Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow of the Dragon ❯ Sakura's Secret Consequences ( Chapter 28 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

"Who the hell are you?" cried out the burly barbarian.

"Really you don't remember me?" a vicious voice from the shadows hissed. "Why should I be surprised? You always were distracted by the next shiny thing or bit of ass."

The barbarian's eyes widen in growing realization.

"And not only did you betray me by being with that prostitute, you've gone to use my name. You've hardly fooled the detective, but your little farce has let me do one thing," the voice oozed venom.

"What's that?" the barbarian whispered with a touch of fear.

"Remember what happened the morning before I first agreed to date you? Today is the day you're going to be feeling a LOT worse than THAT!" And the promised revenged began.

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Card Captor Sakura: Shadow of the Dragon

Chapter 28: Sakura's Secret Consequences

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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"Asaba," Naoko stated evenly.

"What is the meaning of THIS? Why did you tell Konagi-sama everything?" Shinji demanded.

Naoko cocked her head. "Didn't you read the author's notes?"

"Of course, but that would mean..." Shinji found himself unable to say it.

Naoko folded her arms. "Honestly, don't you know that many authors use pen names for one reason or another?"

"How? Why?" Shinji asked in confusion.

"Won an amateur writing contest for Dragon Magazine and they wanted to publish it as a series. The reason for the pseudonym wasn't originally to hide the little job but the fact that my mother wanted to be a mangaka not an office worker. I didn't want her to revisit the failures she experienced when I had failed. I only told her about it after I had succeeded," Naoko explained.

"So you mean you really are..." Shinji trailed off.

Naoko leaned closer. "Say it."

Shinji swallowed. "You're really... Konagi Noa?"

Naoko gave a shallow nod. "Yes. You got to meet me. Know me like no one else. And then you threw it all away."

"But Megumi didn't mean anything! It was just to see what it was like to be with a girl besides you!" Shinji protested.

"I know that," Naoko admitted. "However, it showed me your true character. You always will be moving to the next shiny thing. Wasting time and money. Even if you succeeded in opening an anime store it would be a money pit. Game designer? Do you really want to know how much of a joke you turned Bloody Sword Detective into with your hack game? And yet I know by the time you've finished senior high you'll have gone through dozens of other pointless hobbies and dream careers that would never pay off. What's next? Collectible card games? Video game play tester? If I was stupid enough to marry you, you'd be nothing more than a leech on MY career. I can do much better than you."

"Geez, Naoko-chan, I only just turn fifteen and you think you know where I'll be in ten years? I don't even know that. We're still just kids!" Shinji retorted.

Naoko glared at him. "You want an adult relationship with me but then claim to still be a child. Just how much of a selfish brat can you be? I'm working to achieve my dreams right now, and you wanted to be able to derail them for your own childish wants."

"What did you honestly expect from me?" Shinji demanded.

"I expected you to act like an adult," Naoko shot back. "What would you do if you got me pregnant?"

"Ah, be there for you when you got an abortion," Shinji replied.

Naoko took a step forward and put her hands on his shoulders. "Wrong answer." Her knee then rocketed up between his legs. She smirked as watched him immediately crumpled to the ground, but then frowned. "That thug probably hit you harder. And I did promise you'd feel more pain today than you did then."

------------------------

"You're surprisingly early," Meiling commented.

Sakura giggled a little. "Naoko-chan insisted I come to school early for some reason. Is she here?"

Syaoran shook his head. "At least she's trying."

Sakura blinked. "Trying what?"

Meiling folded her arms. "To protect us. Yesterday Yanagisawa made sure Asaba found out exactly what he lost out on. Today she's liable to to make sure he felt more pain today than he did when she first agreed to date him. If we're here, we're not responsible."

Sakura's eyes widened. "She could really hurt him! He might hurt her!"

Meiling waved her hand dismissively. "Asaba couldn't beat up a plastic bag. And did you teach Yanagisawa how to deball a guy?"

Sakura feverishly shook her head. "I don't even want to remember how easy it is to do that!"

