled up into her eyes. She wanted to look away yet she couldn't. And it wasn't even limited to her, but anyone Tomoyo's camera had captured with one glaring exception. There was no way Tomoyo could've been responsible for some of the abrupt changes in scene and music. The images of Meiling had to have been removed. "Why would Tomoyo-chan make this?"
"You believe Daidouji is solely responsible for making this?" Detective Shiido questioned.
Sakura gave a shallow nod. "She liked video taping... everything..." She let out a sob. "Literally everything. But... why?"
"That should be obvious," Detective Inaba intoned. "She's a lesbian and wanted to get into your panties."
"Why wouldn't she tell me?" Sakura demanded. "She helped me so much with my relationship with Syaoran-kun. She can't be happy just because I'm happy." She clenched her fists. "She couldn't be if she made... this."
"Now how do you think this video ended up on the underground market?" Detective Shiido questioned in a commanding voice.
Sakura continued to cry, not offering any response.
"If you help us, we may be able to limit the damage to you and your friends," Detective Shiido insisted. "Who would want to expose you like this?"
"I... I don't know if you'll be able to do anything about him," Sakura finally spoke. "We don't know where he is, just that he objects to me being close to Syaoran-kun."
"You'll have to give me more specifics if I'm going to do anything about this guy?" Detective Shiido insisted.
Sakura silently apologized to Meiling and gave a prayer that if the police did find him, he would not use magic against them. "He's Li Meiling's grandfather. Sorry, I don't remember his name. I think I only heard it once and well... I don't have any photos or anything of him either."
Detective Shiido leaned closer. "Would Li Syaoran have any photos of him?"
Sakura shook her head. "Syaoran-kun and Meiling-chan left such things in Hong Kong. I don't think their family would be willing to send any photos here."
"I certainly understand why they would not want to cooperate, even refuse to admit he may be responsible, but what he's done to you and your friends is far worse than what even Daidouji did to you. If he's willing to go this far to discredit you, he may try to do even worse to stop your relationship," Detective Shiido told her with concern. "If what you've told me is true, you're in danger, and we want to help you."
"I... I'll see what I can do..." Sakura failed to promise.
"You're free to go," Detective Inaba informed. "You do not need to return to class for the day. If you wish to see Sasaki, Yamazaki or Yanagisawa, they are in club room G."
"Thank you." Sakura bowed to them before dashing out of the room. She almost bumped into the principal in her rush. "Excuse me."
The principal nervously went into the audio visual room and questioned, "Is there need to send in any other students?"
Detective Shiido motioned for the man to enter the room. "I believe we've concluded our investigation here for the moment."
The principal frowned. "What is the issue you needed to speak to those girls about?"
The detectives glanced at each other before Inaba replied, "Apparantly one of Daidouji's videos included some of her friends less than fully dressed and that tape has gotten into the wrong hands. While there's nothing overtly sexual on it, there's more shown than is allowed."
The principal frowned. "I see."
"With Daidouji being a minor and that she does not appear to be the one who distributed the videos, there is no point for us trying to arrest her." Detective Inaba folded his arms. "Once again she'll escape legal issues due to technicalities that'll make it nearly impossible to prosecute her."
"You're referring to the incident of Satome's assault," the Principal surmised.
Detective Inaba nodded.
The principal sighed. "It's amazing how much trouble Daidouji has seemed to have caused, not that she didn't have reason with Satome."
"She may not be so lucky if such things continue. If she makes a similar tape in five years, we would throw the book at her," Detective Inaba warned.
"Our hands in this situation may be tied, but if you wish to impose any disciplinary action against Daidouji for her conduct, you may do so," Detective Shiido suggested. "You'll understand that we can't show you the tape in question."
The principal nodded. "Rest assured we will impose some disciplinary action on her."
Detective Shiido stood up. "We'd like to talk the girls in the club room about what actions they can take, and the risks involved. Then we'd like to talk to Daidouji some more. She may have more information for us."
The principal nodded. He then led the detectives out of the room, locking the door so no one could get inside.
A dark shadowy corner suddenly illuminated, revealing Sakura had hidden herself. She went to the door and tapped the door's lock with her Star Key, invoking the power of The Lock to unlock the door. She quickly went inside and ejected the video tape. She then turned her key into her Star Staff to bring forth the power of The Twin to make an exact copy. She placed the copy into the VCR and left with the original, tapping the door to reset the lock so the detectives and the principal would never know she had gone back into the room.
Sakura then ran out of the school, only stopping to grab her roller blades from her shoe locker. She raced home wanting to get away from her school, from Tomoyo. As she passed the gate to her home she froze. There at the porch was her father kissing some girl who couldn't be older than Touya. "WHA?!"
Fujitaka jumped and looked at his daughter sheepishly. "Ah, hello, Sakura-chan. This is Togashi Hanami."
The young woman in questioned shifted nervously. "Hello."
Tomoyo-chan had made a video of her naked, Meiling's grandfather spread that video potentially all over Japan after repeated attempts to kill her, Asaba had betrayed Naoko-chan after they had become lovers, and now THIS?! Sakura slid back on her roller blades. Wings sprouted from her back and she took to the sky.
"Oh, my... She's the one with magic?" Hanami asked in awe.
Fujitaka nodded as he gazed into the sky with concern. "That's becoming a bad habit of hers."
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Syaoran fretted as none of the girls pulled from class had yet to return. He wondered if Meiling or himself would be the next to be called and what such a discussion might entail. Had Sakura's adventures been uncovered, had Sakura's enemy found a way to frame them of some wrong doing, or was it something else? The current class ended and it was now time for lunch, though he wanted to spend it with Sakura he did not know where she might be.
Tomoyo was escorted into the classroom by Teikei-sensei, who glared death at the girl's back.
"What's going on?" Syaoran wondered.
"I hope it will be left to Sakura-chan to explain," Tomoyo replied. "And I am sorry."
"Sorry about what?" Syaoran wondered.
Tomoyo did not offer a reply as she gathered her stuff from her desk. "I suspect you'll need to take Sakura's stuff home for her, and any homework she would have today."
As Daidouji began to move toward the door, the principal arrived with Yanagisawa, Sasaki and Yamazaki-chan. Strangely Rika avoided looking at Tomoyo, while Naoko and Chiharu glared at her.
"Do I even want to know?" Meiling muttered.
"Probably not," Tomoyo replied.
"Li Meiling, Li Syaoran... You'll both come with me," the principal informed.
The cousins nervously moved to obey.
"What happens with Tomoyo-chan?" Rika wondered.
"Two weeks of suspension," Teikei informed bitterly.
The students all looked at each other in surprise, each wondering what could Daidouji have done to be suspended.
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"I'm Detective Shiido and this is Detective Inaba," one of the two men in the audio visual room introduced.
"May I ask what this is about?" Syaoran wondered.
Detective Shiido pulled a video tape of the VCR. "This tape contains images of a number of girls less than fully clothed."
The Li cousins blinked in surprised.
"The one behind putting the video together was Daidouji Tomoyo," Detective Shiido added.
"Am I... am I in it?" Meiling wondered with a sense of dread.
"Not on THIS tape," Detective Shiido stressed. "However, Daidouji indicated you were in the original version. Whoever took the video from her did a poor job of editing you out before distributing the tape. He did leave every other victim of Daidouji's voyeurism untouched."
Meiling clenched her fists. That didn't make sense. Why just her? It couldn't be right. This was just another set up.
Syaoran gritted his teeth. "Is Sakura..."
"The primary star and is in almost every scene," Detective Shiido reluctantly informed. "Please understand she is a victim of this and did not know of this tape."
"I'll call home to get all the information I can on my Great-Uncle," Syaoran barked.
"Syaoran!" Meiling screeched. "We don't know-"
"These attacks on Sakura has to stop!" Syaoran yelled at her. "There's no one else it could be!"
Meiling slapped him before storming out of the room.
"This isn't the only time Kinomoto has been defamed?" Detective Shiido questioned.
Syaoran shifted uneasily, events whirled through his mind, but few he could mention without calling attention to magic. He bit his lip once he figure out one way to reference an attack. "No... it's not. Previously the worse was him finding a girl who looked remarkably like Sakura and had her prostituting herself to several guys at this school while pretending to be Sakura. Some of those guys still don't believe they were with some fake."
"We certainly appreciate any information you can give us. As of right now we're dealing with the word of only three teenagers he's responsible. We will need something more solid if we're to make an arrest," Detective Shiido informed.
