The dojo was pretty empty, there was only some other guy doing stretches. Sakura was there, too, with Cerberos lying around, watching. Her intention was to practice her techniques, as they had changed somewhat due to her awakened magical abilities. She had started out with her pre-exercise stretches, then had started on the punching bags with merciless abandon. High kicks, punches, jabs, uppercuts hit it repeatedly, Sakura trying to prove to herself she wasn't losing her touch. 'Hadouken!' she cried, letting a magically enhanced ki charged fireball hit the punching bag. The punching bag nearly came off it's hinges, but not quite. Sakura waited for it to stop swinging, charging up a smaller fireball. She fired it again, and it hit, with less of an impact. 'Thats better. Need to regain my fine control. It's so easy to supercharge them now, I might do it by accident.' Focusing, she remembered the essentials of her Sho-oh-ken technique. Searching for something more. Finding nothing, she dashed at the punching bag with a cry of "Sho-oh-ken!" The punching bag got knocked back wildly, with a huge tear in the front of it. 'The technique is still the same.' Noting the damaged punching bag, she let her head droop. 'I promised Dan-sensei I wouldn't destroy the punching bags... But I'm sure he'll understand. I need to do this.' "Hyaah! Again! Sho-oh-ken!" She repeated the rushing uppercut, further shredding the punching bag. "Again! Sho-oh-ken!" As she executed it the third time, it felt different. She recognized the feeling, the same as when her magical abilities had bled into her ki for her fireball. It wasn't as intense though. She was more in control of her technique this time, she wouldn't let it get out of control. She concentrated for a moment, charging her energy, purposefully trying to draw out the magical ability. "Midare-zakura!" The super uppercut hit once, twirled, hit again, and hit one more time, and an explosion of cherry blossoms followed, showering the room, along with the exploded pieces of the punching bag. "Sakura-chan! Way to go! 29-hit super combo finish! Excellent!" cheered Cerberus. Sakura simply stared at the swinging stump where the punching bag used to be. Then she looked at Cerberos, a sad expression on her face. "Sakura, you've used your techniques so long, and are used to drawing out your energy, that this should come naturally to you, like it already has!" cheered Cerberus. "That's not what I'm worried about!", she snapped back. "I'm worried about using too much force! You say I have a lot of magical power, I don't want to use it all on another street fighter!" She slumped down to the ground, sitting on the floor. "All this magic within me is messing up my moves. The reason I'm doing worse is because I don't know my body as well anymore." Sakura thought ahead, to when Li was gonna be by later today, after he talked to Tomoyo about something. 'Thank god for that, can train unfilmed.' A friendly challenge. They had never properly fought, but his technique seemed good. She wondered how it would fare up against a Street Fighter. She was rather looking forward to this, a freindly match against a skilled oppponent that didn't have life or death or a Card hanging on the outcome. ~.~.~.~.~ Li and Tomoyo walked in, together. They were talking about something amongst themselves. Li spotted Sakura first, and walked briskly over to her, eyeing the swinging stump. "I guess you're all warmed up," noted Li. Sakura grinned wryly. "Yeah, I guess you could. You?" Li grinned. "I'm always ready." Time had passed since earlier, and there were now more people around, Dan(thankfully) not being one of them. Tomoyo unpacked a tripod, and set up a camcorder, while Sakura and Li got into the ring. "Li Shaoran vs Hometown favorite Sakura Kusagano! Round 1, fight!" announced one of the spectators. 'Fighting game freak,' thought Sakura to herself. Li started out first, a stunningly fast sweep kick followed up by a spinning elbow to the chest. Sakura 'oofed', before launching into a counter-attack, a blocking rush into Li, followed by several quick jabs, then backing up quickly. They both circled, slowly, looking for an opening. Sakura finally gave up waiting for an opening, and rushed in, dropping down for a low kick to the hip, bunny-hopping back, and then forwards again, a quick uppercut coming up to meet Li's chin. He swerved back, getting in a painful chop to Sakura's left arm, coming back in with a lepers paw to each of her shoulders, only one of which connected. Sakura grimaced, withdrawing momentarily. 