"Then she's unlikely to be able to do more than bruise his goods, maybe break a bone or two if she's lucky," Meiling guessed.

"Wouldn't that be taking it too far?!" Sakura screeched.

"Would you be saying the same thing if it was Syaoran who betrayed you?" Meiling countered.

Sakura pouted, hoping the answer would be 'yes.' "But why would she insist we come to school early?"

Syaoran's frown deepened. "If the injuries do end up being severe, and we were not somewhere with a solid alibi the school might think one of us was part of it with our martial arts training."

"Oh." Sakura shifted uneasily. "But shouldn't we do something?"

"Do you really think Yanagisawa is capable of killing someone?" Meiling questioned.

Sakura shook her head fiercely. "Of course not!"

"Then you really don't have anything to worry about. Yanagisawa wants closure, and she's making sure she gets it," Meiling told her seriously.

"WOW! CHECK OUT DAIDOUJI!"

That certainly got the attention of Sakura and the Li cousins as they looked toward where the shout came from. Across the street from the main school gate Tomoyo was in the middle of a deep kiss with Kurogane.

"Hooooeeee?!" Sakura screeched. "But doesn't Tomoyo-chan..." She then pouted. "I suppose this is also Naoko-chan's idea."

Meiling raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"A while back Naoko-chan mentioned that Tomoyo-chan told Asaba-kun a secret as a test..." Sakura trailed off.

Meiling folded her arms. "Ah, she told him she was a lesbian. And if he starts blabbing that secret, this would seriously discount that."

Tomoyo's kiss finally came to an end and she unsteadily took a couple steps back. Her flushed face and involuntary smile betrayed that she really did like it. With a few words of parting, she entered the school the first time in two weeks.

Teikei, the school disciplinarian, was waiting for her at the school gate. "Do not make a habit of such an _act_. You may not be on school grounds, but such actions are not appropriate in uniform."

Tomoyo bowed to him. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to be such a disruption."

Teikei glared at her. "You lie far too easily."

Tomoyo frowned. Words dying on her lips in fear of getting into trouble.

Teikei held out his hand. "Show me the contents of your schoolbag."

Tomoyo let out a sigh as she opened her bag. She didn't need to be told what he was looking for. She pulled out her video camera. "Kurogane!" And promptly tossed it across the street to him. "I suppose that will do for that particular issue."

Teikei still checked her bag for any other cameras. He then intoned in a low voice, "You will be under probation for the rest of the school year. You are not allowed to bring any recording devices onto school grounds and you are hereby banned from the audio visual room."

Tomoyo nodded. "I understand."

Sakura was too far away to hear what was said between Tomoyo and the school disciplinarian, but had a reasonable guess that her cousin's punishment wasn't just the two weeks of suspension. She then frowned as Tomoyo walked towards her. She didn't know what to possibly say, and instead turned around.

"Hello," Tomoyo greeted, but truthfully wasn't surprised at Sakura turning away or even Syaoran glaring at her.

"What do you want, Daidouji?" Meiling groused.

"I have some news on our little project. I'd like to discuss it during lunch," Tomoyo replied.

"Ah." Meiling shrugged.

"Teikei-sensei!" Naoko's voice rang out as she arrived at the school.

Teikei had almost entered the building when he heard his name called out. "What is it Yanagisawa?"

Naoko rushed up to him. She began to fidget. "I... ah... met Asaba on the way to school. We kind of exchange some words... and I might've... hurt him."

Teikei scowled. He glanced toward Syaoran and the others, suspecting the fact they were all early to school was no coincidence. Given what Asaba did to the girl, he would not discount her being solely responsible for any injuries inflicted on the boy. That even the habitually late Kinomoto was here already suggested this was a planned attack. "Where did you leave him?"

"Um, he's probably still at the same place where Satome was going to kidnap me," Naoko replied sheepishly.

Teikei nodded with a frown. He could've done without that reminder. He was finding himself seriously underestimating what the students were capable of, and he really didn't like it. "Yanagisawa, you are to wait for me at my office, while I go make sure you didn't do anything you're going to regret."

