"Is it me, or is there something really different going on with the girls?" Aki said, finally bringing up the topic of their girlfriends.
"I didn't mind it at first, but now that you brought it up, Chiharu has been acting…weird lately" Takashi said thoughtfully.
"So has Mei Lin" sighed Jay.
"And Naoko" Mika said, looking worried.
They all looked at each other before turning to Eriol.
"Hmmm?"
"Hasn't Tomoyo done anything strange lately?"
He looked thoughtful for awhile then gave a slight shrug. "I guess, but nothing too weird, except that she's been strangely busy since that meeting we had 4 days ago"
"Something's up, we have to tell Syaoran" Mika suggested.
"And put more weight on his shoulders?" Takashi spoke up. "Let's just try to figure out the girls. If things get weirder, let's tell him then"
*****
"I really think you guys should try to be less obvious" Tomoyo said in a sigh at the girls gathered in the room. "We're so close. They said they're gonna attack by the end of this week, which leaves us 5 days"
"Well, we're trying!" Mei Lin said irritably. "But the fact hat they're going on with this without a plan of telling is still pissing me off"
The others girls also nodded their head.
*****
"Fine" Mika said. "But we have 8 days until we attack the Kins"
"…and the girls still think we're attacking 10 days from now" Jay added.
"Right, and we have to keep things cool until then. We can't afford them to know"
*****
"We can't afford them to know that we're on to them. So, try and act normally okay?"
The rest of the girls looked at each other before looking at Tomoyo. With a sigh, they nodded their heads determinedly.
*****
Syaoran glared at everyone who looked his way as he walked down the hallways to Sakura's room. As he reached his destination, something didn't feel right to him. Looking around, he saw no one but a nurse behind one of the counter's near by and the body guards hired to watch Sakura.
Running his hand through his hair, he looked at the body guard he put in charge of the rest who was standing beside Sakura's door.
"Make sure no one disturbs us" he said curtly.
"Yes sir" the guard said in a monotone.
Syaoran nodded at him, pausing for a while before entering the room.
A minute or so after the door closed, the nurse behind the counter breathed out deeply before turning around to the guard in front of Sakura's room, a grin on her face.
"Thanks loads Brick" she said, her red eyes flashing with mischief.
"Anything for the ladies" he said in a low voice before winking at the girl.
Mei Lin grinned even wider before looking down under the table behind the nurse counter.
"We better leave before Syaoran finds us here" she whispered, meeting four wide smiles.
Tomoyo, Rika, Chiharu and Naoko crawled out from under the table one by one, dusting their clothes.
"That was too close" Naoko whispered.
"You bet it was" Rika muttered.
They all waited until Mei Lin removed the nurse's outfit she wore before they all silently ran down the hallway to the elevators, each blowing a kiss at Brick as they did.
*****
"Sakura, when are you waking up?" Syaoran whispered, covering his face with his hands. This was the only time he ever showed vulnerability, and that's because it was Sakura, he can always show or tell her anything…and also because no one was there to see him looking weak.
If he had only looked at her right then, he would have seen the side of Sakura's face twitch.
"I'm so sorry about everything, I wish I never even brought you to this kind of life" he continued, a tone of guilt in his voice as he now looked at her, resting his head on his palm as he leaned onto the side of the bed. "I promise, when you wake up, and when this is all over, I'm gonna take you away from this kind of life…no more enemies…no more danger…just you and me with the others. Just…please…wake up"
Syaoran almost looked hopeful for awhile before letting out an irritated sigh. It was like this every time he came to visit her early in the morning. He would sit down on his usual chair beside Sakura's bed and just talk to her, about anything, but mainly about the life he'll live with her when everything is over. Each time he did, he was hoping she would wake up, but to no avail, she never did. He had lost hope of her waking up anytime soon, but now that the time for them to land their final attack on the Kins, his hopes grew more…that he could at least talk to her, see her emerald eyes staring back at him before it happens, for he wasn't sure who survives, or who dies.
"I-I'll see again tomorrow" he whispered before standing up and giving her a quick kiss on her forehead like he always does.
Sighing for the last time, he looked at her motionless body on the bed, and then left the room in silence.
Moments after the sound of his departure, her eyes fluttered open, emerald eyes gazing at the door guiltily.