'He's fast. And he hurts. I didn't think he'd be so good without his sword.' "Hadouken!" A ball of magic and ki mixed quickly formed, and barrelled out at Li. Taking no pause, she rushed back in, with a backfisted head swipe. Ducked. Comboed into a gut punch. Sidestepped. Cancelled into an uppercut. Connected, her fist running a tear along his clothes. But before she could recover, her outstretched arm was grabbed, and she was thrown into the rungs. She disentangled herself, Li waiting for her to recover. "I guess I lost," said Sakura. "Yeah. Good fight," congrajulated Li. Sakura grimaced, straightening her fuku. "So, what were you two talking about?" queried Sakura. "Eh, uh. Nothing," Li stammered out. A sly grin grew across Sakura's face. "Nothing, you say?" "Yeah. Nothing," replied Li, quickly recovering his composure. "Sure." Sakura departed, to go consult Tomoyo. ~.~.~.~.~ "Well, he wants a pet. He's partial to kittens, too," explained Tomoyo. "That's it? That what he's all embarrassed about?", said Sakura, disbelievingly. "Yeah! Isn't it cute?" trilled Tomoyo. "We were going to go pick one out after I filmed your match. Did you want to come with us?" Sakura's eyes lit up. "Of course!" /*/*/*/ Blossoms in the Spring \*\*\*\ Chapter 18. Sakura's SWEET victory! A crossover fanfic started by a poor fanboyish schmuk that goes by Eternal Lost Lurker. This chapter written by Jexer. Street Fighter and all related trademarks belong to Capcom. Cardcaptor Sakura and all related trademarks belong to CLAMP, Kodansha. Used without permission. (Or else it would be WAI WAI LOTS BETTER!) (maybe. ^_^) 'Tokyo MegaPet Consumer Dedication Pet Store' was the name of the rather small, out of the way pet shop they were headed to. Li, 'Yuriko', and Sakura entered, the distinctive smell of a pet store making itself known. And then there were the kittens, right by the front. There were 7, of varying colors. Sakura and Tomoyo needed no prompting, and immediately set about the task of picking each one up and examining them thouroughly in all their abounding cuteness. "Aw, so cute!" "I want that one!" "Ooh, look at this one!" "Aw, it's adorable!" "Genki!!" "He should get this one!" "This ones so cute! Listen to it mew!" "So adorable! I can't help myself!" And so it went on for the better part of 15 minutes, by which time the 2 girls had at least 3 different names for each of the kittens. Li was finally addressed. Tomoyo looked up, over at Li. "Li-kun, come over here! You gotta pick which one you like!" Li walked over, glanced them over, then pointed at the solid grey one. "Shad-kun!" chirped Tomoyo. "Pebbles!", chirped Sakura. "...." ellipsed Li. Li picked up the kitten, looking it over. The kitten mewled cutely. "So cute!" "Genki!" And lo did Li Shaoron sweatdrop. ...which caused the kitten to mewl again. "He's the cutest, isn't he!" "Yeah, yeah!" Li couldn't tell their voices apart, they both sounded the same. "Let's just uh.. get the kitten, and leave? Please?" pleaded Li. The trio made the very short way from the kitten stand at the front window to the counter in the back. Li set the kitten down on the counter, which mewled again. The wizened old man grinned widely. "Young man, you would like this kitten?" "Yes, please." "Before anything else, I must ask, are you willing to take care of it and give it a good home?" "Yes, sir." "Good, good then. 5000 yen. This price comes with 1 bag of cat litter, a booklet on how to raise a cat, a flea collar, and a collar with bell. As well as kitten." A short exchange of yen later, and the trio left the petstore. Li was holding the Big Bag O Kitty Litter, Sakura had in hand the booklet, and Tomoyo had the kitten, and was playing with it with the collars. ~.~.~.~.~ Li grunted, dropping the Big Bag O Kitty Litter onto the ground, entering his apartment. Tomoyo followed, bearing the rest of the load. Sakura had split off somewhere along the way, saying something about needing to be home. Tomoyo gently set the collars and booklet on an empty counter, then cupped the kitten in both her hands, and leaned forwards, offering it to Li. "Tomoyo, thanks for the company," said Li, accepting the offered kitten. "No problem, Li-kun! Anything to help you out! Well, I'll be off now! Goodnight, Li!" Tomoyo waved at Li, then exited through the open door. The door closed behind Tomoyo as she left, and it was just Li and the as yet unnamed kitten. "Kin-Kin. That's what I'll call you." *mewl* "What am I going to do with you?" The kitten mewled again, and started purring. He grinned, not being able to not. "Are you hungry? I am." Li got a plate of leftovers out of the fridge, as well as a saucer of milk. The kitten mewled at Li again. "Hold on," said Li, setting the saucer down on the floor. "There you go." The kitten needed no prompting. ~.