Naoko bowed. "I understand."

------------------------

"Can you believe the gall of her?" Chiharu griped. "Who is she trying to kid by kissing Kurogane and then walking up to Sakura like nothing happened."

"Since Daidouji likes girls, she'll have to be a switch hitter whether she wants to or not. And it looks like she's talking to Li-chan, not Kinomoto," Takashi replied.

Chiharu scowled at him, but then her attention was pulled by the newest arrival at school. "What's with Naoko-chan?"

"Dragon Magazine came out yesterday so today would be the day of her full revenge," Takashi guessed.

Chiharu folded her arms. "Hopefully she made sure he'll never have kids."

"I don't think even Naoko-chan wishes that to happen," Rika voiced, intruding on their conversation.

"He's a waste of space. Naoko-chan could've always done better than him," Chiharu retorted.

"Love has it's own reason," Rika returned. "None of us would be in our situations if common sense ruled instead of our hearts."

"I doubt there is such a thing as 'common sense,' as no seems to have it," Chiharu tossed back.

Rika giggled. "Sadly true. My beloved certainly wouldn't have picked me, your relationship wouldn't have been pushed as early as it was, Tomoyo-chan would've trusted us with her secret even if she couldn't tell Sakura-chan."

"I thought Tomoyo was the smart one, but what she did to all of us..." Chiharu clenched her fists. "...was beyond stupid and is unforgivable."

"Any more unforgivable than pushing a pair of thirteen-year-olds into a sexual relationship?" Rika questioned.

"We didn't exactly have a choice," Chiharu shot back.

"It could've just been a paper marriage. One that was legally registered but not putting pressure on you to have a baby in junior high," Rika pressed. "You could've treated it as an engagement not a full marriage."

Takashi raised his hand. "That would be more my fault for taking it to full marriage."

"Hush, you," Chiharu hissed.

"You do see what I'm getting at. While you needed to be legally married, your parents didn't need to support it as a full marriage. Whether meaning to or not, they forced you into having sex before you were ready," Rika insisted.

"And they're family," Chiharu shot back. "Tomoyo is not. She held our secrets and didn't tell us hers. She took those videos of us. Even if I could understand why she did it, what she did... it was just too much."

"And yet our secrets remain unknown to others," Rika pointed out.

"You can actually forgive her?" Chiharu demanded.

"Considering Tomoyo-chan had to figure out who my beloved was by herself as I've never told her, I can't exactly blame her for not telling me. And considering what would happen if my relationship was revealed, the fallout wouldn't be very different than that tape," Rika pointed out. "Had the situation of your forced marriage came out two years ago, you might've been marked as a victim of parental approved rape."

"That would be taking it too far," Chiharu hissed.

"Would it?" Takashi seriously asked. "They put you in a situation you couldn't say 'no.' They had me thinking it was what we should be doing. Sure, they thought we already had sex, but they never bothered to ask us if we had or if you wanted to do that stuff yet."

"Not you too," Chiharu grumbled.

"Do you really want to go through everything with just me? And who said I wouldn't betray you somehow? You can't push away all your friends because one of them did something that hurt all of you," Takashi pointed out.

"I'm still friends with Rika-chan and Naoko-chan," Chiharu protested.

"Does Naoko-chan know you're pregnant?" Rika asked in a low voice.

Chiharu pouted. "No. I haven't had a chance to talk to her."

"In two weeks?" Takashi shot at her. "If Sasaki hadn't started talking to you, you wouldn't even have said a word to her."

Chiharu opened her mouth, trying to think of a retort, but then the school bell chimed and she instead stormed toward the school.

"Thank you," Rika told the boy.

Takashi smirked sadly. "I should be thanking you. Chiharu can't go through all of this alone. Neither can you or the rest of your friends."

------------------------

Naoko nervously played with the hem of her skirt waiting for the school disciplinarian to return. Class was already starting but she could not leave until the verdict had been cast.

