Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow of the Dragon ❯ Sakura's Concerned Friends ( Chapter 34 )

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

Rika blearily opened her eyes, wondering why her mother was waking her up. "Huh, Mom?"

"I'm going to the hospital," Yuuka announced.

Rika sat up quickly. "What?"

"I'm going into labor. You'll need to make sure Kokkou-chan gets to school," Yuuka told her without much concern.

Rika's eyes widened. "You're having a baby now?! Isn't the baby due in a couple weeks?"

"You'll find babies have their own sense of priority," Yuuka replied with a forced smirk. "A taxi should be here shortly for me."

"'A taxi?'" Rika questioned.

"Even if this isn't a false alarm, I've still got hours before I give birth," Yuuka explained.

"How are you so calm?" Rika demanded.

"I've gone through this twice before, and I was around to help when Touya-chan and Natsumi-chan were born," Yuuka related.

A loud knock came from the front door.

Rika followed her mother to the door, and blinked as that was no cab driver there. "Daidouji-san?"

"The cab company belongs to my family," Sonomi informed. "I will take you to the hospital."

Yuuka frowned. "You don't have to."

"I should've been there when she was born." Sonomi motioned toward Rika. "I know I can't make up from walking away from all of you before, but I'm here now."

"Considering she was born in San Francisco, I doubt that." Yuuka shook her head. "Fine. This is hardly the time to argue."

Sonomi motioned toward a woman dressed in black maid outfit. "She will take care of your house."

Yuuka shook her head. "Kokkou-chan would not take well waking up to some strange woman in our home. Rika-chan should be able to handle it, especially as she plans to take care of her own home in a few months."

Rika blinked and then nodded with a small smile. "I can take care of everything here. I'll take Kokkou-chan to the hospital after school."

"Fine, I'll have the maid stay with Yuuka, and text you with updates," Sonomi informed.

Rika immediately gave the maid her cellphone number to receive the texts.

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Card Captor Sakura: Shadow of the Dragon

Chapter 34: Sakura's Concerned Friends

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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As the mathematics lesson ended and signaled the start of lunch, Rika grabbed her cell phone and checked to see if she had gotten any messages. Finding two new messages she quickly accessed them and frowned at the second one she read.

"Something wrong?" Tomoyo wondered.

"I have a little sister," Rika related. "I hope she doesn't have the same problems I did."

"Who knows," Tomoyo replied with a shrug.

"Sakura-chan might be able to find out," Rika joked.

Sakura noisily slid her seat back and quickly stomped out of the room.

Syaoran likewise left the classroom in a huff, but clearly went the opposite direction Sakura had gone.

Naoko blinked. "What was that about?"

"Kinomoto looked into her future and found out something," Meiling related quietly to avoid being overheard even though their biggest eavesdropper, Misora, was absent. "I'm not sure what it was, but she got into a big fight with Syaoran about it."

Tomoyo frowned. "Sakura-chan hasn't mentioned anything to me about that."

"Wonder why she wouldn't," Chiharu groused.

Tomoyo flinched.

"This can't all be because of moving to Hong Kong," Naoko mentioned irritably.

"I doubt that's the only reason," Tomoyo offered. "Sakura-chan has faced a lot of trouble and is having a difficult time of things."

"There's an understatement," Meiling muttered.

"After everything they've been through these past few months, they can't possibly be considering letting him win," Naoko protested.

"Even if Li-kun was to leave without Sakura-chan I doubt her enemy would 'win.'" Tomoyo looked at her Chinese friend sadly. "Li-kun views Meiling-chan as a sister. If anything, he might end up hurting the Li clan by preventing Li-kun from producing an heir."

Meiling scowled. "That's making a lot of baseless assumptions."

"We've got to do something to help them," Chiharu insisted.

Meiling shook her head. "I don't think locking them in a bedroom would work now."

"This just means leaving them in the room longer. The real trick would be keeping them in the room," Tomoyo countered.

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Rika held onto her little brother's hand as they approached the maternity ward of the hospital. She came to an abrupt stop, while Kokkou broke her grasp and shot ahead.

