It's Business

A/N: I don't own any of the CCS characters. Some of the names and characters I did. This is a story that just lives rent free in my head. If it's not good and up to par, my apologies. I'm not expecting good or mean reviews, I just wanted to write down this story onto "paper." I just dream so often of this story blooming along with characters who we may resonate with. Anyways, enjoy.


"All I need is for you to show up to most if not all of these events with me. I will pay you for each event." The chestnut hair gentleman across from her said. He was dressed in a navy blue suit, tailored perfectly for him. His dress shirt was partially unbuttoned for a casual look with his sleeves rolled up, exposing his forearm. If the ambiance of the restaurant wasn't so dark with only the small sconces and candle light, Sakura would have been exposed from blushing at how handsome he was.

"What are the expectations at these events?" She responded, she didn't want to look like she fidgeted too much sitting in the leather booth. She kept her gaze low, not knowing how her reaction would be if they had eye contact.

"Just show up. I will provide you with money for what you will need to buy to wear. I can provide transportation, to and from wherever we go, whether it is local here in Tokyo or if it is an abroad trip. You don't have to worry about money."

"So I just show up? There isn't any other fluff?" she said as her head tilted unexpectedly.

"Fluff?" he asked.

"As in, you don't want anything physical?" she was quiet when she asked, Sakura took a deep gulp wondering what she got herself into.

"This is purely mutual. Isn't that what you wanted?" He looked at her dead in the eye. Despite not showing it on the outside, her palms were sweating. His gaze seemed harsh but at one point the light flickered so much in his golden eyes that it showed a bit of innocence. She awaited a smirk, but it never came. Sakura shifted her weight.

"Well, like I told you, I am doing this purely for the amusement and the networking should it come to that." She responded, rubbing her hands under the dinner table, "I'm being completely honest with you, I'm not sure what to expect."

"Then, that is what it should be. You shouldn't expect much, Kinomoto. I just need you to show up to these events. You need to just stay long enough for... My mother…" he trailed and this time he shifted his weight a little in his seat, "let's just say that my mother is a very stern woman and has expectations of me. She wants to see that I can hold a relationship otherwise I'll get forced into a marriage that I don't want to be in."

"Will I ever have to meet your mother, Li?" Sakura asked.

He looked at her longer with his lips pursed tight. He sighed while running his hands through his hair, "I won't lie to you. You may. But I will pay you more for personal family functions. If it's business, it will be less."

"So we are already talking about prices?" she asked. Li, nodded and phoned someone on the other line. All she heard him say was that he was ready for him. A few minutes later, a blue haired man showed up with a suitcase. He, too, was in a nice tailored all black suit. He had a gentle face and a warm smile on his face. He sat down in between her and Li in the round table. The candlelight flickered softly in his glasses. He sat down and opened his suitcase.

"Nice to meet you, I am Eriol Hiiragazawa, the official Li Enterprise lawyer. Our family has been loyal lawyers to the Li empire for many generations. I will be writing up the documentation for this business deal. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting today, Li?"

Li stared over at the young lady by nodding in her direction.

"My name is Kinomoto, Sakura. Nice to meet you," she responded.

"Eriol here is my personal lawyer. We will sit here to draft up the prices and the terms of what you will be helping me with. We can talk about money; we can talk about boundaries. I just want to reiterate that this is purely business. I have no time to meddle in your affairs. All I ask is that you show up to these events to pretend to be my partner. We will not talk outside of these events; we will not meet outside to have dinner, nor will you show up at my workplace. Is that clear." It wasn't a question, this was a statement.

Sakura looked at Li and then over to Hiirragazawa and then back to Li. She nodded.

"I do want to let you know that I work in healthcare on the side. What should happen if I cannot make it to these events? I work every third weekend."

Li sighed, "Dates will be given to you three months in advance. Just let me know which one you cannot make. I must say that if they are personal, I would expect you to be there. If this is not something you can't commit to, you should let me know now."

"I will try to let you know as soon as possible, Li." She said as she heard the irritation in his voice, but how did she manage to get herself into this again?

"So, Kinomoto, the policy here is a disclosure for just you and Li," Eriol said through his smile, "No one will know of this arrangement besides the individuals here. This is a reminder that this will be platonic. For your service, you will get paid for each event. $500 dollars for business events, and this payout does not include clothing and transportation provided. Up to $1,000 for family events, those will be negotiated as this arrangement continues. Li will not arrive with you at either of these events to make sure that your privacy of where you live will be secure. Neither of you will be involved in each other's life."

"So, I am expected to be Li's fake partner. How am I supposed to make conversation if I don't even know what he does or what he likes?" Sakura asked.

"well-," Eriol said, but Li interjected.

"You will do your best. You seem to be a smart lady; you can make up conversations. Most of these events are superficial, no one wants to get to know you, they just want gossip. Try not to bring me up. Diverge the conversation. Whatever you say about me reflects me." He looked at Sakura sternly. Essentially, he was saying don't fuck up, Sakura thought.

Sakura sighed, "There has to be some introduction, Li. You really want your mother to believe that I'm your partner but act like a complete dote head who knows nothing about you and accidentally put me and you at the risk of screwing this up?." Sakura was nervous as she asked, but this was starting to sound ridiculous. Eriol tried to hide his grin.

"You should know my mother has set me up with worse than dote heads," Syaoran said. He wanted to slap the grin off of Eriol's face.

'"And you expect your mother to just believe that we are in a healthy relationship?"