~.~.~.~ And thus did Night descend upon the city of Tokyo. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3 figures. One, she knew. Familiar. Touya, that was it. The second, she knew, too. Tomoyo. As Tomoyo, not Yuriko. And Ryu-sama! Wai! All standing in a semi-circle around her, looking somber and serious. She noticed she had her Key Staff out and extended, and was in her normal clothes. A cresent moon was out, too. And those eyes, they all had them. Alien, distant eyes, full of intense passion. Like the dream she had when she first met Keros. Dream? This was a dream? The 3 said in unison, "Sakura, time to wake up. Wake up, Sakura! Your track meet is today!" Sakura opened her eyes arubtly, to see Hitomi, leaning over her, saying 'Wake up, Sakura. If you won't I'll make-' "I'm awake," Sakura said quickly, dreading what would happen if she didn't cut her off. "Come on. We have to get in some extra training today. I'll treat for breakfast." Sakura just nodded groggily in agreement. She managed to glance at her clock on the way out, which read 4:33 AM. ~.~.~.~.~ Over pancakes and tea, Sakura gradually awakened, with a still sleeping guardian plushie in her bag. She had totally forgotten about the track meet today, and the fact that Hitomi was her morning hell for each time it was involved. Otherwise there would have been hound dogs, magical seals, and whatever else she could dig up to KEEP HER AWAY!! "Sakura-chan, you think we're gonna win today?" A grumble, and chomping sounds answered. "That's great! I know we're gonna win! Even without our mascot! We've been training hard, and we have the burning desire to win!" "Captain Yukari can be blamed, too," Sakura added, slipping some food in her bag for Cerberos later. 'That prick', she didn't add. The pancakes eaten, the tea drank, it was time to set out for the dismal track, the epitomy of everything against sleeping in. Or just plain sleeping. She really wanted to sleep, she didn't see the point of training more when the contest was today, she thought a good mornings sleep would be much better. Running and stretches and weighted running and long jumps numbed her sleep-deprived mind for the better part of 4 hours, until the sun came up. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The sun shone down brightly, as Sakura, and the rest of the track team exited the bus. Captain Yukari exited after the rest of them, not a smile evident on her face at all. "We are here to win!", she barked out. "We have 30 minutes before the competition starts. Get your butts in gear, and get ready!", she further barked. Sakura almost jumped, then stopped herself, and hurried off. 'Tomoyo said she'd be here. She's probably in the audience or something.' She scanned the crowd, then noticed a familiar feeling. 'A clow card! Here?' She started searching for it, looking around, trying to trace the feeling. She found the source of it shortly, a young girl, wearing the uniform of another school, running laps. The girl seemed to be moving really fast, shaking herself occasionaly, and seemed to have an exorbitant amount of energy. 'This should be a fair competition. I should get the card now!' She did a quick stretch, patted her back to make sure the Key Staff was there, preparing to go after the the girl, then was suddenly tackled by Li. "Sakura, I can't let you get that card," he said calmly, dusting himself off. "Come off it! I need to capture that card!", exclaimed Sakura, more than a little bit irritated. "I can't let you get that card. I will fight you if I have too," intoned Li calmly. That was the only warning she got, as Li executed a karate chop to the back of her neck. She barely ducked it, jumping sideways. It was then she noticed a backpack on Li's back, rather bulky and full looking. She leapt forwards, a double-fisted hammerblow aimed at Li, who sidestepped, delivering a painful counter-chop to her side. "I don't want to hurt you. Just give up on this card!" "No way!" She stepped in close, delivered some quick jabs to his shoulders, dancing backwards before he could retaliate. Li grimaced, and drew his