"Daddy!" Kokkou screeched happily.

Jyou picked up his son. "You need to be quiet here."

"Father, you're here?" Rika questioned in surprise.

Jyou nodded. "I was supposed to be in Tokyo for a make-up meeting. I sort of skipped it. I made it just in time to see Sayuri-chan being born."

The eldest Sasaki child was not surprised at the name considering Sayuri and Rika held the same meaning as her given American name of Lily, each referencing the same type of plant. Not that she ever used 'Lily' outside of her passport.

"Did you get me something?" Kokkou wondered.

"A little sister for you to protect," Jyou replied, pointing through a large window to a room with several newborn babies laid in cribs.

Rika blinked as she spotted the new born infant girl her father was pointing at. There was no question as to which baby her father indicated. Of the five infants wrapped in pink only one girl had brown hair. The little girl looked around with wide greyish-blue eyes, a color not that different from her father's. If the girl had been born a guy, Rika could imagine her little sister growing up to look like their father. "When were you here?" she carelessly muttered.

"Rika?" Jyou questioned.

The eldest sister jumped. She looked away from him. "Um... It's nothing..."

Jyou frowned at the girl. "Kokkou-chan, stay here with Auntie Yukiko. I need to talk to your sister for a bit."

"That's not fair!" Kokkou protested. "You spend all your time with Mommy and now her!"

Jyou set his son down. "This won't be the kind of time Rika-chan wants to share with me."

Kokkou grinned. "Oh! She's in trouble, isn't she?!"

"That remains to be seen," Jyou informed.

Yukiko stepped forward to grab Kokkou by the hand. "Where's Chiharu-chan and the others? I thought they would've come with you."

"Chiharu-chan is not exactly in the mood to see babies," Rika related. "The others are kind of busy."

Yukiko shook her head, and might've said more about her absent daughter if not for the presence of the little boy.

"Come on, Rika-chan," Jyou led his daughter away, finding a small lounge area, he motioned for her to sit down before moving to sit across from her. "So when were you going to tell me that you're dating a teacher."

Rika gazed out the window. "At the end of the school year."

"And only a couple months away from your sixteenth birthday when you'd marry him with or without our blessing," Jyou observed harshly.

Rika merely nodded. There was nothing more to say about it.

"This is like repeating history," Jyou muttered.

Rika smirked. "More than you know. I know I'm following the path of Sakura-chan's mother, just as she's in the same position Mother was in with you in dating a foreign boy who doesn't always live in Japan. If all of my friends really are repeating what happened with our mothers then Naoko-chan has already met her future husband, she just doesn't know it yet."

"Do your friends know who you are dating?" Jyou questioned seriously.

"Yes, but they won't tell you who it is," Rika replied firmly.

"You know when Nadeshiko-chan was dating Kinomoto-sensei, they didn't keep it a big secret," Jyou informed.

"I'm also aware that back then their relationship was questionable only because he was her teacher. The laws have changed since then that now our ages are also a factor," Rika defended. "He has far more to lose than Sakura-chan's father did."

"Either your mother or I would still have to issue a complaint," Jyou told her.

Rika shook her head. "Not anymore. He could be arrested on the suspicion of sexual abuse without any of us contacting the police. While it is unlikely they would, if I announced right now he's my fiance, even if I had your approval, being older and having been one of my teachers they could act against him." She smiled weakly. "Had a chat with one of Tomoyo-chan's lawyers about the legal issues."

Jyou nodded uncertainly. "Saying you don't know what you're getting into wouldn't exactly be true."

"I know this won't be easy for me. That he'll have trouble supporting me because I was his student. That for a time that he might not even get a tutoring job and have to work part-time jobs. Even if you decide to support my relation, between Kokkou-chan and now Sayuri-chan, help from Mother and you will be limited at best," Rika affirmed. "However, because he's older he'll be able to have some sort of job. Something a guy my age would not be able to do."

Jyou shook his head. "I want to say this is all too soon, that you're too young."

"Yet this is all repeating history," Rika reminded.

Jyou stood up and moved toward the window. "I should've fought to keep my weekends. Convinced your mother to stay in California. Should've been around to see you."