"I'll see what I can do, but we haven't seen him since the start of the year," Syaoran informed. "He could be hiding anywhere, possibly not even in Japan."
"To be so devoted to breaking you up with Kinomoto, we fear her life may be in danger," Detective Inaba warned.
"We've already hired body guards to help protect her and fend off potential attacks, particularly with help from Shiro-Kuro Investigation Services. While we've suspected his actions for some time, we still haven't found where he is," Syaoran explained.
"While it would've been nice to keep this within family, it has gone to hurt others." Detective Shiido held out a business card. "If further action is taken against Kinomoto, please contact us. The sooner we stop him, the safer your girlfriend will be."
------------------------
Sakura looked up as Yueh approached her at Tsukimine Shrine. He did not utter a word, but his piercing gaze asked for him. With a sigh she held up a video tape. "I need your help with a divination. I want to try to track this down to... the second person behind it's making. Failing that, discover the other copies of this and destroy them."
Yueh raised an eyebrow.
Cerberus in his true form stepped forward. "It was one of Tomoyo's videos... It shows more of Sakura than it should."
Yueh scowled darkly. "I understand." This certainly explained why Sakura made sure Yukito was 'asleep' in his mind.
"I already tried card readings, and they weren't strong enough," Sakura mentioned.
"For such a task it may be asking too much of even your magic," Yueh intoned with a trace of bitterness in his voice. "With our help, we may give The Dream enough power to at least accomplish the first objective."
Sakura bit her lip and nodded. If this succeeded, there would be no more doubt about whether Meiling's grandfather was truly behind this or was another victim. She began to chant, "O Key which hides the power of the stars, reveal thy true form before me. I, Sakura, command thee under contract. RELEASE!" The fact her Star Key went straight into the form of her full sized staff that towered over her showed just how much determination she had. She then let her cards flow around her with Cerberus and Yueh guiding them into an order that would give the best results. "Show me all that is behind this video! The Dream, RELEASE!" With that Sakura slowly fell backwards as sleep overtook her.
------------------------
Touya had not planned to visit his father today, but he could feel something was wrong with Sakura. His little sister had been hurt in a way she never had been before. He frowned as he entered the dining area and saw that Togashi was there. "Hello."
"Um... Hi... You wouldn't happen to know where your sister is?" Hanami fretted.
"No. However, Yueh is with her. He'll watch after her," Touya replied. "And Sakura running away had little to do with you."
Hanami pouted. "I doubt that. She did first meet me while I was kissing her father."
"And you're not wondering why she was arriving home in the middle of a school day?" Touya returned.
"I was wondering about that," Fujitaka admitted.
"Something happened at school. It was enough to make Yukito almost run out in the middle of class as Yueh," Touya explained. "I was ready to go as well."
"Do you know where she is?" Fujitaka questioned.
"She's blocking that. I spent the last hour trying to find her, but found myself walking in circles. She doesn't want to be found. At least not yet," Touya informed bitterly. He then glared towards the door before going to open it.
Syaoran stood there, hand raised as he was about to knock. "Ah, hello."
"Sakura didn't let you find her either, did she?" Touya barked.
Syaoran sadly shook his head.
"Hello, Li-kun," Fujitaka greeted. "Please come in."
"What happened to Sakura," Touya demanded once the front door was shut.
Syaoran opened his mouth but only made a garbled noise. He did not want to be the one to tell Sakura's family any of this. Especially with some girl he did not know standing next to his girlfriend's father.
Touya folded his arms irritably. "You don't have to worry about. She'll be family before long."
Syaoran's frowned deepened. "This isn't even something I'd want to tell you." He let out a sigh. "Daidouji... did something that hurt Sakura."
"Certainly Tomoyo-chan didn't mean to hurt Sakura," Fujitaka defended.
"While Daidouji may not have wanted to hurt her... What she did was intentional," Syaoran tried to explain.
"If we're to help Sakura, we're going to have to know what happened," Fujitaka insisted in a gentle tone.
Syaoran clenched his fists. "I'll tell you, Kinomoto-san, but no one else."
Fujitaka nodded to the request. If he then felt Touya or Hanami should know, he could tell them. He guided the boy to his basement office. With the closed door and distance with shelves of books to dampen noise, there was no way for someone to eavesdrop without aid. "Go ahead," he encouraged.
Syaoran swallowed nervously. "You, ah, know how Daidouji liked to tape everything."
Fujitaka nodded.
"Ah, well... police detectives found one of her tapes of Sakura... dozens of copies of that tape... in a store selling child pornography," Syaoran forced himself to say.
Fujitaka's eyes went wide. "Oh... my..."
------------------------
Sakura stood at the foot of Tomoyo's bed, watching the girl play the cursed video tape while... enjoying herself. How many times had her best friend done this? Took innocent moments of getting dressed and turned them into something so perverted. Sakura just couldn't understand it.
At first it sounded like Tomoyo was moaning out her name, but soon there was no question that the girl was crying not in passion, but in longing. Reluctantly she pulled free of the bed and turned off the video. "I'm such a horrible person... I should destroy this..." She hit the rewind button. As the tape returned to the start, her finger wavered over the record button. One press and the tape would be written over. Sadly, there was no surprise as the finger moved to hit the play button.
"Oh... Tomoyo-chan..." Tears leaked from Sakura's dream image. She turned her head and found herself in a different room. It looked to be an apartment of some sort, yet it was littered with magical texts. There was a man sitting in the room, gazing upon the cursed video with disgust. However she could not see him clearly, just his shadow.
This was what she needed to know. Who was this person really? Why was he trying to destroy her life? She focused on him, willed the shadows to part around him. The darkness around the man would not obey, but his form changed to that of a dragon.
Sakura's heart suddenly seized in pain. The answer was tantalizingly close. Almost like it was on the tip of her tongue. A name she heard only once, Shadow Dragon... Wulong... Li Wulong... Meiling's beloved grandfather. "Meiling-chan... I'm sorry."
Sakura clenched her hand over her chest. "Why? Why do you hate me so much?"
The magic of The Dream pulsed. Sakura would only get one answer from this. She could find out why Meiling's grandfather was out to destroy or learn more about where the tapes had spread too. As much as she wanted to know the former, the latter was more important. If she could destroy all copies of the tape, then the damage to herself and her friends could be practically removed. There would likely be another chance to find out more about her enemy, there may not be another chance to deal with these tapes.
The tape minus all images of Meiling was mailed anonymously to a several privately owned video stores. In most cases the video was destroyed, unfortunately two of the stores didn't. She saw the owner of one keep it for his own use, the other was the one the police raided, but not before hundreds of tapes were made and sold. And of the ones sold, some were duplicated as well. Thousands of tapes showed naked images of her and her friends.
Sakura heart froze as she saw one of those tapes being put onto a computer. It was in fact something that was going on right now. There would be no time to waste. While she didn't know a lot about computers, she was aware that once something spread across on the Internet there was no removing it.
Calling upon all the powers of her cards as well as Yueh and Cerberus, Sakura cried out from within her dreams, "Banish from all existence all copies of this tape, THE ERASE! RELEASE!"
The dream came to an end as Sakura's magic washed over Tokyo.
------------------------
"Where's Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo questioned harshly.
"She doesn't want to be found," Kurogane replied bitterly.
Tomoyo sighed. "I suppose that should keep her safe from her enemy for the moment."
"Li and Kinomoto are ready to move to find her once she makes her presence known," Kurogane added.
"Well, it looks like I have more need to employ you and your company." Tomoyo looked away. "There is a video tape in police custody, many copies of that tape. They need to disappear along with any copies that a certain video store may have sold."
Kurogane gazed through the girl.
Tomoyo clenched her fists. "I wish I knew which video store they raided and found those tapes."
Kurogane grumbled as he pulled out a cellphone and dialed his company. "Hello, Kurogane speaking." He then blinked. "You were about to call me? I see. I understand. You didn't reach me yet, I'll get your message tomorrow."
Tomoyo raised an eyebrow unsure of what to make of that conversation.
Kurogane slipped his cellphone away. "The police want to talk to me about missing evidence. Apparently I was mentioned to be Kinomoto's body guard and suspect I had something to do with it."
Tomoyo smirked. "Sakura-chan beat us to it." She then frowned. "But if she even destroyed the ones in police custody she would've had to gone after all of them." She grabbed her own cellphone.
"What is it, Daidouji," Syaoran growled over the phone.
"Sakura-chan destroyed all the tapes, but to do that she had to have used a lot of magic!" Tomoyo warned.