sword. "God of thunder, hear my call! Raijin slash!", he cried, bringing his sword over his head, and down in a vicous arc. Sakura easily sidestepped, circling around, and delivering a powerful high kick to his back. The sound of something shattering sounded, as her foot crushed the contents of his backpack, and sent him sprawling to the ground. He didn't stay down, immediately hopping back up, a wild backhanded swing with his sword barely grazing her. "Sakura, you don't understand! If you take the card from her, you'll kill her!" "Quit trying to discourage me! Hadouken!" The magically enhanced ki ball flew from her hands, towards Li, who deflected it expertly with his sword. "You may have more power, but I've been doing this longer than you." "Yeah right! Shinkuu... HADOUKEN!" Li brought his sword to bear, and attempted to deflect it away, but the force was too great. Li dropped his sword, which had started sparking wildly with magical energy, his hands momentarily numb. "Guh... guh." Li looked at his sparking sword, but Sakura didn't. She instead leapt up, and came down with a double-handed axehandle to his head, and bounced off, landing behind him. Li slumped over, and decided to stay on the nice soft grassy ground for a moment. "I don't have any more time to waste with you!", she said, and dashed off after the girl with the card. ~.~.~.~.~ Hitomi ran up beside her, keeping pace. "Sakura-chan, it's good that you're practicing! But we're up now, so you gotta come!" "What! Oh no..." -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 'I shouldn't of held back. I know Tomoyo wants her to do good, though. So do I.' Li thought. 'Her fireball unaligned the foci in my sword, though. I'll have to fix that soon.' He looked up, to see Tomoyo approaching. Tomoyo helped Li up, smiling. "Tomoyo. Thanks." "No problem!", Tomoyo responded, trying to avoid blushing. "Sakura has gone after the card. If she gets it, the host will die." Tomoyo looked at Li. "What do you mean?" Li paused. "The card is SWEET. The host is on a permanent sugar high. If the card if withdrawn too suddenly, the host will go into shock from sugar loss. I had gotten stuff to soften the blow, and tried to tell Sakura, but she beat me." "It's okay. We still have time, she's up now!" chirped Tomoyo happily. Li grimaced. "Some of the parts were broken. We're going to have to let the host run the race, and burn off some of that energy." "But for now, we're watching Sakura run! I don't want to miss her!" chirped Tomoyo happily. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= She muttered to herself, double checking her shoelaces, adjusting her fuku. 'I am SO going to get that card if I have to embarrass myself in the middle of this meet to catch it.' She clasped her hands together, to keep them from shaking. 'I will not be nervous. Focus on the match ahead, at least I must try my very best!' "Sakura-chan, are you ready? The contestants for the 500-meter dash are already there, you'd better hurry up!" chirped Hitomi merrily. "Gomen! I'll be right there!" -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8 girls. Each one representing a different schools female track team. The grim determination evident on each and every one of their faces was testimony to the fact that they were there to WIN! To take the gold, second place wouldn't be good enough! They wouldn't be satisfied until they were the last one standing! For this was Mortal Kombat-Track! And only 1 would come out ali- 8 girls. Each one representing a different schools female track team. The grim determination evident on each and every one of their faces was testimony to the fact that they were there to WIN! They knew the mud was coming, and they welcomed it. For they knew the Long distance Mud Pit Jump in Swimsuits event was the most attractive one to the guys, and they all really wanted to get la- 8 girls. Each one representing a different schools female track team. The grim determination evident on each and every one of their faces was testimony to the fact that they were there to WIN! The tension in the air was thick, each anticipating the gunshot that would signal the start. And it was heard, and lo, did they run. Off like foxes, each trying to outdo the other and get the initial lead. 'Careful, Sakura. This is longer, I don't want to wear myself out before I get to the end,' thought Sakura quickly. Sakura noted the girl with the card from the other school wasn't slowing down. 