"Father, you have your work," Rika asserted.

"If I had taken time to be there for you, would you be wanting to marry a teacher?" Jyou questioned seriously.

"Yes," Rika replied firmly. "He's the one I love the most."

"I'm not so sure about that. You are so much like your mother. She latched onto me because I paid attention to her when her parents didn't," Jyou told her.

"I fought to have him pay attention to me. To look at me like no other," Rika corrected.

"I still wonder if you'd be saying the same thing if I was in Japan for more than a few hours a week. It's a wonder your mother still puts up with me when there are weeks we only have the car ride from the Tokyo office to the airport," Jyou muttered out regretfully.

Rika's eyes widened. "You're here every week?"

Jyou glanced at her with confusion. "Of course."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't I get to see you?" Rika demanded.

"My trips were due to work. I'd only be here for a few hours, often while you're in school," Jyou informed. "You didn't honestly think that every meeting I've had was canceled?"

Rika looked away, while clenching her fists. "I knew there were times you were in Japan due to work and didn't have time to see us before having to go back to America. I didn't know Mother was running off to see you."

"You do realize that if your mother had to get both you and Kokkou-chan ready that she was more likely to miss seeing me altogether," Jyou pointed out.

"We could've worked something out," Rika protested. "I know you needed some time alone with mother, but EVERY time?"

Jyou sighed. "It seemed easier. You could hardly be expected to drop all your plans with your friends or that teacher only to find out I never made the flight out. Sayuri-chan is probably here only because I missed a flight back and I got to spend more time with your mother than expected."

Rika frowned. "I still should've had the option."

"Maybe," Jyou admitted. "None of this changes the real problems at hand."

Rika scowled at him. "I don't see a problem concerning my relationship with a teacher that can't be fixed with some work, even if it means that I work as a waitress to help make ends meet." She then stomped away.

Jyou let out a sigh. His daughter dating a teacher was certainly a problem, but far from the only one.

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"Hi Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo greeted into the phone. "Well, you left in a bit of a hurry." She let out a sigh. "I know you're having... issues right now, but I doubt being alone will be of any-" She blinked and stared at the phone. "She hung up on me."

"I don't blame her," Kurogane commented bluntly.

"Coming from you I'd understand, but not Sakura-chan. She's never shut me out like this before," Tomoyo countered.

"What do you expect? She can't say anything to you without risking her enemy learning it as well," Kurogane told her.

"You make it sound like I'm a spy," Tomoyo replied in a hurt tone.

"With her enemy, the spoken word is a spy," Kurogane pointed out.

Tomoyo pouted as she folded her arms. "I don't understand what's going on."

"Any speculation you might have would be best kept to yourself. No need to arm her enemy if you figure it out for him," Kurogane warned.

Tomoyo's cellphone began to ring and she immediately answered. "Hello, Daidouji Tomoyo speaking!" She then frowned. "Oh, Yuki-chan. Sorry, was hoping it was someone else." She flinched. "It's nothing for you to be concerned about. I'm afraid I have some business to take care of. Talk to you later."

Kurogane merely looked at the girl.

"I didn't rudely hang up on her." Tomoyo began to pace around her room. "And I do have some business to take care of. If Sakura-chan and Li-kun really have broken up, then the reason you've been employed is likely over."

Kurogane frowned. "There is no guarantee she is safe. She may still be targeted for the 'insults' she has committed against the Li clan."

"True, but if Sakura-chan continues to avoid me, there's no more reason to pretend to be dating," Tomoyo insisted.

"Have you been pretending?" Kurogane accused before disappearing with a huff.

Tomoyo blinked and could not think of anything to say, even if he had remained to hear it.

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Matsumoto followed behind his date. She seemed rather irritable, and certainly didn't want to have that landmine blow up in his face. He was worried something had come up in a background check on him, possibly another girl claiming him as the father of a baby. It would be his luck to knock up girls too stupid to delay having kids.

"I really don't understand them!" Meiling suddenly growled.

Matsumoto first jumped and then relaxed. It didn't look like it had anything to do with him. "Understand who?"