"I'm sorry Syaoran" Sakura whispered to herself. She felt bad for not letting Syaoran know that she was awake. In fact, she had been awake only yesterday around lunch time when the girls came to visit her. They had helped her recover quicker yesterday and had filled her in on everything that she had missed. She had been especially devastated on the news about her baby but she willed herself not to think about it…at least not until this is all over.
Sakura knew if Syaoran found out that she had woken up that he would spend his time with her instead of preparing himself for the upcoming mission. Most of all, he would also prohibit her from helping out and would do everything in his power to make sure of it.
"No…this is for the best" she told herself before sitting up on the bed and taking the cell phone the girls had left her that morning before Syaoran came.
Hitting 1 on speed dial, she was met with a rather seductive voice.
"Mei Lin" she guessed, now hearing a laugh from the other end.
"So, how did you do Sakura?" she asked. "Did he fall for it?"
"Yeah, I can't help but feel guilty though…and I badly want to talk to him, and most of all see him. It seems like ages since I last saw him"
Mei Lin smiled sadly at this, understanding how she felt. She was about to reply comforting words but Sakura spoke again.
"But I have to do this…I'm in"
"You do know that we really don't want you in on this? We only let you in on this coz we knew you might kick our asses is you find out later if we didn't tell you"
"I know, and I can do this"
"We know. But Sakura, the mission will be in 4 days…you can't do much now coz you didn't have any practice for so long. We trained all those times you were asleep, so we decided that you can help but we can't have you on the field"
"But I c-"
"Sakura" a new voice spoke, cutting her iff before she could argue.
"Tomoyo" she replied silently.
"Look, for your own good, you have to stay with the other girls to guide us through the mission while we do the mission. If you won't agree to that, then you can stay there. So choose, help us from afar or just stay afar"
"I…all right" she replied in defeat. Helping even just a bit was better than nothing.
"Thanks for understanding. Now, we know for a fact that Syaoran won't be visiting you at that hospital anymore…or at least after the mission coz he'll be busy starting tonight until the final mission. He'll be taking the guys, me and the girls tonight for a little party crashing on the Kins until the final date. So can you hang on there until then?"
"Do I have to stay here all that time?" Sakura asked, sounding bored.
"Sorry sweetie but you must" Tomoyo said sympathetically. "But maybe we can take you out the day before the mission, it was a good thing we got out of your room before Syaoran arrived earlier. But until then, try and take as much rest as possible…we'll be in touch for anything new alright?"
"Okay, thanks Tomoyo"
"No prob." Sakura could hear the girls talking to themselves on the other line after this, then Tomoyo's voice came back again. "And the girls says hey and that you better fucking get well for the mission"
Sakura couldn't help but giggle. Through any situation, her friends can always find a way to insert their wittiness. She felt really appreciative that she had friends like them and she couldn't ask fore any other kind.
"I'll talk to you guys later then" Sakura said before ending the call and lying back down on her bed. Before drifting off to sleep once again, Sakura couldn't help but pray to the Lord…'Please make everything go right for us in the end'
*****
"So, where are we going now?"
"The high school" Chiharu said.
"The high school?"
"Chiharu, we're finished with school. In fact, a new term has already started" Naoko pointed out.
"Yeah I know, but a few of our old friends called be a few days ago. Remember, we never went to our graduation ceremony, nor did we go to our prom. They were really disappointed about that and they said the principal told them to tell us that the least we could do is get our diplomas"
"Oh well, might as well go" Rika said, sighing. "Maybe we'll get to see a few familiar faces"
"And you'll get to see our school Mei Lin" Tomoyo said, taking a sharp turn to the right, heading towards the school.
"Whoop-tee-do" Mei Lin said sarcastically, making them all laugh.
*****
"Send men over there now" Tsuyoshi snapped to the man by the door.
"Yes sir"
"This is our chance to take those bitches down"
"What about us?" Kimi said, openly glaring at their boss. "I wanna kick some fucking asses. I'm bored out of my mind here"
Tsuyoshi rolled his eyes before waving her and her sisters off.
*****
"This is your school?" Mei Lin said, raising her brow at the deserted looking school.
"I wonder where everyone is, there's supposed to be classes today…"
"…and its deadly quiet"
Walking down the halls, they found that the classrooms really were deserted.