"We know," Syaoran barked. "But with her magic all over the place, we're still having trouble finding her."
"I understand, I'll send help to search for her," Tomoyo promised, and frowned as the 'reply' was the boy hanging up on her. She then looked at her companion. "Sakura-chan is still missing, but it may be only a matter of time before someone finds her."
Kurogane didn't offer any reply as he leapt out the window of Tomoyo's home. The fear being that it would not be Li or Kinomoto that found Sakura first, but her enemy.
------------------------
Hanami was thankful that Kinomoto's daughter had a distinctive look, a touch of foreigner blood that naturally made her stand out against the more common Japanese appearances. Still she hoped she didn't walk pass the girl while wandering Tomoeda looking for her. Now where would a girl with magic run to after having a really bad day?
"I must really be out of it," a tired voice mumbled.
Hanami turned and looked up the stairs leading to a Shinto shrine, the answer to her question now seemingly obviously. "Um, hi... Sakura-san."
"Hello," Sakura replied lethargically. "Sorry, I'm not ready yet to meet anyone."
"Everyone is worried about you," Hanami mentioned.
"I know." Sakura sighed. "Sorry about... running away when I saw you."
Hanami smirked. "It certainly gave me a surprise. I understand that it wasn't because of me, but that you already had a really bad day."
"I've had a lot of 'bad days' this year," Sakura almost sobbed.
Hanami walked up the stairs and sat next to the girl. "You can tell me about it if you'd like."
Sakura shook her head. "Talking about this doesn't help. What can you possibly say or do to help me deal with someone who is literally dead set against me being with my beloved. He has hired an assassin, got my school to think I'm... really easy, and... hurt my friends just because he wants his granddaughter married to Syaoran-kun, and not me."
Hanami blinked. So much for thinking the 'drama' of the girl's life was the usually teenage girl variety. She'd have to talk to her boyfriend about seriously understating his daughter's issues. "You're right I don't even know where to begin with something like that."
"And now today, I found out my best friend has been lying to all of us. She kept insisting that she could be happy because the one she loved was happy. But she wasn't happy... because I was... she still wanted more... still wanted me," Sakura admitted through her tears.
Hanami tilted her head. "Now that I can help with."
Sakura blinked. "Huh?"
"My first real kiss was with a girl. She liked me a LOT, and she had been such a good friend and I didn't have anyone else so I gave it a shot." Hanami shook her head. "Truth was I didn't really love her that way and things just became too awkward. After being friends for years and then a couple for a few months, we quickly went our separate ways."
Sakura pouted. "Tomoyo-chan likely figured that out. There were times I would've tried for her..."
"So rather than ruin a beautiful friendship, she kept her true feelings buried," Hanami surmised.
"And was hurting herself in the process," Sakura bemoaned. "Hurting herself so much she took clips from videos of me and made her own... fantasy tape."
"Fantasy tape?" Hanami chirped in surprise.
Sakura merely nodded, unable and unwilling to fully explain the tape.
Hanami frowned, trying to think of something to say.
Sakura glanced at the young woman. "Do take care of my Dad. Before he knows it I'll be gone... either married to Syaoran-kun or..."
"You shouldn't think like that," Hanami chastised. "You WILL over come this challenge."
Sakura smirked weakly. "Easier said than done... Finally last tape gone... Tell oniichan that Yukito-san is asleep at the shrine." The girl then swayed and collapsed onto the young woman.
Hanami panicked briefly until realizing the girl was just asleep. She moved to grab her cellphone but no sooner that she had it out, Touya pulled up in her boyfriend's car and Syaoran turned the corner and ran up the steps. "She's just asleep and said Yukito was asleep at the shrine."
Touya frowned. "Brat, take Sakura to your place."
Syaoran looked at the young man with a surprised expression. "You already knew she won't be attacked if Meiling is around."
Touya merely nodded as he irritably marched pass them.
------------------------
Author's Notes:
Coming Next:
Chapter 27 - Sakura and the End of Friendships
Tomoyo's video tape has torn apart the close friendships shared by Sakura and the others.
And I've finally hit what I consider to be the mid-series boss battle. I know a few will object to Tomoyo portrayal of having made a soft-core porn tape of Sakura, preferring to think of Card Captor Sakura as a celebration of love and this perverts one of the main relationships both literally and figuratively. However at it's core Shadow of the Dragon is a series that shows the darker sides of love whether it's the forbidden lust of a student for a teacher or willing to hurt others to protect or even avenge the ones you love. Just as hate for certain laws or societal issues can bring people to gather in protest and bring positive change; love can bring even the best of us to commit sin. While in the original series Sakura barely glimpsed the darker side of love, mostly in learning that her mother was disowned for marrying her father and dealing with Syaoran's jealous streak, with this series I wanted to show a more complete picture of love, with both the good and the bad.
This time the omake will be a little different. I'll likely get back to Card Captor Ichigo later, but now a little explanation of CCS time line and Japanese schools and reflected culture:
'Class of 2003' comment is in taking the stance of this series that CCS began in April of 2000, as such Sakura and her friends would've finished Tomoeda Elementary in March 2003. Part of the reason is to support Sakura really was ten at the start of series since the year she would've turned six, in 1996, had the potential first day of school on March 31st and since Sakura's birthday was the following day she would've had to wait a year. A first grader in Japan must be six years of age as of the first day of class, rather than a fixed singular day of the year. (In 2012 the first day was April 2nd, while 2013 was April 1st.)
Going by all the date references in the anime, in particular the calendars shown in episode 54, the CCS series actually began in 1992 as that particular episode showed the month of November 1993. Nadeshiko's work calendar lined up with 1985 and she likely died in 1986. However, there is no oddity in the calendar of 1988 to have the school year start before Sakura's birthday, meaning that all references of Sakura being ten is because of the standard reference that 'fourth graders are ten' due to that being the age most of the students are by the time winter break begins. This would mean that Sakura was really nine at the start and the youngest of her class. A good example of grade level being reference of age is actually from Touya, who has been referred to as being seventeen yet with a February 29th birthday he could not be any other age besides sixteen at the start of series in order to be a second year senior high school student as it is illegal in Japan to hold back (or advance) a child's grade level for any reason-- he was marked seventeen for being in eleventh grade despite a clearly marked birthday that indicated otherwise.
Notes:
With a February 29th birthday, Touya would've had to have been conceived sometime around Nadeshiko's birthday.
Not only was Nadeshiko stated to be sixteen when she married Fujitaka, she could not marry him before her sixteenth birthday unless she had parent or guardian approval and we know she didn't have that.
The most likely time line of events per anime as it gives the most flexibility of when Nadeshiko married:
5-20-58 Nadeshiko born.
On are after 5-20-74 but before 5-20-75 Nadeshiko marries Fujitaka.
2-29-76 Touya is born.
4-1-83 Sakura is born.
1985 Year of the calendar.
Nadeshiko dies between 4-1-86 and 5-19-86.
April 1992 start of CCS with Sakura being nine years old and the youngest.
*If Nadeshiko was born in 1959 instead, marriage would be restricted to on the day or within a few weeks of her birthday in 1975, but allows for a full year range to have passed away, 5-20-86 thru 5-19-87.
In comparison the time line for Sakura's Christmas Surprise/Shadow of the Dragon:
5-20-67 Nadeshiko is born.
5-20-83 Nadeshiko marries Fujitaka.
2-29-84 Touya is born.
4-1-90 Sakura is born.
1991 year of Nadeshiko's work calendar.
Nadeshiko dies between 4-1-93 and 5-19-93.
April 2000 start of CCS with being ten years old and the oldest in class.
"What is it, Yanagisawa?" the Chinese girl questioned.
Naoko pouted. "I figured I needed to tell you something before anyone else."
"Oh?" Meiling wondered.
Naoko turned away. "I'm no longer dating Asaba and I don't wanting you getting revenge for me."
Meiling blinked. "What did he do?"
Naoko huffed. "Apparently some girl named Megumi."
Meiling scowled darkly. "Is she the same girl that tried to make time with Syaoran?"
Naoko could only shrug. "Don't know. I might not have even met the girl. Asaba's mother walked in on him and told me about it."
"I assume you have something planned for them, if you don't want me to go after them," Meiling guessed.
"Well, I do for Asaba at least. I'm going to make sure everyone will trust Yamazaki-kun's stories more than they trust a word from Asaba before next month's Dragon comes out. With that issue he should be able to figure out just who Konagi Noa really is," Naoko explained.