Every passing second making her worry more, and not for what her punishment would be. She hoped to be suspended for a few days, maybe a week to get her novella back on track. What truly concerned her was how badly she might've hurt Asaba. She had planned on kneeing him, maybe kick him a few times. She hadn't considered stomping on him repeatedly, kicking him until he was unconscious.

Tears welled up into Naoko's eyes. She had liked him... loved him, and because he had hurt her she wanted to hurt him. When she realized that losing her had not hurt him as much as she had felt, she was filled with anger and hate. She had to make him feel her pain.

Naoko jumped when Teikei finally entered his office.

"You had planned on hurting Asaba, didn't you?" Teikei accused.

Naoko nodded slightly. "He hurt me, so I wanted to hurt him. I didn't mean to go so far. He just..."

"Didn't understand why you were upset," Teikei finished for her.

Naoko pouted. "Yes... Will... Will he be all right?"

"Well, he won't be able to walk normally for days," Teikei replied. "There's nothing broken, and he should be fine in a week. He'll miss the morning classes while the nurse keeps an eye on him."

Naoko let out a sigh of relief.

"While your actions are understandable, even kicking him once would be enough to punish you," Teikei intoned.

"I know," Naoko replied.

"Two weeks of detention," Teikei told her.

Naoko frowned. That would be worse than a suspension to her, but she should hardly be rewarded for losing control.

"You can thank Asaba it wasn't a suspension, as the detention was his idea," Teikei informed.

Despite herself, part of Naoko wished she had hurt Asaba more, but she had gone too far. It was only right he had decided her punishment.

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"So, what is the news about Inoue?" Meiling questioned.

"She is the daughter of Matsumoto Genji, the man who is paying for her home," Tomoyo replied sadly. "The only person who refuses to acknowledge Matsumoto-san's affairs is his son. Making her true parentage known would do little to the situation. If it does anything, it would be to help Inoue, not hurt her."

Meiling raised an eyebrow. "Even his wife knows?"

Tomoyo nodded. "And she's well aware that if she were to complain, she would be replaced by one of his mistresses and just as she replaced the mother of his son."

Meiling huffed. "What a waste of time and money."

Tomoyo pouted. "Maybe not. I may be able to use this against Matsumoto-san's son. He's as bad a womanizer as his father. He has made it no secret that he wouldn't mind me as his wife, but I would have to put up with the same situation his mother is in. And if I failed to produce a son for him, his second wife would already be pregnant with a boy when they married."

Meiling smirked. "Well, there's one way to get at both of them."

Tomoyo blinked and then scowled. "Wouldn't that be taking it too far?"

"Inoue certainly hasn't learned. She ended an engagement between third year senior high students, and is still flirting with any guy who is dating, including Syaoran," Meiling intoned.

Tomoyo pouted. "We'll keep that idea as a last resort plan."

"Second to last. If she manages to get anywhere with Syaoran, then I'll visit 'last resort' on her face," Meiling vowed.

------------------------

Naoko walked down the hallway loaded down with blank copier paper. Considering what she had done to to her ex-boyfriend, she had expected bathroom duty rather than being a gopher for teachers. It was hardly the worst thing they could've done to her.

"Detention, huh?" Chiharu commented as she moved to walk next to the girl.

"Two weeks of it," Naoko groaned.

"Can't say I'm surprised. You really let Asaba have it," Chiharu noted.

"They let him decide my punishment. He now knows this is worse for me than a suspension," Naoko noted with a touch of bitterness.

Chiharu nodded.

"Thought you would've gone home already," Naoko mentioned.

"Takashi has classroom duty today," Chiharu reminded.

"Ah, right." Naoko pouted. "Has it really been two weeks since we've talked?"

Chiharu shrugged. "Guess so. Things got pretty messed up."

"It certainly did. I'm still upset that I never realized Tomoyo-chan's secret, especially considering my 'hobby," Naoko commented bitterly. "Excuse me. Got to get these in the office."

Chiharu waited outside the teachers' office room. It wasn't long before Naoko exited, this time holding a large plastic container filled with paper to be recycled. "Are you going to forgive Tomoyo for what she did?"