"This is weird" Rika muttered.
"Guys! Over here"
They all ran over to Tomoyo and looked out the window to the soccer fields.
"What the hell is going on down there?" Mei Lin asked, seeing the whole school gathered around the field where booths were being set up and people were huddling everywhere.
"During each year, we all get to choose which club we want to join. The club facilitators all set up booths for the students to go and sign in"
"Oh"
"And I thought they've all died" Rika said, rolling her eyes.
…
"Guys" Tomoyo said in a lower voice.
"We know" they replied.
"I fucking left my guns in the car" Rika hissed under her breath.
"Take one of mine" Tomoyo whispered, slowly reaching for her guns under her jacket as did the other girls.
Turning around swiftly, Mei Lin was the first one to land a shot on the guy who had a gun pointed at her.
"Take his" she growled before shooting at the others.
Tomoyo tossed one of her guns to Rika. Chiharu took out her own and Naoko stood behind them since she didn't bring hers as well and Chiharu only had one.
"What the bloody hell are they thinking? Attacking us in a high school?" Chiharu hissed.
"It's not like we care" said a female voice behind all the men.
The girls all held their guns at their direction but didn't fire. When three girls came into view from the corner of the hallway, the girls glared at them.
"Bitch" Tomoyo hissed.
"Watch your language girly" one of the twins said with a smirk on her face.
"Like hell I will" she retorted.
"Feisty…I bet all the Wolf bitches are like you" her twin said.
"Can we just kill them?" the other girl whined.
Naoko looked around, if they just stood there, they will surely be outnumbered and killed. She saw a door close by, and if memory served her correctly, it would lead them to the auditorium…
"Guys, start shooting when I say run and follow me" she whispered.
"Hey shut up!" Kimi shouted, seeing her mouth move.
"Run!" Naoko shouted, running to the double doors.
The Kins started shooting at them and the girls shot back until they came inside, breathing heavily.
Naoko looked around…or it could lead them to the library.
Chiharu pulled out the steel bar from a mop by the side and immediately held the doors in place.
"What the fuck are we gonna do?" Mei Lin asked angrily. "I'm running out of bullets and there are dozens of them out there.
They all turned around as they heard slamming on the doors.
"I'm gonna call the guys" Tomoyo said, pulling out her phone and speed dialed. "Eriol?"
"Hey love…what is it?" came his cheery voice, but Tomoyo heard through it and heard screeching and gunshots on his side.
"Where the hell are you?"
"Me and the guys left for the next town to visit some people just now, but we got…oh fuck…" screeching of cars sounded sharply. "…sidetracked"
"Can you drop by our school?"
"Your old school? Why?"
"Yeah, we're also attacked by the Kins and they're outnumbering us in here. Me and the girls are trapped in the library"
"We'll try to get there as soon as we can" he said, his voice urgent. More gunshots and screeching could be heard before Eriol's voice came up again. "Son of a bitch"
"Eriol?"
"Don't worry…we'll be there. Just try to hold them off f-"
There was a click and the phone went dead.
"Eriol? Eriol!" Tomoyo screamed but there was nothing.
"Tomoyo! In here" she whipped around and saw the others go through another door at the other end of the library.
Tomoyo pocketed her phone and ran towards them, finding themselves in the dark AV Room…the place where Tomoyo usually spent her time in when she edits her tapes.
"Did you call them?" Chiharu whispered before locking the door.
"I told them before the phone went dead. They also have company, they'll be here later though…I hope"
*****
"Shit" Aki hissed as a bullet grazed the door on his side. He muttered incoherently before shooting one of the men on motorcycles, one hand still on the wheel.
"These guys don't know how to quit" Eriol growled from beside him, his phone, destroyed and on the floor. It was lucky the bullet missed his head and hit the phone instead.
Aki looked back, there were still a lot of Kins on there trail, Mika and Jay were in another car, close behind them while Syaoran and Takashi were on another car ahead of them.
"We better tell Syaoran to head for the school. Only Takashi knows where it is from here" Aki said, tossing his phone to Eriol.
*****
"This is ridiculous" Mei Lin hissed before her head snapped to the side. Hearing another sound, she raised her gun though she wasn't sure where the person was because of the dark, but she knew someone was there. "Show your face you bastard!"