Meiling smirked. "Not sure if that'll be as satisfying as kicking him in the balls, but he'll definitely find out what he lost. Mind if I take care of this Megumi girl if she is the man stealer I think she is?"
"Be my guest," Naoko replied.
------------------------
Card Captor Sakura: Shadow of the Dragon
Chapter 26: Sakura and the Price of Betrayal
By: Lord Archive
Card Captor Sakura belongs to the fine ladies of CLAMP. Used without consent, all rights reserved.
Author's Warnings:
This contains mature themes not intended for children under thirteen.
This series contains:
Adult situations.
Sexual situations withOUT detailed description of sex nor the naked human body.
Brief moments of violence, some cases involving people getting severely injured and possibly death.
Occasional use of vulgar language.
Japanese humor: which include bathroom jokes, panty fetish and shocking situations.
Depictions of criminal activity committed by fictional characters.
References of homosexuality.
------------------------
A girl with long brown hair and a boyish face raced down Tomoeda Elementary School's hallway, only coming to a screeching halt as she found her best friend. "Shiori, did you do something stupid?"
Shiori looked at the young painter strangely. "Yuki, you should know me."
"Of course you've done stupid things," Yuki deadpanned. "However, I'm asking if you've done something to get your beloved in trouble."
Shiori blinked. "I can only wish I did that sort of stuff with him, but I'd make sure not to get into trouble. Why?"
Yuki glanced down the hallway. "I was seeing Kimura-sensei when the police showed up to talk to the principal. They said they were from the sexual crimes task force."
"Sexual crimes?! But I haven't done anything with him!" Shiori protested.
Yuki shook her head. "So we can hope it has nothing to do with your excessive crush. But I'm not sure Terada-sensei is safe."
"Why wouldn't he be safe?" Shiori demanded.
"You remember the girl he was with during the junior high festival?" Yuki asked seriously.
"The one that lied about Terada-sensei having a fiancee? None of the other teachers I asked think he's even dating." Shiori returned.
"That might not be a lie if she was talking about herself. Terada-sensei wouldn't advertise he's dating a girl who is in junior high," Yuki pointed out.
"There's no way he's with that bitch!" Shiori protested. She then took off running straight towards the principal's office.
Yuki smirked wryly, yet gave chase to her friend who thankfully did not barge into the office, rather stopped just outside of it and tried to eavesdrop. Yuki could only hear some muttering, nothing she could make out into words.
The girls jumped as the door suddenly opened. The police officers stepped out of the office, with one of them carrying a couple yearbooks and a video tape marked Tomoeda Class of 2003.
------------------------
The school day came to an end and hushed whispers once again echoed in the classroom. Not long ago they would've had something to do with Kinomoto Sakura, but now the main topic was Asaba Shinji, Yanagisawa Naoko and Inoue Megumi. Naoko quickly gathered her stuff and stormed off for home.
Sakura frowned at some of what she heard. At least her friend was being painted as the victim, but she didn't particularly like how Asaba was being seen as a stud. "I still can't believe he did that."
Chiharu sighed. "I'm trying to figure out why some other girl would want him."
"It's because a certain someone blurted out he was bedding Yanagisawa," Meiling groused. "Apparently she likes trying to take other girl's boyfriends."
"Tell me about it," Misora intruded. "She's been flirting with Hisao since before the marriage camping trip."
"Not to mention Syaoran during it," Meiling added.
"She did?" both Syaoran and Sakura chorused.
Tomoyo bit back a giggle. While she wanted to laugh at the fact Li could still be blind to such things, this was the most Meiling had talked to the group since Saturday afternoon and didn't want to chase her away.
Meiling nodded. "Now Yanagisawa has something planned for Asaba, but Inoue needs to be put in her place."
"What do you have in mind?" Misora wondered.
"Well, as much as I'd like to, beating her up isn't a real option," Meiling complained. "I figure the best way to get back at the slut would be to have a manipulative bitch figure out how to hurt her the most."
"Manipulative?" Misora wondered.
"Bitch?" Sakura echoed.
Tomoyo let out a forced giggle. "At least this means you'll have to talk with me."
"Well, any ideas?" Meiling pressed.
Tomoyo frowned a giggle. Had Inoue hurt Misora by sleeping with Gotoh, she'd be less inclined to aid with this, but that her friend was the victim of a boyfriend stealer she felt something should be done, especially as Li was also a target. "I'm going to need more information first. Give me a few days to come up with something."
Asaba did not feel relieved when Yanagisawa's friends left. At least he did not have to fear being jumped by either of the Li cousins, but he knew how intelligent and devious his ex-girlfriend could be. Whatever the girl planned, it wasn't going to be good for him. Eventually the rest of the class moved off to their various clubs or left for home. It took a moment for him to realize he was alone, his three friends had left without a word.
------------------------
"Why didn't you tell the others you're pregnant?" Takashi questioned as his young wife sluggishly followed behind him.
"What am I supposed to say?" Chiharu returned. "We might still delay this. I'm not particularly ready to start a family. We're barely getting use to playing our screwed up game of house as it is."
"Maybe, but it is still the point we need to start a family at some point," Takashi returned.
"While I'm in junior high?" Chiharu shook her head. "This is just too soon."
"Too many things in life come before you're ready for it," Takashi muttered out as if he was cursed.
Chiharu could only nod. Their forced marriage, the death of her father, being pregnant, and not to mention his older sister dying from an accident years ago-- life wasn't going to let them grow up at a slower pace. "I'll tell the others after we've talked to our families. If we decide to delay things, they don't need to know."
"May as well deal with my parents first," Takashi suggested irritably.
Chiharu frowned at the suggestion, knowing this wasn't something her husband wanted to do. He was already under a lot of pressure to do well in school because of his marriage to her. A baby would only increase the need to do well, while at the same time make it harder to study properly. "Can't we wait on that?"
"This isn't something that will just go away," Takashi returned. "This isn't something I particularly want to be dealing with yet either, but it is something we have to do."
Chiharu didn't offer any reply as they now took a slight detour and were now walking towards his parents' home. Her husband did not bother to knock, rather he strode straight inside.
"Hey, Mom, I'm home," Takashi called out.
Mrs. Yamazaki came out of the living room. "Oh, Takashi, Chiharu-chan, what brings you here?"
Takashi tapped the ground with his foot. "Um, we've got something to discuss."
"Oh? Is something wrong?" Mrs. Yamazaki wondered.
"I... I think I might be pregnant..." Chiharu forced herself to announce.
Mrs. Yamazaki clasped her hands together. "That's certainly something we need to talk about. Best to wait until your father comes home so we can talk about this properly."
Chiharu sighed. "Maybe we should call my mother as well and see if she's available to talk as well."
Takashi nodded. It would hopefully keep his father in check.
------------------------
Syaoran wasn't particularly paying attention to anything as he walked toward the school gate after finishing soccer practice. His thoughts were on the troubles surrounding his girlfriend, who was currently at Tai Chi class. He did not notice the girl in front of him until he had literally bumped into her. He blinked and immediately muttered out, "Sorry."
"No need to apologize, Syaoran-sensei. No harm done," Megumi replied, smiling cutely at him.
Syaoran scowled. "Don't be so formal, Inoue-san."
"So, you know my name now," Megumi observed.
"By now everyone at school knows what you did with Asaba," Syaoran retorted.
Megumi shrugged. "They're all overreacting. I just wanted to see what Yanagisawa saw in him."
"You won't see it that way," Syaoran retorted.
Megumi folded her arms. "I certainly didn't. He wasn't even as good in bed as Yanagisawa made him out to be."
"You can't find love that way," Syaoran pointed out.
Megumi looked away. "I wasn't looking for love. It was just sex after all. I have no intention of dating him. She can have him."
"That's not how things work," Syaoran shot at her.
"Of course that's how it works. It's not cheating if there's no love in it. So what if all I want to be is a mistress? I won't have to deal with being married and if I got pregnant a few thousand yen would take care of that problem," Megumi defended.
"So all you want to be is a prostitute?" Syaoran demanded.
Megumi shrugged. "It's good money, and I certainly wouldn't need to spend years in school to end up in a job I hate."
"I'm sure your parents are so proud of you," Syaoran remarked sarcastically.
Megumi leaned toward him. "My father could care less about me. He only pays for me and mother because she's a good lay and that she doesn't go public with the fact I exist."
Syaoran could only look at her in disgust, words failing him.
"Now... how about showing me what Kinomoto sees in you?" Megumi offered.
"Love can't be seen the way you're going at it," Syaoran repeated.
"I told you I'm not looking for that," Megumi returned.