"My idiot cousin and his stupid girlfriend. It really is starting to look like they've broken up," Meiling spat out.

The boy would've questioned why it mattered if his background check on her didn't reveal that she had been engaged to her cousin. "Why would they break up?"

Meiling huffed. "Because they can't agree on where they'll live after marriage. She wants to stay here, yet he has responsibilities that will force him to return to Hong Kong."

Matsumoto tilted his head. "She's complaining about being set for life? All she'll have to do is plop out a kid or two."

"She's not liking the idea of moving away from her family, friends and everything else she knows," Meiling returned.

"I've seen how much your family is worth. Having a vacation home here for her to visit wouldn't put a dent in it," Matsumoto groused. "And does she not see the option the Sasaki family has used? Where she could still live here and he would visit when business allows."

Meiling raised an eyebrow. "You're very thorough on background checks if you know that."

Matsumoto shrugged. "It's essential to find the princesses amongst pretenders."

Meiling gazed at him intently. "And what did your check on me reveal?"

"While your family has some unknown condition to clan leadership, you are the granddaughter of a previous head. Even if you don't take over your clan, your family's fortune dates back thousands of years and the idea of your family owning Mulan's personal journals is not impossible. Besides Daidouji, your friends here would be counted as pretenders as most of them are not from old money, while Kinomoto would be a princess if not for her mother being disowned for marrying a common teacher," Matsumoto related. "There's some things that seem off, but what family doesn't have secrets?"

Meiling let out a laugh. "You'd be surprise at what my family has locked away."

"With a family as old as yours, it'd be more surprising if there weren't any secrets," Matsumoto pointed out.

"True enough," Meiling agreed. "Now what to do want to do?"

"You," Matsumoto replied seriously.

Meiling's foot was suddenly centimeters from his treasured nuts. "Can't fault your tastes, but you haven't earned that right yet."

Matsumoto smirked. If she really was against the idea, he'd be singing soprano. At least she wasn't irritable anymore. "Let's hit the arcade." He would find a game he could beat her at yet.

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"Greetings, Konagi-san," a man in a blue dress suit greeted. "I am Yamashiro Kenji."

Naoko quickly stood up and bowed slightly. "Greetings."

Yamashiro motioned for her to sit down before taking a seat across from her.

A waiter approached them and quickly took their orders for some tea.

"Yamashiro-san, I'm not entirely comfortable meeting you here without my lawyer," Noako stated evenly.

"Nor is my animation studio happy about me meeting with you privately," Yamashiro returned. "As a producer I definitely have some sway in how a series would be made."

"Not surprising as it's your money that is at risk if a show fails," Naoko replied.

Yamashiro nodded. "I'm sure we can all benefit if we were to make Bloody Sword Detective into an anime."

Naoko frowned. "I'm not about to sell out the integrity of my story just to make some money."

"I certainly understand your concerns. That you don't want the same sort of regrets as storytellers before you who signed away their voice for extra money," Yamashiro related. "I also know that if we began animating your series immediately we'd run through your material in less than a season."

Naoko sighed. "Then you see my reservation of agreeing to make it an anime."

"You don't want us to add material that could potentially make the real Black Wolf unable to be the true villain. Clearly showing the person in the wrong place or injuring the character and yet Black Wolf bares no such damage," Yamashiro related. "However, I feel you're missing out on an opportunity to approach the story in a different manner. Animation is a different medium than a novella. What works to obscure the truth in the written word doesn't necessarily work in film."

Naoko looked at him with some confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You don't want us to destroy the story by telling it too soon or making someone unlikely to be Black Wolf the villain, yet to get the most value out of your story, it's best to cash in when the popularity is high," Yamashiro explained.

"That I understood," Naoko pointed out.

"Yes, but what you're not seeing is that you can tell a different story with the anime. That starting with the New Year's break you'll work with our writers setting up a story board in which YOU pick a different person to be the secret villain and adjust the story accordingly. We'd start with a thirteen episode series and if it's a large enough success and your novella remains popular in three or four years when your story is reaching it's end we would try to make a full series that's as faithful to your words as animation allows," Yamashiro spelled out.