The lights clicked on and the girls were met by two guys not much younger than them. They both had shocked faces and were staring at Mei Lin who still held her gun at them.
"Who the fuck are you?" Mei Lin said exasperatedly before lowering her gun.
"I-I-I…we…I…"
"Josh! Ataru!" Tomoyo said, recognizing the sophomores from last year.
"Ms. Daidouji?" the boys said, gaping at her because of what she was wearing and also because of the gun in her hand. They shook their head before turning to the other familiar faces in the room.
"What are you doing here?" Rika hissed at the boys.
"W-We came to g-g-get some stuff for our presentation outside" Ataru said, wondering what the graduates were doing there, dressed like that and with guns in their hands.
"Where the fuck are they?" said a voice outside the room.
They all turned to the locked door that led to the library.
"We have to get out of here" Naoko whispered, pushing them all out the door where the boys came in.
"What's going on?" Josh said as they all ran down the corridor just as they heard something break in the AV Room.
"No time to explain kid!" Mei Lin said before looking back and shooting a guy.
Josh was wide eyed when he saw the man drop dead before they rounded a corner.
More gunshots sounded until they were all gathered in another room…the Home Ec. Lab.
"Finally!" Chiharu said, seeing the knives that were on one of the counters. She took all of them in one hand before tossing a few to the girls.
Josh and Ataru looked at each other before looking at them, almost cautiously.
"Guys" Tomoyo said, looking at them. "You better get out of here. It's dangerous…but just keep in mind that we're not the bad guys here" she said with a grin.
"But…but what about you girls? You'll get killed"
They turned around when they heard a lot of clinking and clanking by the other side of the room. The other girls were raiding the lab for more knives…and pans.
"We'll be fine" Tomoyo said with a smile. "We have to stay here and make sure they don't come near the other students out on the field. Now, just go and try to avoid anyone from coming in here, alright?"
The boys looked at each other before nodding.
"Great, now go" Tomoyo hissed, opening one of the large sliding windows and urging them outside.
*****
"How far are we from the school?" Syaoran asked while driving through cars and avoiding the bullets headed their way.
"Not too far, take a right here" Takashi said before reloading his gun and pointing to the motorcycles that were able to drive through the others and towards them. "Asshole" he hissed before shooting the front tire, making him crash to the side.
*****
Rika gave a shout as she hit the pan forcefully on the man's head just as he peaked into the room.
"They're here" she said breathlessly before taking out one of the kitchen knives that was held onto her belt.
The girls all nodded their heads before hiding behind the counters in the lab.
"What h-" another man behind the first one cut short just as Rika slammed the pan yet again before she ran and rolled behind one of the counters.
The girls remained silent, crouched down on the floor as they heard footsteps entering the room.
Seeing someone come by her side, Chiharu swiftly grazed one of her knives on the man's leg, letting him fall before she used her legs to break the guy's neck.
She looked back at Mei Lin who was behind the other counter across form hers as she stabbed two guys on the chest. She absently thought of what the school might do when they find all the dead and unconscious men on the floor with blood everywhere.
"Hello missy" said a man's voice behind her as he gripped her hair, the other trying to hold onto her arm.
"Let go of me you bastard" Chiharu growled, before kneeing him where it hurts him the most.
The guy took a sharp breath before falling on the floor, gripping his privates and groaning. Chiharu looked at him disgustedly before turning on the stove behind him. Loosing enough gas, she lit one of the matches from the box she had found earlier and threw it in, flames burst through it forcefully and the guy's hair caught fire.
"Asshole" she hissed before she heard someone else behind her. She saw the man and pulled his leg, making him fall on the ground before she pulled him more and set fire to his foot.
She giggled at the scene for a while before snatching their guns away.
*****
Tomoyo glared at the man before shooting him square on the chest with his own gun that she had taken away.
"Don't you ever touch my hair again" she hissed, seeing a few of her hair he had pulled out when he was gripping her.
Hearing the commotion across the room where Chiharu was supposed to be, she was about to go there and help until she saw shadows of other men approach her. Seeing a pan on the floor, she slammed the heel of her boot on it, making it flip in the air. She immediately stood up and gripped it then forcefully slamming it on the face of the man. Seeing his companion behind the man who fell, she took out her knife and threw it until it made contact to his leg.