'She's gonna burn herself out. Should make it easy. But I still gotta win! Captain Yukari will chew me out for sure if I don't!' She mentally shuddered at the 'extra training' she would have to go through if she didn't follow through and win. 200 meters. Sakura was in third, just trailing a long-legged girl from another school. The girl with the card was in the lead, a good 7 meters ahead. 300 meters. Sakura was in second, now. She had passed the girl in front of her, and was trying to catch up with the girl in lead. Who was still the same girl as before. 400 meters. 'I can hold out! I've got more stamina than this!' Her lungs were hurting, and the moment the race was over she knew she was going to feel the full force of it, but for now, she was keeping up with the girl in lead. Sakura noticed that she was starting to look a little winded, finally. 'Keep on going! I've gotta win!' 450 meters. Sakura's head was starting to hurt, but she ignored it, concentrating on proper running form, holding off the exhaustion, drawing upon her reserves to keep going. It was working, she was gaining on the girl! 490 meters. All previous thoughts of exhaustion were gone, as Sakura pushed herself full force, not holding back at all. She almost had the lead, just a little bit faster... 500 meters. "KYAAHH!" The primal yell came forth when Sakura crossed the finish line, mere milliseconds before the other girl. She slowed down, then came to a stop. Her legs hurt, her chest was on fire, and her head was drumming Morse Code. But she had won! And not even that Card had beat her! Another girl passed the line, 2 seconds behind, panting for breath, and collapsing onto another girl from her team for support. Then the next, and the next, until they had all crossed the line. Sakura wasn't sure how much longer her legs would hold out, and was very relieved when Hitomi and Rena came over, and lent her their shoulders. "Sakura-chan! That was great! I knew you wanted to win, when you took all the extra distance training during the night, but I didn't know you wanted to win this badly!" cheered Hitomi wildy. Rena grinned. "Way to go, Sakura." Sakura merely nodded, and leant on them heavily. "...gasp... .gasp ...need to ...catch ..card..", gapsed Sakura in between breaths. Hitomi chuckled. "Sakura-chan, don't you think you should get some rest before you do that? You seem very tired." "...gotta..." One of the judges called out. "Sakura Kusagano. Yuri Watanabe. Minaku Mitsune. Please come to the judges desk." "Sakura-chan, that's you!", pointed out Hitomi enthusiastically. Sakura simply looked at Hitomi evilly, who didn't seem to notice. "..Thanks Hitomi, thanks Rena, I think I'll be fine now." She shifted her weight to her feet, and trudged towards the judges stand. She couldn't help but smiling, she felt too giddy. The female judge, a woman with ample build, black hair, and a business suit, held out her hand to Sakura politely. She accepted, and they shook hands. "I must say, I don't think I've ever seen someone push themself quite so hard. You've earned your victory. Anyways, here is an official record of your time. This copy is for you, one will be sent to you school also." This statement only served to enlarge Sakura's already overwhelming giddy feeling, and she grinned wider. The female judge turned to the next girl, Yuri, the one with the card. "Yuri Watanabe." The girl nodded, and extended her hand. "I present you with an official banner with your time on it. This one is for you, and another will be sent to your school. Congratulations." "Minaku Mitsune." The judge nodded politely, and extended her hand. Mitsune accepted, and they shook hands. "Congratulations. Here is your official banner, with your times. This one is for you, and another will be sent to your school." The judge stepped back, looking at all of them. "Great job, all of you. You all have great potential and athletic ability, enough to make it to the Olympics if you desire! Step up to the stand to claim the medal which is rightfully yours!" As the three made their way to the stand, Sakura recalled the winners of the previous events standing up there, wondering if she could make it there. And there she was. It didn't escape her notice that the Card was definitely weaker at the moment, though. First up it was Yuri. She went upon the stand, and a silver medal was drooped around her neck, and cameras flashed. She saw Tomoyo in the crowd, with a camcorder. Yuri stepped off of the platform, her expression unmistakable for anything but extremely ecstatic. And then it was her. She stepped up nervously, accepting the medal put around her neck. Her GOLD medal. She grinned widely, unable to help it at all. A couple of dozen photo flashes later, she stepped down, and the third place girl, Minaku, stepped up, having her moment in the spotlight. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Li and Tomoyo were waiting for her, in front of the locker room. "Sakura-chan! You were great! But, you've got to hurry!" Tomoyo shoved a package with a costume, and a mug of triple-shot expresso into Sakura's hands, with the instructions, "Drink that, you'll feel better!" Sakura nodded, carrying the package and the mug into the locker room. ~.~.~.~.~ Sakura emerged shortly, dressed in Tomoyo's latest design. A black bodysuit, with a very familiar plushie stencil on the chest, and white stripes periodically along the legs and arms. Stitched onto the top of that was a silver half-jacket, with little black starpoints all over it, and pockets on the inside for the Key Staff, and Cards. Along with all that, there was a black beret with a silver tail to go with it. The solid black did a very nice job of enhancing her natural curves, as well. "...Kero-chan, stop drooling," scolded Tomoyo. "That goes for you too, Tomoyo," scolded Sakura, a bit more sharply. Sakura sighed, and started off towards where girls, Yuri's, changing room was. Li quickly caught up with her. "Sakura, the card you're facing is the SWEET. That why I couldn't let you get the card. The host is on an extreme sugar high. If you take the card suddenly, she would go into shock from insulin loss." "It woulda helped if you had told me this before," said Sakura slowly, turning to look at Li. "Instead of attacking me," she then added. "I didn't think you'd understand," responded Li. "NANI?!" Sakura swiveled around suddenly, glaring at Li. Cerberos quickly flew in between the two of them, putting a small stubby plushie arm out to each of them. "STOP!", the plushie cried. "Now is not the time to bicker among yourselves! There is a Clow Card out there that needs to be captured! Sakura is the designated Captor, so let her be the Captor!" Li stepped back momentarily, tooken back by the ferocity in the plushies voice. 'I'm not gonna be talked down by a flying plushie,' he thought, annoyed. "Lets see your 'Captor' do this without help and not seriously hurt the girl," Li said, crossing his arms. "Hey! I'm right here! Tell me!" yelled Sakura, shaking a fist at Li. As it was about to turn ugly, Tomoyo shouted "FIRE! HELP! FIRE!" at the top of her lungs. Which promptly silenced everyone, as they all stopped arguing and yelling, to look at Tomoyo, who was grinning sheepishly. "Good. Lets go get that card. Everyone." said Tomoyo. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Sakura knocked on the door softly. She was sure Yuri was here, she could sense the Clow Card, even in its weaker state. "Come in!" That was Yuri's voice. "Yuri, its me, Sakura!" Saying that, she stepped inside. Yuri was standing in the center of the room, and the other members of her team were unconcious, slumped over in varying positions. "Don't worry. They're only sleeping. I just lowered their sugar level, they'll be okay shortly." "SWEET," said Sakura with certainty. "I knew you'd come, Captor." A slightly different voice, now. "Are you willing to accept me, and give up peacefully? This will be easier on Yuri if you do." "I'm afraid I can't do that." Sakura sighed, withdrawing her Key Staff. "Please, I don't want to hurt Yuri." "You have no choice! Catch me if you can!" Suddenly Yuri sped into action, her high energy level evident once again. Yuri slammed into Sakura, and kept on going past her, out of the room, into the open. "Oh come ON!", cried Sakura, and gave chase. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Tomoyo, Li, and Cerberos watched Sakura dash out of the building, mere moments after Yuri. They watched as Sakura reached into the half-jacket, pulling out a card, and thrusting out her Key Staff in the direction of Yuri. They watched as Yuri fell, knocked over by some phantom force. They watched as Sakura dashed up to Yuri, and got her in a full-nelson. They came running when she shouted out to them, "Hurry up! I can't hold her forever!" -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= "Yuri, calm down!", pleaded Sakura. She had tried the DREAM card, but the girl was just too hyper for it to work. It seemed