Naoko frowned. "Can't say I'm happy with her for that, and I'm not sure I can trust her anymore either. But the truth is I still owe her for helping with my 'hobby.' At least Sakura-chan took care of the 'issues.'"

Chiharu folded her arms. "I don't see how she can be forgiven. What she did to us..."

"I've been trying to figure that out why myself." Naoko shook her head. "You have to admit we didn't make it easy for her to tell us her secret."

Chiharu pouted. "I don't think any of us are good admitting secrets. We all found them out by other means."

Naoko smirked. "Tomoyo-chan was just the best at figuring out ours. We never really thought to look to see if she had any."

"It's still no excuse. What she did could've really hurt us and she knew it. If not for Sakura, it would have been only a matter of time before it destroyed one of us," Chiharu pointed out.

"It certainly wouldn't have been 'good' for us, but I did some checking on the issue. It really wouldn't have been a huge deal. When our parents were kids, Japan was the number one source of child pornography in the world as it wasn't technically illegal then so long as a certain part was covered. Yet we hear nothing of pictures from that time coming back to hurt someone," Naoko explained.

Chiharu quickly looked around to make sure no one heard those comments. "Shouldn't talk so much about THAT."

Naoko shrugged. She hadn't exactly mentioned they had been in child porn, but one still might infer it. Fortunately the school day had ended nearly an hour before and the population had now dwindled to a couple dozen at best. "While I didn't tell my parents exactly why I was researching that, my mother noticed and pulled up an 'oops' picture off the Internet."

"'Oops picture?'" Chiharu repeated.

"When she was seventeen, she dressed up at a manga convention and part of her top fell off. Someone got a picture of her before she was able to fully cover up," Naoko explained sheepishly. "She told me not to worry too much if 'Asaba spread any pictures of me.'"

"Thankfully things didn't get that far with us," Chiharu muttered.

"Over twenty years later and Mom still has 'best cosplay ever' tagged on her," Naoko returned with a shake of her head. "The picture still embarrasses her and she certainly doesn't appreciate the nickname 'Righty' one of her coworkers uses for her."

Chiharu opened the door leading to the school dumpsters. She could've done without the mental image of Naoko's mother's right breast being exposed. "I can certainly understand that. Though it's kind of was worse for us."

"Now who's talking about it," Naoko commented, dumping the paper in the recycling dumpster.

"We both are," Chiharu admitted. "Though there's no one around here."

"And I think it is worse for my mother. Even though her picture is technically child pornography as she was only seventeen at the time, it will never go away. We were at least spared from that. Maybe a thousand have seen us, assuming they took their eyes off Sakura-chan. There is no way to count how many have seen my Mom's breast," Naoko explained.

Chiharu huffed. "But they would've been touching themselves while looking at us..."

Naoko shook her head. "Please don't make me repeat some of the comments on my mother's picture. Suffice it to say, some of them certainly were."

"Best you don't." Chiharu shuddered. "The pervs that saw us might've said the same things."

"I'd rather not think about that either," Naoko agreed. She moved toward the door back to the school, but her friend stepped in the way. "I have to get back."

"I know... but I didn't see you to talk about Tomoyo or the other stuff..." Chiharu trailed off.

Naoko tilted her head. "What is it?"

Chiharu smiled sheepishly. "At the end of the semester I'll be informing the school that I'm pregnant."

Naoko blinked. "Really?"

Chiharu nodded shyly.

Naoko dropped the recycling bin and grabbed the girl into a hug. "Congratulations."

"Sorry, I won't be finishing school with you," Chiharu apologized.

Naoko laughed. "If my secret gets out, I probably won't finish either."

------------------------

With Meiling off practicing marital arts at the dojo, Sakura found herself once again alone with Syaoran. She certainly didn't mind that, even as their text books laid forgotten and his tongue was busy exploring her mouth while she was draped over him. They really didn't do this often enough. Sharing a stolen moment, to feel each other's passions. For her they were the only people in the world.