"Nice one"
Tomoyo turned and glared at the girl who stood there. It was one of those bitchy sisters.
"I'm Kimi…wanna play?" she said with a smirk before getting into a stance.
Tomoyo glared at her before getting into a stance herself.
*****
"Fucking bitch" Mei Lin hissed when she was slammed to the wall across the room.
Kyoumi smirked at her before throwing one of the knives on the counter at her.
"Your not gonna kill me that easily" she said as she rolled away.
"Maybe not…but I still will" Kyoumi said as she tried to land kicks and punches on the girl.
Mei Lin smirked, avoiding each one of her blows, and trying to land one of her own on her.
*****
"Take that" Naoko shouted, hitting the guy's head with a fire extinguisher.
When two more guys made their way towards her, she sprayed them with it then threw it on them, making them fall to the ground.
She screamed when someone pulled her hair from behind.
"Let me go!" she screamed as the guy continued to pull her forcefully out the room.
"Naoko!" Rika shouted, making her way towards her but stopped when she fell to the ground. "Bitch" she hissed at one of the twins who kicked her feet off the ground.
Katsumi merely smiled at her. "I would have wanted to fight the Cherry Blossom, but seeing as she's dead…you'll do as my first kill for today"
"Dream on" Rika said, glaring at her as she jumped to her feet.
*****
"Let her go you piece of shit!" Chiharu shouted at the huge man dragging Naoko towards the door.
Grabbing one of the guns she stole, she aimed but before she could shoot, it was kicked off form her hand, just as she felt two guys grab her.
"Get the hell away from me!" she screamed, kicking her feet to the men holding her, who turned out to be almost as huge as the man who took Naoko and her feet couldn't reach the target between their legs that she had wanted to hit.
She was pulled to the door, right behind Naoko who was still screaming for the man to let go of her hair. Before the men could take Chiharu outside, she held her feet at the insides of the doorframe, holding her in place.
"You're not taking me away that easily"
Chiharu bent her legs and pulled the guys towards the door before pushing herself up until her legs were balanced in the air. With all her might, she pulled the guys who held her arms, together until their heads collided with one another. Smiling, she flipped off of them and landed on the floor.
"I knew cheerleading would come in handy" she muttered before jumping on the back of the guy who still held Naoko.
Naoko was able to get free from the guys other arm which held her waist and landed a knee on the guy's privates. Shockingly enough, he didn't fall. She growled and pushed her head on the guy's chest, feeling the guy stumble back and pull her with him.
Chiharu pulled the guys hair when Naoko landed a hit on the guy's chest with her head. When the guy stumbled back he slammed his back on Chiharu, slamming her to the lockers lined up behind them. Feeling the pain on her head, she let go of him and slid to the ground.
Naoko saw this and growled before grabbing the guy's shirt and pulling him down to the floor with her underneath him. She gripped his wrist, digging her fingernails on his skin, as deep as she can until he loosened his grip on her hair.
"You bitch!" he shouted. Naoko smiled at him before removing herself from under him on the floor. She then took a handful of his hair and slammed his head on the floor repeatedly until he fell unconscious.
"Chiharu!" she shouted, running over to her friend who was gripping her head, looking lightheaded.
"I-I'm fine…just…dizzy" Naoko nodded before inspecting her head if there was any blood that came from the impact, but nothing was there.
"C'mon, let's move you somewhere else" she said, helping her stand. Just when she did, Chiharu tipped from side to side before sliding herself down to the ground again.
"Okay…very…dizzy" she corrected before falling unconscious.
"Chiharu!" Naoko shouted, shaking her to wake up. "Chi- aaahh!"
Hands gripped her from behind and pulled her away from Chiharu.
"Let me go!" she screamed before a guy stood in front of her. "Let me go you bastards!"
"We were ordered to kill you directly, but I don't see the problem of having a bit of fun before I do" he said maniacally, looking Naoko up and down. "I always wondered what Wolf bitches feel like" he said, running a finger down her cheek.
Naoko pulled her head away from his touch and growled at him. He merely smirked back at her.
"You have really soft hair" he said, running his hand down her hair as it ended on her shoulder-blade. "Smooth skin" his hand started to undo the button on her black, sleeveless vest, which was the only thing covering her since she removed her leather jacket back at the car.