Naoko tilted her head. "So instead of script approval, I'd be part of the writing team. And the anime would be intentionally different, but in a way I choose."

"Exactly," Yamashiro affirmed.

"You've certainly given me something to think over," Naoko commented. She was thankful that her tea was delivered so she could take a moment to think while drinking it.

Yamashiro quietly drank his tea as well. Nothing was said as he watched the girl stare at nothing, lost in her thoughts. Setting his now empty cup on the table. "I see you still need more time to consider. You know how to reach me if you have any questions."

Naoko merely nodded, unsure of what to say.

Yamashiro paid for their teas before leaving the teashop.

Naoko wasn't sure how long she had sat there, possibilities dancing in her head. She could even turn the anime into a prequel rather than being an alternate time line. Sure in some sense it would be a filler, but it would still be part of her vision.

"I don't really see the point of this."

"I've got as much reason to question what love truly is as you do."

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't care about that?"

Naoko's eyes were wide as she slowly turned her head. There was no way, absolutely none, that the boy with that slut Megumi was... Li Syaoran. And yet her eyes confirmed that the voices she heard really was them. Why? Why would Li take HER on a date? Uncertain what to do and not wanting to be seen, she quietly slipped away.

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Rika held her little sister tenderly in her arms. "Hello, Sayuri-chan. I'm your big sister, Rika. I had really hoped you would've been a boy. Mother wouldn't ignore you if you were. I'd promise to pay attention to you, but I'm afraid I won't be around for you."

The baby girl gazed at her with a smile, her arms seemingly moving on their own whim.

Rika tried to smile back. "I hope I don't repeat Mother's mistakes with my own children." She let out a long sigh. "I may find myself so focused on helping my beloved that I fail to be there for my own daughter. I want to say I've learned from her mistakes, and yet I've already repeated them. Mother may not have listened to me, yet I've failed to hear her."

Sayuri managed to grab onto her big sister's shirt and giggled.

"Maybe you can be better than us and not be so selfish," Rika prayed. "I had thought only for myself, stubbornly focused on my crush until he caved in and saw me not as a girl or a student, but as someone he could love. Just as Mother focused on herself, hogged time with Father we could've shared. If you can listen to Mother, maybe you can get her to hear you. If you need someone to talk to, I'll try to be there for you."

Sayuri looked more intent as she began tugging on the shirt harder.

"You're already not listening to her," Yuuka commented.

"Mother?" Rika spun toward the door.

Sayuri began to cry.

Yuuka grabbed her new daughter and moved to a chair and carefully sat down before opening her blouse to breast feed.

Rika shifted uneasily. "How long..."

"Does it matter?" Yuuka returned. "I didn't hear anything you should be ashamed of. Maybe I should've taken you to see your father when it looked like he'd have some time after one of his meetings. I didn't want to get your hopes up of seeing him and then find out he doesn't even have time to grab dinner or worse never made the flight to Japan. Did you really want to have to spend your Saturdays on the hope you'll get to see your father for a few minutes when I sometimes only had a few hours warning if he was going to be here or not? Unable to see your friends or steal time with your beloved?"

Rika clenched her fists. "You could've at least given me the option."

"You should've known the option was there," Yuuka retorted. "How many times were you forced to decide between your plans with friends or to see your father because of a canceled meeting. How could you not realize that there were numerous times the meeting wasn't canceled and he was in Tokyo for them."

Rika folded her arms. "You still never asked."

"And you didn't take time to think about why I wasn't here when you came home from school," Yuuka returned.

Rika turned around with a huff. "Will I really be having this sort of argument with my own daughter?"

"Probably," Yuuka replied with a sigh. "Just as I've had them with my mother, and even knowing how much I failed to hear you... I may still not listen to her as much as I should."

Rika frowned. "I want to promise to do better with my children..."

"Yet I had made that same promise and failed," Yuuka finished. "However, you have one advantage I did not."

Rika blinked. "What's that?"

