Sakura at 18
A Card Captor Sakura fanfic
By Michael H

Part 1: "Not In My House, You don't!"

NOTES:

My first attempt at a CCS fic, and it has to be a multi-part epic. I couldn't think of any other way to do this.

If it looks weird to see this kind of fic coming from someone like me, it's because it is. I'm getting help.

This is a multi-part fic that centers around Sakura's 18th birthday. I'm not sure just how big it will turn out to be, but it should be interesting to find out.

It was a chilly day in late March of the year 2007. As Sakura Kinomoto walked home from school she puzzled over why she was alone today.

The high school choir had been preparing for a concert, at which Tomoyo would be a soloist, so she couldn't get her normal escort home. As for Syaoran, he was being held late by some other sort of business. She wondered if he'd gotten in trouble with somebody it didn't happen often, but when it did, it was pretty bad.

It wasn't a long way home from the high school, but Sakura was tired. The day at school had been harder than she'd expected.

She looked around to see if anyone was looking at her. No. Nobody in sight. Worth taking a chance. Sakura reached down around her neck and pulled out the Key. Then she reached into her backpack and pulled put a card.

"Get me home quickly," she said under her breath "SPEED!". She lightly touched the card with the key and took a step.

In an instant, she was home. After all these years, magic was still cool.

"How'd you get home so early?" asked a curter-than-usual Touya as he got home from a lecture. Sakura had already been there for a while and was quietly munching on cookies. "And why are you hogging all the cookies?"

"I burned a lot of energy today." Which was the truth, although a lot of that was a side effect of using the card. The cards Sakura had created were not as perfect at the ones Clow had created, but the spirits she had captured were thankfully not as inherently troublesome as Clow's either.

"Well, if you keep running around like a rampaging beast you will."

"TOUYA!"

"Anyway, Otou-san will be home soon and you can stuff your face with real food. He's bringing home take-out Chinese."

"Great! Syaoran's been looking for a good restaurant to take me to! Maybe Otou-san can tell me where he got it!"

Touya issued a snort. "Typical brat. He's lived here five years now and still doesn't know any restaurants. He doesn't deserve a social life."

"That's a rotten thing to say, Oniichan. Syaoran doesn't have time to go looking for restaurants. He has school, and clubs, and training, and the college exams to prepare for. The only company he has time for is mine and he MAKES time for me." Sakura then turned bright red. "That reminds me! I have to study with the girls tomorrow!"

"The girls?"

"You know Tomoyo-chan, Chiharu-san, Naoko-san. The same study group that got us all into high school together."

"Any excuse to hang out, I suppose." Touya said. "As long as it isn't coed."

"Oh, we help Syaoran-kun and Yamazaki-kun too, but they won't be there."

Touya was about to make another comment at Li-kun needing more help than anyone could give him when the door opened. Fujitaka appeared at the door, carrying a huge bag of food. Touya's jaw dropped when he saw who was standing next to his father.

"Yuki¡K."

"Konban-wa, To-ya! We just had the most surprising coincidence. Who'd have thought that I'd be getting take-out the same place your father was at the same time!"

Touya noticed the huge bag of food in Yukito's arms. Time, it seems, had not dulled the Snowbunny's appetites. "That's all yours?"

Yukito laughed. "Silly! Some of this was for you! I was going to pick you up on the way home."

Touya wished Yukito had been a little more discreet with that statement, but Father's cheerful smile indicated to him that he was the only one embarrassed. Not even Sakura seemed to mind Yukito saying things like that anymore.

"I figured we could all eat together," said Fujitaka, "and then you guys can go wherever you need to. Between us we got almost everything on the menu, so let's enjoy!"

It only took a moment to set the table and set out all the boxes of food. There was indeed a lot of food, and it was all delicious. Yukito and Sakura were both eating like there was no tomorrow, leaving Touya to wonder just what Sakura had been doing all day.

"Your birthday's coming up, isn't it Sakura-chan?" asked Yukito between bites of kung pao chicken.

"Hai. In a week."

"Sakura's turning 18. A grown-up," said Fujitaka. "It's kind of hard to imagine where all the time went."

"I want to have my friends over for a big party!" said Sakura. "It'll be great!"

"No." said Touya firmly. "Absolutely not."

"TOUYA!" complained Sakura. "How can you say that?"

"You have the university exams to prepare for, and I have exams too. A party would be too distracting. Besides, the only place you could have it is your room, and that's right out!"

"It's not your decision, Touya!"

"She's right," said Fujitaka gently. "I sometimes think you forget that I'm her father and not you. And you have another reason, don't you?"

"Another reason?" said Touya, taking a sip of tea to calm himself down.

"Admit it. If Sakura were only going to invite her girl friends, there wouldn't be a problem, would there?"

"Well¡K."

"Touya, that's mean!" said Sakura. "I think Syaoran should be able to come here if I want him to!"

"Why? You go to his place often enough, and Heaven only knows what you do there."

Sakura began to crimson. "That's¡K. that's¡K."

Fujitaka picked up a piece of beef with his chopsticks. "I think you've said enough to make your point, Touya. I don't mind Sakura having her party here. And it isn't that bad if Syaoran comes over."

"To-ya", said Yukito, "I still think you should come over to my house tonight. I think you need to decompress."

Touya sighed. "You're probably right," he said.

"Besides," Yukito continued, "You need to get your share of the food. The shrimp is almost gone."

Yukito opened the door to his house and shrugged. "My grandparents are going to be moving out soon.", he told Touya. "They want a smaller place in the country and feel it's time to let go."

"Is that so. Aren't they afraid of¡K."