"And that's why you didn't see what Yanagisawa saw in Asaba, and why you'll never know what Sakura sees in me," Syaoran growled out. He then stomped past the girl. "I will do you one favor and not repeat this to Meiling. She already dislikes you, I don't want to give her more reason to send you to the hospital."
"Your loss." Megumi huffed and walked back onto the school grounds.
A nearby bush began to shimmer, a kaleidoscope of rainbow colors washed over it before changing into a normal looking first year male student. In reality the boy was Tomoyo cloaked by The Illusion which Sakura had cast on her so she could spy on Megumi without raising any suspicions. While Sakura was not one to go for revenge, something had to be done about the girl who had hurt Naoko. With video camera in hand, Tomoyo followed her target, already planning to have her boyfriend's company do a little check to find out just who was the girl's father.
------------------------
"Hey, Shunsuke, wait up," Asaba cried out on his way to school.
Tsuda turned around. "What do you want, Asaba?"
Asaba was confused at the glare he received and his friend not using his personal name like he normally did. "What's with that attitude? And why did everyone take off yesterday? I thought we were going to be gaming."
Tsuda folded his arms. "Do I really have to spell it out? You had a good thing going on with Yanagisawa and then you go and fuck a slut."
Asaba huffed. "You're just jealous."
"I was when you were dating Yanagisawa. I sure as hell wouldn't have cheated on her," Tsuda returned.
"It was just sex, nothing more," Asaba replied bitterly. "It's really being overblown. Megumi literally offered me a chance to know what it was like to have sex with a girl besides Yanagisawa. If things continued they way they were, I'd only know her that way. I'd never know if a different girl would feel the same or not."
"And if Yanagisawa had sex with some other guy, you wouldn't be upset?" Tsuda challenged.
"Okay, I wouldn't exactly like it, but if it was a one time deal I wouldn't have dumped her," Asaba retorted.
"And you wouldn't worry that the next time some guy showed interest in her, she would screw him as well? Yanagisawa can hardly trust you to keep your pants on anymore. What would happen to her had she married you, had a couple of your kids, and then you dump her for another girl?" Tsuda growled as he advanced threateningly.
"I would've never left her!" Asaba protested.
"The fact you screwed that slut says otherwise!" Tsuda clenched his fist tightly.
"There won't be a second time with Megumi. I knew that going into it," Asaba protested.
"And what if the slut changed her mind and wanted to be more?" Tsuda pressed.
"A girl like Megumi and a guy like me? That would never happen," Asaba denied.
"Yanagisawa can't trust that. You wanted her to risk tying her life to you, and then one pretty face made you forget her." Tsuda grabbed his former friend by the shirt. "You had everything I wanted, and you threw it away like the stupid moron you are."
Asaba blinked. "Wait... You like Yanagisawa?"
Tsuda replied by punching Asaba's face.
------------------------
As class began for the day, homeroom was interrupted by the principal entering the classroom. He coughed nervously. "During the course of the day I'll be pulling a few students from this class for a little... conference. I'll start with Sasaki Rika."
Rika was rather confused, as were most of the other students. Still she got up and followed the principal. They did not go to the principal's office, rather they ended up at the audio visual room. She was directed to go inside, but her school's leader had not followed her. She swallowed nervously at the two people in the room.
"Sasaki Rika, please sit down," the one closer to her commanded with a sense of authority. "I'm Detective Shiido, and this is Detective Inaba."
Rika shifted nervously. Had someone found out about her relationship with Terada and reported it? She had to be careful and make sure not to expose how much they had done together. "What would you want with me?"
"We want you to know if anyone is threatening you, we will protect you. There is no need to cover up for someone that is hurting you," Detective Shiido informed.
"I assure you no one is hurting me," Rika replied quickly.
"Is that really the case?" Detective Shiido pressed. "You can be honest with us. We'll take care of the person and make sure you will never be a victim again."
"Why would you think I'm a victim of anything?" Rika honestly asked.
Detective Inaba reached over and pressed play on a tape.
Rika's eyes went wide with shock.
------------------------
Tomoyo was the fourth girl called out of the room, yet the previous girls had yet to return. While confusion was present in the others, she already suspected where this was going to lead. She took the seat in the AV room without being directed to sit down.
"Daidouji Tomoyo, I'm Detective Shiido," the closer of the two men in the room began. "And this is Detective Inaba."
Tomoyo bowed her head in greeting. "I take it you found one of my stolen video tapes."
"Stolen tapes?" Detective Shiido questioned.
"A few months back a number of video tapes were taken from my home," Tomoyo informed.
"And did you report this theft?" Detective Shiido asked.
"If I am here because of such a tape, you would know why I did not report it to the police, rather hired a private investigator for the matter," Tomoyo returned neutrally.
Detective Inaba reached over and played the video tape. "Are you saying the one who recorded all of this...?"
Tomoyo looked at the screen with a pained heart. The image had undoubtedly been shown to Rika, Chiharu and Naoko already. The scene was them changing into swimsuits. Though the angle was poor with the camera sitting on a bench, her friends were visibly naked. "Was me." She continued to watch, not because of any lustful desire but knowing a clue would soon emerge.
"So it is no surprise that the other girls accused you to be the one who made this," Detective Shiido commented harshly.
"None at all." Tomoyo noted her transition flowed into the following scene with the camera focused on a less than fully clothed Sakura. The soft melody used over the original audio continued to play but then the tune skipped ahead, the scene changing abruptly.
"That scene change wasn't there originally, was it?" Detective Inaba observed.
"No it wasn't. This does work to add evidence on who took the videos. It is because of a personal family situation dealing with Sakura-chan's relationship with Li Syaoran. There is someone in his family against it, which if this person has returned home to Hong Kong, well..." Tomoyo trailed off knowingly.
"Extradition would be nearly impossible," Detective Shiido spat out. "Who is he? We might be able to catch him before he leaves."
"His name is Li Wulong, though I don't know how much that would help. The only pictures I had of him were in a wedding video that was among the stolen tapes. You might not have any record of him being in Japan. He might even be working from China using others to try to irreparably damage Sakura-chan's relationship with Li-kun," Tomoyo informed.
"And why would he want to interfere with that relationship?" Detective Shiido wondered.
"Because he wishes for his granddaughter, Li Meiling, to marry Li Syaoran and that Sakura-chan regrettably has questionable breeding on her father's side, especially considering her father was her mother's high school teacher even while they were married," Tomoyo explained. "And I'm afraid you can't expect any help from either of the Li cousins, as they very much view this as a family issue."
"You do understand that child pornography is not a minor issue," Detective Shiido informed harshly.
"I'm also aware that possession is not a crime, only the manufacture and distribution of it. The tape was made from incidental images I captured when I was in elementary and compiled for personal use only. I never made any extra copies," Tomoyo retorted.
"And how do you think your friends feel?" Detective Shiido shot at her.
"Betrayed. Not only that I had made such a tape, but that I failed to warn them of it's existence once it was stolen," Tomoyo returned.
"You know we'll be talking to Kinomoto Sakura next," Detective Shiido warned.
Tomoyo bowed her head. "I know... No punishment the courts could offer will compare to that."
Detective Shiido stood up and went to the door. "You'll need to wait at the principal's office. We aren't done."
"I understand." Tomoyo left the room with sad, heavy footsteps.
------------------------
In an unused club room Chiharu, Rika, and Naoko sat around a table, having said very little to each other, only confirmed to each other what had been shown.
"Can you believe Tomoyo-chan did THAT?" Chiharu finally broke the silence.
Naoko gazed at her. "Actually I'm surprised I didn't realize this sooner. She took videos of EVERYthing, especially of Sakura-chan."
"I guess the rumor that Tomoyo-chan is a lesbian isn't a rumor," Rika said with a sigh. "I'm sure if we watched the tape fully, we'd find we're barely in it."
"What do you..." Chiharu's eyes widened. "Sakura-chan!"
"Exactly," Rika agreed. "She has always been the star of Tomoyo-chan's videos. And likely would've been even if it wasn't for Sakura-chan's... hobby."
"Right..." Naoko affirmed. 'Hobby' would be a safe way to refer to Sakura's magic, in case the detectives decide to eavesdrop.
"Of course Sakura-chan was the star," Chiharu barked out with a huff. "We know why the video got out there: to attack Sakura-chan, to dirty her name even more. We got dragged into this mess again. Now because of Tomoyo-chan's video, only the gods know how many dirty old men have seen us naked."