"Don't touch me" she said in a shaky voice, trying to pull away from his touch but the men behind her held her in place.
"Why not make use of my time? No one's here to stop me, your friend over there is unconscious, and the others are a bit preoccupied inside" he said, his smirk getting bigger, seeing the look on horror on Naoko's face.
The guy continued unbuttoning her vest and Naoko merely shut her eyes, still trying to struggle.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you" someone said, not too far away.
Naoko's eyes snapped open and she looked down at the end of the hall.
The guys were here. Syaoran, Eriol and Jay were there, with two guns in each hand, pointed at the Kins surrounding Naoko, glaring at them. Takashi also held his two guns but was looking at the girl slumped on the floor looking furious and worried at the same time.
Aki was the one who spoke, he was also holding his guns but was leaning on the lockers, his arms crossed in front of him and he was smirking at the guy in front of Naoko before turning to look beside him where Mika stood, looking deadly.
"Move and she dies" the guy in front of Naoko said, immediately gripping her around the neck.
Naoko choked out at the sudden movement and heard the guys behind her let go of her and saw them hold out their guns at the guys.
She continued to choke out and immediately grabbed his wrist, trying to pull him away from her.
"Shit" Aki muttered, his face turning serious. Now it was the Kin's turn to smirk at him.
Mika glared even harder when he saw tears starting to form in Naoko's eyes.
"I said don't move" the guy said, moving his gun from them and pointed at Naoko's head.
They all stood their, glaring at each other, waiting for the other to move. No one did for awhile, until a scream erupted from the Home Ec. Lab behind the Kins and a girl came flying out the room, slamming onto the lockers just beside Chiharu.
What came after went fast. As the girl hit the lockers, another girl stumbled outside and hit the ground. When Mika saw this he instantly shot the guy who was holding Naoko but before he did, he also pulled the trigger to his own gun then fell to the floor, bringing Naoko with him. The two Kins behind Naoko also dropped when the guys started open fire on them when Naoko was on the floor.
When nobody moved around their area, they immediately ran towards them. It turned out that it was Rika who was thrown out the room and immediately fell unconscious beside Chiharu, Katsumi was the one who staggered out the door from the force she put on kicking Rika out. Unfortunately, Katsumi was able to get back in when the guys opened fire and when they got in the room, the window was open and the sisters were gone, leaving a Mei Lin and Tomoyo who were breathing heavily on the floor with a lot of gashes on their body.
"Tomoyo! Mei Lin!" Eriol shouted, seeing them on the floor, as he and Jay ran towards them.
They immediately winced when they tried to help them up.
"Where are the other girls?" Tomoyo gasped out, clutching her stomach as she stood up slowly.
"Outside, Syaoran and the others are checking them"
"Oh, that's…good" she whispered before passing out.
*****
"Are they all right?" Syaoran asked, looking serious.
Mike sighed and nodded his head and leaned on the wall beside Syaoran, outside the room where all the girls rested after they were treated.
"The guys refuse to leave their sides"
"That's understandable. Anything serious?"
"Nah" Mike said, shaking his head. "Mei Lin and Tomoyo had the most cuts and bruises but their all right, they're awake but still tired. Naoko's all right but still a bit shaken up, she said the bullet barely missed her head, hit the guy behind her instead. Rika and Chiharu are also fine but still asleep because of their head injuries"
"Did you send the other guys back to the school after we left?
"Yup, we cleaned up the place and replaced everything broken. No one will ever suspect that something happened there this morning"
"Good, and tell the guys to meet me later" Syaoran he said simply, nodding his head at Mike before leaving.
*****
"Those fucking Kins are going to pay" Mika growled furiously.
It was 3:00 in the afternoon and it was the only time the guys ever left the girls since the incident that morning.
"They will" Eriol said in a deathly calm voice. After seeing all of the cuts and bruises on Tomoyo's perfect body, he was furious.
"Starting tonight until the final attack, we'll attack the Kins. If they want to play, then we'll play with them" Syaoran said, tossing a bunch of pictures of people, clubs, buildings and ships on the table, making it slide across to the other end of the table for the guys to see. "We should've finished getting rid of them when we started before, coz it looks like Tsuyoshi found more people to do his dirty work"