Yukito lightly touched his friend's nose. "To-ya, you're the only one who cares so much about what people think. I admit it was hard to win my grandparents over to my seeing you like this, but eventually they came around and accepted it. And your family seems just fine with it, although that wasn't easy either."

Touya walked into the traditionally decorated living room and took a seat. "What are they going to do with the place?"

"They have enough money they can afford to keep a second house. I get to keep it."

"I can't imagine you alone in such a big house, Yuki."

"Neither can I. To-ya, can I ask you a question?"

Touya sat up and looked at Yukito quizzically. "I suppose."

"Why are you still at home? You're 26 years old, in graduate school and ready to enter the world on your own. Soon you'll be able to teach at a university yourself. What ties you to that house?"

"I think you know the answer, Yuki."

"You're right, I think I do. But have you ever considered it might be the wrong answer?"

Touya swallowed hard it was unlike Yukito to criticize him.
Yukito noticed the reaction, but continued. "I know Sakura-chan will always be the little sister to you the one you tease and protect. I know you feel responsible for her and always will. But part of loving your family is being able to let them go when the time comes. And you need to let Sakura-chan go her own way."

"What are you suggesting that I hand her over to that Chinese brat?"

"Exactly. Li-san isn't a bad person, To-ya. And they've been through a lot together. She needs him. She loves him. And that hurts you, doesn't it?"

Touya was suddenly very uncomfortable. "Of course it hurts. Yuki, can we talk about something else?"

"Sure. Let's talk about us. You're right when you say it isn't right for me to be all alone here. Is anything holding you back from joining me?"

Now Yukito was doing something else that seemed unlike him being extremely forward. "You mean¡K" Touya stammered, "move in¡K. here¡K. With you¡K."

"How about it?" Yukito said. "I'm sure I can make you very happy here. And Sakura chan will be fine, trust me.. Her independence will be the best birthday present you could give her."

Touya sat in the chair a bit stunned. Yuki had surprised him on many occasions before, from their first meeting to the time when he had first confessed feelings that at the time seemed incomprehensible but were now clear as day. Touya knew, however, that what Yukito was saying made perfect sense.

Before he could do much thinking about it, though, he felt gentle hands on his shoulders. Under their ministrations, the tensions he had accumulated over the course of a very stressful few hours began to melt away.

"This isn't fair." Said Touya.

"You need this.", Yukito replied.

As Sakura lay on her bed after dinner, she was still angry with her Oniichan. Why couldn't he let her alone for once? But she knew that a party at her house was impossible. For one thing, she would need help to set everything up and with Touya uncooperative it would be difficult. For another, the place was a bit small for the number of people she was having. She'd already made out a guest list of sorts; the girls, Syaoran, Yamazaki, whatever boy Naoko-chan chose to invite and Rika.

Rika had not gone to the same school as the rest of the girls since graduating from Tomoeda Elementary. For a while they had been able to keep in touch, but recently Sakura had lost track of her refined friend completely. She missed having Rika around, and wondered what had become of her old friend.

Not that she didn't have new friends. Sakura had made friends easily at Seijou High School. Her brother had evidently been quite a celebrity there and all the teachers were eager to se her do well. She was Captain of the cheerleading squad and played some volleyball on the side, and was doing better in her studies than she had expected.

The biggest help, of course, was that Syaoran was also there. It had taken a Near-Herculean effort to get them into the same high school, but it had been successful and Syaoran was a student in good standing. His grades were college-level and they managed to remain classmates. Ever since that day in junior high when they had reunited at the gates of the school after three years apart, they had been inseparable.

Not that people hadn't tried. Sakura was well aware of the many girls who tried to wrangle dates and favors out of Syaoran, and spent a lot of time fighting off the advances of high school boys who didn't know her from before and assumed that Syaoran was just a "boyfriend" to her. Sakura knew better. Still, there was many a young man in the school who had gotten a taste of Syaoran's fists for being too insistent with his attentions.

Of course, even more boys were flocking around Tomoyo, who also fought off every single one of them. Sakura could not understand why many of those boys were cute and smart, and seemed like good matches. She'd even been tempted to try and set up a bind date for her friend, only to think better of it.

It was just as she was thinking of Tomoyo that her cell phone rang. Tomoyo continued to supply her with the latest in communications technology, because occasionally a supernatural menace would crop up that required the attentions of the Card Mistress. Although her activities remained mostly secret, every so often Tomoyo would whip out a new costume or two and they would go forth on a new adventure. Since only Tomoyo, Syaoran and Kero-chan had this number, and Kero-chan was snoring away in her drawer, she figured it had to be Tomoyo-chan. And she was right.

"Konban wa", Said Tomoyo at the other end of the connection. "How are you doing, Sakura=chan?"

"Terrible. I'm worried about my birthday."

"Coming of age. You must wish we could stay children forever sometimes, ne, Sakura=chan?"

"That's not what I mean. But I wanted to have the party here and I can't."

"Well, if that's all you're worried about, why don't we have it at my place? There's plenty of room here for a great party! And it's not like we're inviting the whole school."

"Tomoyo-chan, arigatou! You'd really do that for me?"

"So Sakura-chan won't worry, I'll do anything. Just tell me who's coming and I'll take care of the rest."

"Let's see, Syaoran-kun of course, Chiharu and Yamazaki, Naoko and whoever she wants to bring, and¡K. And¡K."

"Rika?"

"I don't even know where Rika-chan lives anymore."

"I can track her down, no problem, And I'm sure she'll love to come. I think that's enough, It'll be just like the old days."

"Aren't you going to have a date over, Tomoyo-chan?"

"I already do. See you tomorrow at school, Sakura-chan!"

TO BE CONTINUED