"Not to mention if any of us become famous for whatever reason, or Yamazaki-kun or our future spouses for that matter, this tape could come back to haunt us," Naoko added.
"As if being married at fourteen wasn't already a strike against Takashi being a politician," Chiharu groused. "What are we going to do about this? We obviously can't tell anyone about what Tomoyo-chan made."
Rika shrugged. "It's just another secret to add. Though unlike Tomoyo-chan, we should warn the ones we love that would be hurt most if this gets out."
"But what should we do about Tomoyo-chan? What she did... I can't even put into words how upset I am," Chiharu hissed out.
"She did betray us," Rika acknowledged.
"Honestly I'm less concerned about who has seen me, and more worried about it getting out that I appeared in child pornography," Naoko bemoaned.
------------------------
Sakura stared at the video the police detectives were showing her. "Tomoyo-chan... why?" She was starting to get a very good idea at just how many times she had been naked in front of her best friend. She could tell some of it had been incidental, but others... the ones where she was the most... exposed could only be intentional. Tears welled up into her eyes. She wanted to look away yet she couldn't. And it wasn't even limited to her, but anyone Tomoyo's camera had captured with one glaring exception. There was no way Tomoyo could've been responsible for some of the abrupt changes in scene and music. The images of Meiling had to have been removed. "Why would Tomoyo-chan make this?"
"You believe Daidouji is solely responsible for making this?" Detective Shiido questioned.
Sakura gave a shallow nod. "She liked video taping... everything..." She let out a sob. "Literally everything. But... why?"
"That should be obvious," Detective Inaba intoned. "She's a lesbian and wanted to get into your panties."
"Why wouldn't she tell me?" Sakura demanded. "She helped me so much with my relationship with Syaoran-kun. She can't be happy just because I'm happy." She clenched her fists. "She couldn't be if she made... this."
"Now how do you think this video ended up on the underground market?" Detective Shiido questioned in a commanding voice.
Sakura continued to cry, not offering any response.
"If you help us, we may be able to limit the damage to you and your friends," Detective Shiido insisted. "Who would want to expose you like this?"
"I... I don't know if you'll be able to do anything about him," Sakura finally spoke. "We don't know where he is, just that he objects to me being close to Syaoran-kun."
"You'll have to give me more specifics if I'm going to do anything about this guy?" Detective Shiido insisted.
Sakura silently apologized to Meiling and gave a prayer that if the police did find him, he would not use magic against them. "He's Li Meiling's grandfather. Sorry, I don't remember his name. I think I only heard it once and well... I don't have any photos or anything of him either."
Detective Shiido leaned closer. "Would Li Syaoran have any photos of him?"
Sakura shook her head. "Syaoran-kun and Meiling-chan left such things in Hong Kong. I don't think their family would be willing to send any photos here."
"I certainly understand why they would not want to cooperate, even refuse to admit he may be responsible, but what he's done to you and your friends is far worse than what even Daidouji did to you. If he's willing to go this far to discredit you, he may try to do even worse to stop your relationship," Detective Shiido told her with concern. "If what you've told me is true, you're in danger, and we want to help you."
"I... I'll see what I can do..." Sakura failed to promise.
"You're free to go," Detective Inaba informed. "You do not need to return to class for the day. If you wish to see Sasaki, Yamazaki or Yanagisawa, they are in club room G."
"Thank you." Sakura bowed to them before dashing out of the room. She almost bumped into the principal in her rush. "Excuse me."
The principal nervously went into the audio visual room and questioned, "Is there need to send in any other students?"
Detective Shiido motioned for the man to enter the room. "I believe we've concluded our investigation here for the moment."
The principal frowned. "What is the issue you needed to speak to those girls about?"
The detectives glanced at each other before Inaba replied, "Apparantly one of Daidouji's videos included some of her friends less than fully dressed and that tape has gotten into the wrong hands. While there's nothing overtly sexual on it, there's more shown than is allowed."
The principal frowned. "I see."
"With Daidouji being a minor and that she does not appear to be the one who distributed the videos, there is no point for us trying to arrest her." Detective Inaba folded his arms. "Once again she'll escape legal issues due to technicalities that'll make it nearly impossible to prosecute her."
"You're referring to the incident of Satome's assault," the Principal surmised.
Detective Inaba nodded.
The principal sighed. "It's amazing how much trouble Daidouji has seemed to have caused, not that she didn't have reason with Satome."
"She may not be so lucky if such things continue. If she makes a similar tape in five years, we would throw the book at her," Detective Inaba warned.
"Our hands in this situation may be tied, but if you wish to impose any disciplinary action against Daidouji for her conduct, you may do so," Detective Shiido suggested. "You'll understand that we can't show you the tape in question."
The principal nodded. "Rest assured we will impose some disciplinary action on her."
Detective Shiido stood up. "We'd like to talk the girls in the club room about what actions they can take, and the risks involved. Then we'd like to talk to Daidouji some more. She may have more information for us."
The principal nodded. He then led the detectives out of the room, locking the door so no one could get inside.
A dark shadowy corner suddenly illuminated, revealing Sakura had hidden herself. She went to the door and tapped the door's lock with her Star Key, invoking the power of The Lock to unlock the door. She quickly went inside and ejected the video tape. She then turned her key into her Star Staff to bring forth the power of The Twin to make an exact copy. She placed the copy into the VCR and left with the original, tapping the door to reset the lock so the detectives and the principal would never know she had gone back into the room.
Sakura then ran out of the school, only stopping to grab her roller blades from her shoe locker. She raced home wanting to get away from her school, from Tomoyo. As she passed the gate to her home she froze. There at the porch was her father kissing some girl who couldn't be older than Touya. "WHA?!"
Fujitaka jumped and looked at his daughter sheepishly. "Ah, hello, Sakura-chan. This is Togashi Hanami."
The young woman in questioned shifted nervously. "Hello."
Tomoyo-chan had made a video of her naked, Meiling's grandfather spread that video potentially all over Japan after repeated attempts to kill her, Asaba had betrayed Naoko-chan after they had become lovers, and now THIS?! Sakura slid back on her roller blades. Wings sprouted from her back and she took to the sky.
"Oh, my... She's the one with magic?" Hanami asked in awe.
Fujitaka nodded as he gazed into the sky with concern. "That's becoming a bad habit of hers."
------------------------
Syaoran fretted as none of the girls pulled from class had yet to return. He wondered if Meiling or himself would be the next to be called and what such a discussion might entail. Had Sakura's adventures been uncovered, had Sakura's enemy found a way to frame them of some wrong doing, or was it something else? The current class ended and it was now time for lunch, though he wanted to spend it with Sakura he did not know where she might be.
Tomoyo was escorted into the classroom by Teikei-sensei, who glared death at the girl's back.
"What's going on?" Syaoran wondered.
"I hope it will be left to Sakura-chan to explain," Tomoyo replied. "And I am sorry."
"Sorry about what?" Syaoran wondered.
Tomoyo did not offer a reply as she gathered her stuff from her desk. "I suspect you'll need to take Sakura's stuff home for her, and any homework she would have today."
As Daidouji began to move toward the door, the principal arrived with Yanagisawa, Sasaki and Yamazaki-chan. Strangely Rika avoided looking at Tomoyo, while Naoko and Chiharu glared at her.
"Do I even want to know?" Meiling muttered.
"Probably not," Tomoyo replied.
"Li Meiling, Li Syaoran... You'll both come with me," the principal informed.
The cousins nervously moved to obey.
"What happens with Tomoyo-chan?" Rika wondered.
"Two weeks of suspension," Teikei informed bitterly.
The students all looked at each other in surprise, each wondering what could Daidouji have done to be suspended.
------------------------
"I'm Detective Shiido and this is Detective Inaba," one of the two men in the audio visual room introduced.
"May I ask what this is about?" Syaoran wondered.
Detective Shiido pulled a video tape of the VCR. "This tape contains images of a number of girls less than fully clothed."
The Li cousins blinked in surprised.
"The one behind putting the video together was Daidouji Tomoyo," Detective Shiido added.
"Am I... am I in it?" Meiling wondered with a sense of dread.
"Not on THIS tape," Detective Shiido stressed. "However, Daidouji indicated you were in the original version. Whoever took the video from her did a poor job of editing you out before distributing the tape. He did leave every other victim of Daidouji's voyeurism untouched."
Meiling clenched her fists. That didn't make sense. Why just her? It couldn't be right. This was just another set up.
Syaoran gritted his teeth. "Is Sakura..."
"The primary star and is in almost every scene," Detective Shiido reluctantly informed. "Please understand she is a victim of this and did not know of this tape."