"When the time comes to that, we can talk about it. These first few events, my mother won't be in attendance. People around here talk fast, just as long as she gets the news, it'll be fine for now," Li said.

"So why can't you just lie?"

"Until there is physical proof, my mother won't believe anyone."

Sakura looked hard at the gentleman in front of her again. This man was a multimillionaire who owns his own business and half the country's profit. Ok, maybe exaggerating but, how can this man be afraid of his own mother? With that scowling face that he harbors?

"You can wipe that look off your face, Kinomoto. You don't have to do this." He said grimmly.

"I-..." Sakura stammered, "I just want to know why a grown man like you...are afraid of his own mother. You probably make more than me by just existing here and you hold so much power that you could fire Hiirigazawa in a blink of a second. And suddenly you are on an app looking for a date?"

"I don't have to explain much to you, besides the fact that I need someone she doesn't know so she can stop prying into my life. Besides, weren't you also on the same said app?" he shouted out. Sakura felt hot for a moment there.

Suddenly they remembered that someone else existed when they heard him clear his throat.

"Before you both go at each other's throats. Kinomoto-san,I will send you the final copy after your first event." Eriol said. Sakura was wide eyed.

"Excuse me? First event?"

"You didn't tell her Li?" Eriol turned over to Syaoran.

"I was going to bring it up next," Li said, "this Saturday is my company's gala. I will not provide you anything this week. Wear something nice, it's formal. I will send you the address and meet you at the gala. If you feel out of place or that you can't do this, you don't have to sign the contract moving forward. Take it as a trial run for what you should expect."

Sakura's hands started to sweat again, "why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Eriol laughed at Sakura's response. Li was straight faced as always.

"You'll hear from me this weekend, Kinomoto. I'll take care of the bill, you're free to leave." He dismissed her as if she was his secretary of his office. Sakura got up from her chair and bowed before she left. Suddenly the blazer dress she wore felt too hot as she tried to race back to her car. What has she done? ( pin/577375614709079780/)

As Sakura left, Eriol turned over to Syaoran.

"Are you really recruiting this poor girl to go to your family functions?" he asked.

"I purely need someone who the Li Enterprise doesn't know. You know my mother is always on my case." Li sighed as he took a sip of his Manhattan drink.

"By "your case," you mean finding a wife? Syaoran, you're nearly 33 years old, you're lucky enough that Mei Lin even stayed long with you until she had to break off the engagement with you to marry Ryosuke. How are you going to drag Kinomoto into this? How did you even meet her?"

"Firstly, I gave Meilin permission. Secondly, I don't want to marry some snobby spoiled brat my mom will force me into. Mother already proposed that it would be Yina, the daughter of Zhang. Kinomoto is purely business and a distraction for my mother to give me time to do what I want." Li said.

"By what you want, you mean to marry your job?" Eriol chided.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that? Who pays you?" Li responded.

"Touche." Eriol said as he clinked his own water to Li's Manhattan, "But seriously Syao, what do you want?" Syaoran just let the question linger.


- Kinomoto apartment –

"Sakura, how did it go?" Sakura's roommate Rika asked.

"Well, it was interesting," Sakura said while trying not to trip over herself taking off her strappy black heels, "I have my first gala this Saturday and I need to find something to wear to impress this man and apparently his mother." Sakura quickly took off the painful heels and the moment her foot was on the plush carpet, she felt at ease.

"already? That's so quick. To be honest, I didn't even think that you would do it! Mika and I were just joking when we said you should join that app. This is definitely not the way to meet your husband."

Sakura went around their pink couch and plopped herself on it's soft cushions. "I also thought I was kidding too. What was the harm in looking at the app? I mean I am doing exactly what the app was advertising for, I am a temporary girlfriend. No strings attached right?." Sakura exclaimed. Sakura recalled their quick online interaction. He didn't even have a photo of his face, it was just a photo of him in a suit and tie with his face blurred out. Was this her smartest move? Probably not.

"what did you say?" Rika prodded as she sat down on their pink couch.

"I just said that I wanted something platonic. I mean, I didn't expect much." Sakura trailed off as she slumped into the couch. She turned over to look at Rika who was eyeing her intently. Sakura seemed a bit troubled by the whole event tonight.

"Well, you should at least be careful." Rika said to Sakura, "you know some of these people can be dangerous. I'm sorry we even brought this idea into your head, it was fun until…well now I supposed."

"At first, with other individuals…their interactions were weird. They were older men who needed an escort asking for more than just a date, yenno?. But with Li, he doesn't seem like the type to play games. He brought his lawyer out tonight for goodness sake. He almost seemed a little desperate to find someone to bring to his functions." Sakura replayed the interaction in her mind again, trying to look for cues to see if there was anything there that she could pinpoint.

"he casually brought his lawyer? And desperate? What rich man suddenly becomes desperate?" Rika was wide eyed at this point.

"I guess not casually. It was to write up our agreement. He probably has a lot to lose if I mess up, so this lawyer thing probably is to make sure I hold up against the bargain. So…I guess I can't screw up?"

"You should still be careful, Kura. I get it, this is a fun way for you to not have a commitment and still enjoy going out but...," Rika said reaffirming the situation.

"I will," Sakura interrupted, "…but for now…will you please help me find an outfit? It's a freaking gala."

Rika nodded and smiled, "ok just for this one time, but you seriously have to reconsider this if this week goes all wrong."

"Haiiiii." Sakura said, smiling at her very supportive friend.

A/N: Until next time.