Syaoran found himself wanting to ask to go further, but with his mouth busy that was proving a difficult task. He did not want to end their kiss. He would've moved his hand to the buttons of her school blouse, but that too wasn't possible at the moment with her pressed up against him. That left one tactic to show he wanted to progress this. His hand drifted up her skirt and massaged her rear, his thumb teasing the edge of her panties.

Sakura felt where his hand was and was tempted to let him remove it. The last time they had been in this situation, with him ready to fully expose her lower body... Tomoyo had almost been raped. There were a number of guys at school who got to experience 'her' thanks to Reiko, which both made her want to pull away and to give in, letting Syaoran rightfully experience what other boys got to do to her functional twin.

With no protest from his beloved girlfriend, Syaoran ever so slowly started to pull the undergarment off her rear, not wanting to do it too fast in case she somehow didn't realize what he was trying to do.

As air began to caress her now bare bottom, other thoughts began to intrude into Sakura's mind. She was exposed to anyone who could be looking up the couch. If Tomoyo hid a camera, once again she would be illegally recorded. Her body's image used for others to experience pleasure at the cost of her dignity. Fear that Tomoyo or her enemy might've set up such a camera gripped her. She tried to beat it down, but then she heard the voices of her cards assure her no such recording devices were around her. Startled by their presence, Sakura jumped off her boyfriend, pulled her panties back up and dashed into the bathroom.

"Stupid," Syaoran cursed himself. He followed Sakura's steps and called through the bathroom door. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," Sakura sobbed. "It's my fault."

Syaoran clenched his fists. "No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. I worry about such stupid things. I... I don't know if I'll ever be able to..." Sakura's words were lost to her ears.

"I will wait for you to be ready, Sakura. No matter how long it takes," Syaoran vowed.

------------------------

"Zenjiro, what are you doing here?" Kurogane questioned.

A plainly dressed man jumped. "Ah, hey, Boss. Just working on a case. If you've been around here maybe you can help."

Kurogane folded his arms. "What case?"

"I took a job to find someone. While the money trail has always led to Tomoeda, and the timing of the withdrawals limits who it could be, it still left too many suspects. Finally I've got the break needed to limit it even more," Zenjiro explained while offering his collected evidence.

Kurogane gazed over the information and easily saw why his employee would think to look here for the elusive person. It wouldn't take much more time for Zenjiro to discover who it was. If not for a fundamental flaw in his reasoning, he might've already solved the case.

"Well, boss, do you know anyone who fits that bill?" Zenjiro wondered.

Kurogane grimaced. Tomoyo was not going to like this, but this was his job. "I know exactly who you are looking for."

------------------------

Sakura slowly got ready for bed. She really couldn't understand herself. Why couldn't she just let herself go and be with Syaoran? She loved him so much, yet even the idea of him touching her scared her.

"Did you really stop because of us, Mistress?" The Mirror called out.

Sakura jumped in surprise and then looked at her dressing mirror. "Um..."

"We're always with you, through the good and the bad," The Mirror promised. "That includes when you're with Li-sama."

Sakura pouted at image floating in the mirror. "Couldn't you... you know... look away when I'm with him... like that?"

The Mirror folded her arms. "If we did, we wouldn't have been able to help you hear Daidouji-sama's plea for help when Satome kidnapped her."

Sakura pouted. "I wasn't asking you to go to sleep."

"And just how effective was it for you to not listen to your friends talk about their experiences," The Mirror reminded.

"Not very well." Sakura sighed. "But when I'm with Syaoran-kun like that... I want it to be just him and me."

"It'll never be just you," The Mirror retorted. "We're part of you as much as your eyes are part of your head. Your happiness is our happiness, and we want you to be happy."

Sakura sagged. "Easier said than done."

"I know that all too well." The Mirror looked away. "What you have with Li-sama wasn't something I got to experience when I was alive. All I got to see was the destructive lust of men."

Sakura let out a sad smirk. "Funny how I've been afraid of the undead, yet I live with ghosts and spirits all around me and didn't realize it."