"I'll call home to get all the information I can on my Great-Uncle," Syaoran barked.
"Syaoran!" Meiling screeched. "We don't know-"
"These attacks on Sakura has to stop!" Syaoran yelled at her. "There's no one else it could be!"
Meiling slapped him before storming out of the room.
"This isn't the only time Kinomoto has been defamed?" Detective Shiido questioned.
Syaoran shifted uneasily, events whirled through his mind, but few he could mention without calling attention to magic. He bit his lip once he figure out one way to reference an attack. "No... it's not. Previously the worse was him finding a girl who looked remarkably like Sakura and had her prostituting herself to several guys at this school while pretending to be Sakura. Some of those guys still don't believe they were with some fake."
"We certainly appreciate any information you can give us. As of right now we're dealing with the word of only three teenagers he's responsible. We will need something more solid if we're to make an arrest," Detective Shiido informed.
"I'll see what I can do, but we haven't seen him since the start of the year," Syaoran informed. "He could be hiding anywhere, possibly not even in Japan."
"To be so devoted to breaking you up with Kinomoto, we fear her life may be in danger," Detective Inaba warned.
"We've already hired body guards to help protect her and fend off potential attacks, particularly with help from Shiro-Kuro Investigation Services. While we've suspected his actions for some time, we still haven't found where he is," Syaoran explained.
"While it would've been nice to keep this within family, it has gone to hurt others." Detective Shiido held out a business card. "If further action is taken against Kinomoto, please contact us. The sooner we stop him, the safer your girlfriend will be."
------------------------
Sakura looked up as Yueh approached her at Tsukimine Shrine. He did not utter a word, but his piercing gaze asked for him. With a sigh she held up a video tape. "I need your help with a divination. I want to try to track this down to... the second person behind it's making. Failing that, discover the other copies of this and destroy them."
Yueh raised an eyebrow.
Cerberus in his true form stepped forward. "It was one of Tomoyo's videos... It shows more of Sakura than it should."
Yueh scowled darkly. "I understand." This certainly explained why Sakura made sure Yukito was 'asleep' in his mind.
"I already tried card readings, and they weren't strong enough," Sakura mentioned.
"For such a task it may be asking too much of even your magic," Yueh intoned with a trace of bitterness in his voice. "With our help, we may give The Dream enough power to at least accomplish the first objective."
Sakura bit her lip and nodded. If this succeeded, there would be no more doubt about whether Meiling's grandfather was truly behind this or was another victim. She began to chant, "O Key which hides the power of the stars, reveal thy true form before me. I, Sakura, command thee under contract. RELEASE!" The fact her Star Key went straight into the form of her full sized staff that towered over her showed just how much determination she had. She then let her cards flow around her with Cerberus and Yueh guiding them into an order that would give the best results. "Show me all that is behind this video! The Dream, RELEASE!" With that Sakura slowly fell backwards as sleep overtook her.
------------------------
Touya had not planned to visit his father today, but he could feel something was wrong with Sakura. His little sister had been hurt in a way she never had been before. He frowned as he entered the dining area and saw that Togashi was there. "Hello."
"Um... Hi... You wouldn't happen to know where your sister is?" Hanami fretted.
"No. However, Yueh is with her. He'll watch after her," Touya replied. "And Sakura running away had little to do with you."
Hanami pouted. "I doubt that. She did first meet me while I was kissing her father."
"And you're not wondering why she was arriving home in the middle of a school day?" Touya returned.
"I was wondering about that," Fujitaka admitted.
"Something happened at school. It was enough to make Yukito almost run out in the middle of class as Yueh," Touya explained. "I was ready to go as well."
"Do you know where she is?" Fujitaka questioned.
"She's blocking that. I spent the last hour trying to find her, but found myself walking in circles. She doesn't want to be found. At least not yet," Touya informed bitterly. He then glared towards the door before going to open it.
Syaoran stood there, hand raised as he was about to knock. "Ah, hello."
"Sakura didn't let you find her either, did she?" Touya barked.
Syaoran sadly shook his head.
"Hello, Li-kun," Fujitaka greeted. "Please come in."
"What happened to Sakura," Touya demanded once the front door was shut.
Syaoran opened his mouth but only made a garbled noise. He did not want to be the one to tell Sakura's family any of this. Especially with some girl he did not know standing next to his girlfriend's father.
Touya folded his arms irritably. "You don't have to worry about. She'll be family before long."
Syaoran's frowned deepened. "This isn't even something I'd want to tell you." He let out a sigh. "Daidouji... did something that hurt Sakura."
"Certainly Tomoyo-chan didn't mean to hurt Sakura," Fujitaka defended.
"While Daidouji may not have wanted to hurt her... What she did was intentional," Syaoran tried to explain.
"If we're to help Sakura, we're going to have to know what happened," Fujitaka insisted in a gentle tone.
Syaoran clenched his fists. "I'll tell you, Kinomoto-san, but no one else."
Fujitaka nodded to the request. If he then felt Touya or Hanami should know, he could tell them. He guided the boy to his basement office. With the closed door and distance with shelves of books to dampen noise, there was no way for someone to eavesdrop without aid. "Go ahead," he encouraged.
Syaoran swallowed nervously. "You, ah, know how Daidouji liked to tape everything."
Fujitaka nodded.
"Ah, well... police detectives found one of her tapes of Sakura... dozens of copies of that tape... in a store selling child pornography," Syaoran forced himself to say.
Fujitaka's eyes went wide. "Oh... my..."
------------------------
Sakura stood at the foot of Tomoyo's bed, watching the girl play the cursed video tape while... enjoying herself. How many times had her best friend done this? Took innocent moments of getting dressed and turned them into something so perverted. Sakura just couldn't understand it.
At first it sounded like Tomoyo was moaning out her name, but soon there was no question that the girl was crying not in passion, but in longing. Reluctantly she pulled free of the bed and turned off the video. "I'm such a horrible person... I should destroy this..." She hit the rewind button. As the tape returned to the start, her finger wavered over the record button. One press and the tape would be written over. Sadly, there was no surprise as the finger moved to hit the play button.
"Oh... Tomoyo-chan..." Tears leaked from Sakura's dream image. She turned her head and found herself in a different room. It looked to be an apartment of some sort, yet it was littered with magical texts. There was a man sitting in the room, gazing upon the cursed video with disgust. However she could not see him clearly, just his shadow.
This was what she needed to know. Who was this person really? Why was he trying to destroy her life? She focused on him, willed the shadows to part around him. The darkness around the man would not obey, but his form changed to that of a dragon.
Sakura's heart suddenly seized in pain. The answer was tantalizingly close. Almost like it was on the tip of her tongue. A name she heard only once, Shadow Dragon... Wulong... Li Wulong... Meiling's beloved grandfather. "Meiling-chan... I'm sorry."
Sakura clenched her hand over her chest. "Why? Why do you hate me so much?"
The magic of The Dream pulsed. Sakura would only get one answer from this. She could find out why Meiling's grandfather was out to destroy or learn more about where the tapes had spread too. As much as she wanted to know the former, the latter was more important. If she could destroy all copies of the tape, then the damage to herself and her friends could be practically removed. There would likely be another chance to find out more about her enemy, there may not be another chance to deal with these tapes.
The tape minus all images of Meiling was mailed anonymously to a several privately owned video stores. In most cases the video was destroyed, unfortunately two of the stores didn't. She saw the owner of one keep it for his own use, the other was the one the police raided, but not before hundreds of tapes were made and sold. And of the ones sold, some were duplicated as well. Thousands of tapes showed naked images of her and her friends.
Sakura heart froze as she saw one of those tapes being put onto a computer. It was in fact something that was going on right now. There would be no time to waste. While she didn't know a lot about computers, she was aware that once something spread across on the Internet there was no removing it.
Calling upon all the powers of her cards as well as Yueh and Cerberus, Sakura cried out from within her dreams, "Banish from all existence all copies of this tape, THE ERASE! RELEASE!"
The dream came to an end as Sakura's magic washed over Tokyo.
------------------------
"Where's Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo questioned harshly.
"She doesn't want to be found," Kurogane replied bitterly.
Tomoyo sighed. "I suppose that should keep her safe from her enemy for the moment."
"Li and Kinomoto are ready to move to find her once she makes her presence known," Kurogane added.
"Well, it looks like I have more need to employ you and your company." Tomoyo looked away. "There is a video tape in police custody, many copies of that tape. They need to disappear along with any copies that a certain video store may have sold."