like both Yuri and SWEET were struggling together, and even with her and Li holding her down, it was still hard. Tomoyo finally got the IV hooked up. "Sakura-chan, you're good to go!" Holding Yuri down with one arm, she took out her Key Staff. "Key which hides the powers of the Dark... reveal your true form before me! I, Sakura, command you under our contract! RELEASE!" The Key Staff grew, to about 1.2 meters. She held it above her head, and began the incantation. "Return to the guise that you were meant to be in! CLOW CARD!" She brought the Key Staff down, the blunted beak-end touching Yuri's chest, who had stopped struggling once Sakura had begun the incantation. A bright flash of light, and Yuri went unconcious, and a Clow Card formed in the air. "The SWEET", it read, a picture of a young girl in a poofy white dress with glittery stars in it spaced every so often. Her hair, also long and poofy, which seemed to be made of the same material, also with the stars. The girl in the card had a star in her forehead, and was carrying a wand with a poofy thing on its end, and had striped stockings. It floated towards Li, who caught it gently. "Huh? Why me?" Li held it, looking a bit puzzled. Cerberos thought deeply, then spoke. "I guess its because it was your plan. The Clow Card sensed you were more responsible in capturing it, even though you had help." Sakura opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. "Well, at least Yuri will be okay," she finally decided on saying. 'I hope she'll be able to run without the card. I'd feel bad if I robbed her of her dreams. She looked so happy up there, when she got her medal. I just hope she can still do it,' thought Sakura. She'd feel bad if she found out she was responsible for Yuri losing her dreams. "Sakura! It's okay, I'll stay with her. Go ahead and support your team," offered Li. "...Thanks ...Li. Besides, it'd look suspicious if a bunch of people were standing around an unconcious girl," said Sakura, and nodded. "My team is probably wondering where I am, anyways. Ja ne!" Sakura got up, and dashed off, Tomoyo following after saying goodbye to Li. Li watched them leave, then bundled up the IV and Yuri, and carried her over to the locker room for her school's team. He set Yuri down gently, and left. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= As Sakura approached her teams locker room, she could hear cheering. Lots of it. She entered the building, her feet dragging. That didn't matter though, as she was suddenly lifted off her feet, and set upon Hitomi's and Chiharu's shoulders. Sakura flailed wildly, before realizing this wasn't an attack. "Hoe?" The overhwelming sense of tired-ness and low energy and the confusion as to why the card had gone to Li was forgotten in an instant. For the cheering was for Sakura. Sakura's win had been the deciding point torwards her team winning the meet. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= */^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\* Leave it to Kero-chan! */^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\* "Konya nyatchiwaaaaaaaaa!" "Sakura really had her heart set on that race, didn't she! Too bad Li and Sakura weren't getting along to well. I wonder why?. But Li got a kitten! Who'da thunk? Isn't it kawaii!" Kero-chan stood next to Kin-kin, comparing himself to the kitten. This, obviously, was a mistake, as Kin-kin interpeted this as a mouse. "Ittai! Ow! Help! No, get away! Heeelpppp meeee!!!!" An adorable little cute grey kitten sat there, and mewled. 'nuff said. */^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\* Leave it to Kero-chan! */^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\*/^\* has been cancelled, to to technical difficulties. *mewl* -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Authors notes: HELL YEAH BABY! MY IMPRO DEBUT, AND ITS GONNA BE GOLD! Err, sorry. ^^ Um, thanks to prereaders, Smlee and Adyen, and a BIGGER! thanks to Sze, for nearly the entire second halves outline. (I swear, I coulda came up with something just as good on my own!) Um...hell... What else am I supposed to say here? Oh yeah. Stupid Impro curse! Twice you have come, and twice I have bested you! I got this damn thing done on time, and it was wonderful to write and have purpose for doing so again! So Nyah-nyah-nyah! Erm. Should probably change this to 'Authors muttered ramblings and incoherent offsprings' ...as if that made any sense either. -_- Oh well. Hope you enjoyed the show, anyways!