"Don't try to change subjects," The Mirror chastised.

Sakura shook her head. "If I had known you were a ghost before being a card, I would've been scared of you. I always felt in my heart you're my friend, but that fear would've gotten in the way. Now my mind and heart knows there's nothing to fear."

"Ah. And while you know there's no reason to fear Li-sama's touch, your heart still knows fear. That letting Li-sama be with you fully may be no different to him than the guys who cared not for you, just the pleasure of your body," The Mirror surmised.

Sakura gave a shallow nod.

The Mirror shook her head. "You know Li-sama doesn't just want your body. He wants every part of you."

Sakura bowed her head. "I know..."

"And don't use us as an excuse. We'll always be with you. You know that as well." The Mirror then smirked. "You can even use us to give Li-sama an experience no one else would ever get to match." She the tilted her head. "Just don't make me be with Li-sama if you decided to give him a threesome, use The Twin instead as your copy would have your mind."

"HOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEE?!" Sakura screeched.

"Really, you are too innocent at times, Mistress," The Mirror complained. "I guess that is perhaps the real issue, even though you know what sex is. You were ready for him when you were thirteen, when all you knew was pure love, not the corruption of perversion and lust without love."

Sakura's face was deep red. "Mirror..."

The Mirror sighed. "I perhaps should know best about not being ready for such things." Even if she was given a chance to be with Touya, she would not take it considering that she had become the vengeful ghost Clow had captured only after being raped and murdered. "Do not rush yourself, Mistress. You'll be ready when you're ready. Just don't use us as an excuse. We were with you every time you have had a period, when you're using the bathroom, when you've touched yourself thinking of Li-sama. And we'll be there when you finally let yourself touch him."

"Sorry," Sakura apologized.

The Mirror pointed at the desk. "The Erase has left a little gift for Li-sama to enjoy while waiting for you to be ready."

Sakura looked over and saw a video tape marked, 'A Cherry Blossums.' The same markings as the video that contained her naked image sold to many deprived people. "HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

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Author's Notes:

Coming Next:
Chapter 29 - Sakura Walks Alone
On a day that for friends to hang out together, Sakura and the other girls remain without each other's company.

And Shadow of the Dragon keeps on flowing. I seriously doubt I'll be able to run through to the end like I did with my Digimon series: The Shuffle. The series is only about halfway done. I will certainly run this wave as far as I can.

OMAKE!

"You did what?!" Kon cried out.

"I gave the staff and cards to a girl who is related to Urahara and wants to collect them," Ichigo replied.

Thunder crashed loudly.

Kon shook his head. "We better save this girl."

Ichigo frowned. "What do you mean?"

"YOU made the contract, YOU signed the cards. There's no way she'll be able to defeat this card," Kon retorted.

"What card?" Ichigo wondered.

In rapid succession several thunder claps echoed loudly.

"Do you really have to have it spelled out?" Kon shot back. "She's fighting The Thunder and I doubt she'd stand up to being hit by lightning once." The small stuffed animal looking creature blinked as Ichigo was now no where in sight.

--

Rukia clenched the small key in her right hand while the left hand held The Shadow card. Neither would react to her. All she had succeeded to do so far was dodge the various lightning strikes.

"Hey, Sparky! Over here!" Ichigo challenged.

A giant electrical beast manifested before glaring at the new arrival. It then leapt straight at Ichigo. The magical creature expected the boy at least attempt to dodge, instead the fool tried to grab it.

Ichigo flew away from the resulting electrical blast. "Well, that didn't work well. I'll need that stupid magic." He clenched his fist and was surprised to note the key in his right hand and a card in his left.

Rukia stared dumbly first at the idiot who was interfering with her destined mission and then at her now empty hands. "How?"

Ichigo completed his chant to activate the wand and promptly called on The Shadow to capture the beast and returned The Thunder to being a card.

Rukia stormed up to him. "What kind of stupid moron are you?!"

Ichigo shrugged. "First time I got to capture a card without hurting it."

"WHAT?!" Rukia cried out. "This isn't Pokemon!"