Kurogane gazed through the girl.
Tomoyo clenched her fists. "I wish I knew which video store they raided and found those tapes."
Kurogane grumbled as he pulled out a cellphone and dialed his company. "Hello, Kurogane speaking." He then blinked. "You were about to call me? I see. I understand. You didn't reach me yet, I'll get your message tomorrow."
Tomoyo raised an eyebrow unsure of what to make of that conversation.
Kurogane slipped his cellphone away. "The police want to talk to me about missing evidence. Apparently I was mentioned to be Kinomoto's body guard and suspect I had something to do with it."
Tomoyo smirked. "Sakura-chan beat us to it." She then frowned. "But if she even destroyed the ones in police custody she would've had to gone after all of them." She grabbed her own cellphone.
"What is it, Daidouji," Syaoran growled over the phone.
"Sakura-chan destroyed all the tapes, but to do that she had to have used a lot of magic!" Tomoyo warned.
"We know," Syaoran barked. "But with her magic all over the place, we're still having trouble finding her."
"I understand, I'll send help to search for her," Tomoyo promised, and frowned as the 'reply' was the boy hanging up on her. She then looked at her companion. "Sakura-chan is still missing, but it may be only a matter of time before someone finds her."
Kurogane didn't offer any reply as he leapt out the window of Tomoyo's home. The fear being that it would not be Li or Kinomoto that found Sakura first, but her enemy.
------------------------
Hanami was thankful that Kinomoto's daughter had a distinctive look, a touch of foreigner blood that naturally made her stand out against the more common Japanese appearances. Still she hoped she didn't walk pass the girl while wandering Tomoeda looking for her. Now where would a girl with magic run to after having a really bad day?
"I must really be out of it," a tired voice mumbled.
Hanami turned and looked up the stairs leading to a Shinto shrine, the answer to her question now seemingly obviously. "Um, hi... Sakura-san."
"Hello," Sakura replied lethargically. "Sorry, I'm not ready yet to meet anyone."
"Everyone is worried about you," Hanami mentioned.
"I know." Sakura sighed. "Sorry about... running away when I saw you."
Hanami smirked. "It certainly gave me a surprise. I understand that it wasn't because of me, but that you already had a really bad day."
"I've had a lot of 'bad days' this year," Sakura almost sobbed.
Hanami walked up the stairs and sat next to the girl. "You can tell me about it if you'd like."
Sakura shook her head. "Talking about this doesn't help. What can you possibly say or do to help me deal with someone who is literally dead set against me being with my beloved. He has hired an assassin, got my school to think I'm... really easy, and... hurt my friends just because he wants his granddaughter married to Syaoran-kun, and not me."
Hanami blinked. So much for thinking the 'drama' of the girl's life was the usually teenage girl variety. She'd have to talk to her boyfriend about seriously understating his daughter's issues. "You're right I don't even know where to begin with something like that."
"And now today, I found out my best friend has been lying to all of us. She kept insisting that she could be happy because the one she loved was happy. But she wasn't happy... because I was... she still wanted more... still wanted me," Sakura admitted through her tears.
Hanami tilted her head. "Now that I can help with."
Sakura blinked. "Huh?"
"My first real kiss was with a girl. She liked me a LOT, and she had been such a good friend and I didn't have anyone else so I gave it a shot." Hanami shook her head. "Truth was I didn't really love her that way and things just became too awkward. After being friends for years and then a couple for a few months, we quickly went our separate ways."
Sakura pouted. "Tomoyo-chan likely figured that out. There were times I would've tried for her..."
"So rather than ruin a beautiful friendship, she kept her true feelings buried," Hanami surmised.
"And was hurting herself in the process," Sakura bemoaned. "Hurting herself so much she took clips from videos of me and made her own... fantasy tape."
"Fantasy tape?" Hanami chirped in surprise.
Sakura merely nodded, unable and unwilling to fully explain the tape.
Hanami frowned, trying to think of something to say.
Sakura glanced at the young woman. "Do take care of my Dad. Before he knows it I'll be gone... either married to Syaoran-kun or..."
"You shouldn't think like that," Hanami chastised. "You WILL over come this challenge."
Sakura smirked weakly. "Easier said than done... Finally last tape gone... Tell oniichan that Yukito-san is asleep at the shrine." The girl then swayed and collapsed onto the young woman.
Hanami panicked briefly until realizing the girl was just asleep. She moved to grab her cellphone but no sooner that she had it out, Touya pulled up in her boyfriend's car and Syaoran turned the corner and ran up the steps. "She's just asleep and said Yukito was asleep at the shrine."
Touya frowned. "Brat, take Sakura to your place."
Syaoran looked at the young man with a surprised expression. "You already knew she won't be attacked if Meiling is around."
Touya merely nodded as he irritably marched pass them.
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Author's Notes:
Coming Next:
Chapter 27 - Sakura and the End of Friendships
Tomoyo's video tape has torn apart the close friendships shared by Sakura and the others.
And I've finally hit what I consider to be the mid-series boss battle. I know a few will object to Tomoyo portrayal of having made a soft-core porn tape of Sakura, preferring to think of Card Captor Sakura as a celebration of love and this perverts one of the main relationships both literally and figuratively. However at it's core Shadow of the Dragon is a series that shows the darker sides of love whether it's the forbidden lust of a student for a teacher or willing to hurt others to protect or even avenge the ones you love. Just as hate for certain laws or societal issues can bring people to gather in protest and bring positive change; love can bring even the best of us to commit sin. While in the original series Sakura barely glimpsed the darker side of love, mostly in learning that her mother was disowned for marrying her father and dealing with Syaoran's jealous streak, with this series I wanted to show a more complete picture of love, with both the good and the bad.
This time the omake will be a little different. I'll likely get back to Card Captor Ichigo later, but now a little explanation of CCS time line and Japanese schools and reflected culture:
'Class of 2003' comment is in taking the stance of this series that CCS began in April of 2000, as such Sakura and her friends would've finished Tomoeda Elementary in March 2003. Part of the reason is to support Sakura really was ten at the start of series since the year she would've turned six, in 1996, had the potential first day of school on March 31st and since Sakura's birthday was the following day she would've had to wait a year. A first grader in Japan must be six years of age as of the first day of class, rather than a fixed singular day of the year. (In 2012 the first day was April 2nd, while 2013 was April 1st.)
Going by all the date references in the anime, in particular the calendars shown in episode 54, the CCS series actually began in 1992 as that particular episode showed the month of November 1993. Nadeshiko's work calendar lined up with 1985 and she likely died in 1986. However, there is no oddity in the calendar of 1988 to have the school year start before Sakura's birthday, meaning that all references of Sakura being ten is because of the standard reference that 'fourth graders are ten' due to that being the age most of the students are by the time winter break begins. This would mean that Sakura was really nine at the start and the youngest of her class. A good example of grade level being reference of age is actually from Touya, who has been referred to as being seventeen yet with a February 29th birthday he could not be any other age besides sixteen at the start of series in order to be a second year senior high school student as it is illegal in Japan to hold back (or advance) a child's grade level for any reason-- he was marked seventeen for being in eleventh grade despite a clearly marked birthday that indicated otherwise.
Notes:
With a February 29th birthday, Touya would've had to have been conceived sometime around Nadeshiko's birthday.
Not only was Nadeshiko stated to be sixteen when she married Fujitaka, she could not marry him before her sixteenth birthday unless she had parent or guardian approval and we know she didn't have that.
The most likely time line of events per anime as it gives the most flexibility of when Nadeshiko married:
5-20-58 Nadeshiko born.
On are after 5-20-74 but before 5-20-75 Nadeshiko marries Fujitaka.
2-29-76 Touya is born.
4-1-83 Sakura is born.
1985 Year of the calendar.
Nadeshiko dies between 4-1-86 and 5-19-86.
April 1992 start of CCS with Sakura being nine years old and the youngest.
*If Nadeshiko was born in 1959 instead, marriage would be restricted to on the day or within a few weeks of her birthday in 1975, but allows for a full year range to have passed away, 5-20-86 thru 5-19-87.
In comparison the time line for Sakura's Christmas Surprise/Shadow of the Dragon:
5-20-67 Nadeshiko is born.
5-20-83 Nadeshiko marries Fujitaka.
2-29-84 Touya is born.
4-1-90 Sakura is born.
1991 year of Nadeshiko's work calendar.
Nadeshiko dies between 4-1-93 and 5-19-93.
April 2000 start of CCS with being ten years old and the oldest in class.