"You already know that you can fall into very same trap that your grandmother and I fell into. It's because of you that I realized I've become exactly like my mother. I've blinded myself so much with spoiling your brother to prove myself better that I haven't even truly been listening to him either. I don't know the name of a single classmate of his," Yuuka related.

"What about his friend, Shun-kun?" Rika wondered.

"Shun-chan is in first grade, not second," Yuuka pointed out.

"I didn't realize that," Rika mentioned.

"It took Kokkou-chan correcting me for the 'fifth time' for me to notice," Yuuka added with a touch of regret. "I don't have a job. My only responsibility is to keep this house up and care for my children, yet how could I be so busy to not make time to just talk to any of you?"

Rika smirked. "At least we're talking now."

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Author's Notes:
Coming Next: Chapter 35 - Sakura and the Question of Love
With Sakura and Syaoran's relationship appearing to be over, can anything be done to bring them back together?


Syaoran and Megumi?! I have my reasons for them being on a date. I'd explain them, but that would ruin the surprise. I know right now it makes Syaoran look like a total arse. It will be far more understandable once his side of it is known.


That Rika may have been born in the United States is something that doesn't defy canon. With her father constantly being in California for work, where Rika has mentioned in the manga that getting to see him is an uncommon event, it is certainly possible and reasonable that when he first started working there that he would bring his wife with him. Yuuka living in California would've only been for a couple years and the decision for her to move back to Japan with baby Rika would've been for a number of reasons from Jyou barely being home due to work, to wanting help raise her baby, Yuuka having trouble speaking English, and wanting to raise her daughter as a proper Japanese girl.

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Sakura felt really tiny as her new giant of a gym teacher looked her over.

"What style of fighting have you been trained in?" the man questioned.

"Huh?" Sakura squeaked.

"You have been trained to fight, have you not?" the teacher intoned.

Sakura nodded nervously. "Ah, yes... with a sword."

"Fencing? Kendo?" the man guessed.

"Um... a specialized school using a rapier actually," Sakura replied.

The teacher nodded. Rapiers were one of the lighter blades a person could use. "Phantomhive!"

The young nobleman seemed to step out of the shadows with a bit of a scowl. "Yes, sir?"

"Spar with her. I want to see where she stands," the teacher ordered. He went over to a closet and pulled out a pair of wooden swords and threw the weapons at the pair of students.

Ciel hopped back to avoid being hit, while Sakura juggled her practice sword before getting a firm grip. Ciel quickly picked up his sword and they moved a respectful distance from each other and moved to a ready position.

Sakura's legs were bent as if she was getting ready to run, her weapon raised away from her side while her free arm mirrored the position as if to counter the weight.

Ciel's posture was stiff, his blade held in front of him with both hands on the hilt.

"Begin!" the teacher shouted and Ciel was suddenly on his ass rubbing his cheek. What the small girl lacked in power was offset by speed. Sakura using her free arm as a counterbalance telegraphed her attack enough that her initial swing had been blocked by the boy, but she did not allow for him to strike back by shoving and holding his weapon aside with her own. She then spun inside his reach and elbowed him in the jaw with her free arm. The girl's movements were precise and practiced, that what she had done wasn't improvised but a trained move.

"Are you all right?!" Sakura cried out. "I didn't mean to hit you that hard!"

"I'm fine," Ciel growled.

"There's no pulling punches in this class," the teacher informed. "You two continue to spar."

Sakura frowned as the teacher moved to observing other sparring matches. "Shouldn't we be wearing protective gear?"

"Not in this class. Most of us here have been trained to fight because we, ourselves, are targets. Those who might seek to harm us won't wait for us to put padded armor on before attacking," Ciel informed.

Sakura frowned deeply. "But I'm afraid I might hurt you. My style... is a killing art."

"You wield a blade with an edge, of course it's a killing art," Ciel retorted. He gazed at the girl unsure what to make of the new addition to his classroom. She was a mystery, carrying both an air of naivete and lack of innocence. Though the real question was: would she be a threat or an asset?

* Omake setting comes from Bleach belonging to to Tite Kubo and Shounen Jump. Ciel Phantomhive is from Black Butler, belonging to Yana Toboso. All rights reserved.