Chapter 22: Repercussions

"So did you like our surprise guests' performance?" The host asked the squealing crowd and received a hell yeah from it. He then looked at his key card to announce the next band, "Oh I bet you'll like this next one. Performing a cover of Hands Down, Wolf Drifters!"

A few feet from the stage a group of dog-tired teens huddled in a corner hiding from their astonishingly increasing groupies while unwinding in the pumped up atmosphere in the air, until they heard the electric violin intro.

"What the hell that's not Hands Down. Did the song list get mixed up?" Absorbing the stunned silence of the crowd, Ryu unintentionally exclaimed, drawing a few scattered stares close at hand.

Jun butt in as he also saw the shock from the audience and the panel of judges from the intro, "No, I don't think so. Except for the vocalist, the rest of the band literally winced when they heard the song introduced."

"Changing the song for the finals, 10 minutes before they perform could either make or break their chances in winning the contest." Ryu pondered on this out loud while rubbing his chin.

"It's literally just plain suicidal..." Yam throws into the mix as he pumps his fist with conviction.

Not minding the conversation going on around her, Sakura frets over the vocalist on stage. 'Why is he looking at me like that? Is he trying to say something?'

"Why the hell would they do that?" Jun ask as he look from one friend to another as he only receives uncertain shrugging from the boys, he shifted his attention to the only girl in the group. "You had two of them as your room mates, right? What do you think Kura?" Receiving only silence from her, Jun wave a hand over her face as Ryu and Yam just shrugged again in indifference.

Sakura who remained silent through the inquisition, still preoccupied with the vocalist on stage, she whispers, "It's a message for me…"

Its 4am, you call to spit some fire out
but did you think that I would listen to you now?
It's nothing new so get in line with all the rest
and I will wait till you realize you're out of breath

Mei Lin finally recovered from her stupor and desperately finds escape from her friend's comforting embrace. "I really need to talk to him." Ken struggles to keep her as far away from Touya as possible until his hot-headed friend cools his head off.

"Mei, wait!" In a desperate measure, Ken clasped Mei Lin's waist and pin her to his side. "Just think of it as if he annoyed you again from being too cheesy or clingy or something he normally does to piss you off your rocker."

"Yes, I can't stand his nauseatingly and excessive romantic side but I neither can stand knowing that he downright despises me at this point." Mei Lin by now hung limped on his side, finally giving up with her struggles and admitting defeat. "I need him to see that I didn't mean any of this. That all I want is for my brother and Sakura to be together. And that I do feel the same way…" Longingly, Mei Lin let out a heavy sigh, "But I guess it's too late."

Ken almost lost his clutch on her from the brunt of the confession. He only then, noticed the shivering shadows behind him. Without hesitation, Ken promptly twists his head around only to have a glimpse of the fleeting figure of his best friend backing away from them in utter vexation and disorientation.

Can you hear the crowd? They all go wild
For you and your denial
They're watching you break down(Break Down)
Hate me all you want, I'll be okay
I'm half the world away
I'm letting you go now (Go Now)

"Touya!"

"WHAT?"

"You know Mei would never hurt Sakura or you intentionally."

"But she still did!"

"She did it with good intentions but things got in a way that she can't control."

"Then she shouldn't have done it in the first place."

"Do you think she would do it if she knew this would happen?" Not aware his walking in circles, he found himself behind his other childhood friend and their current subject.

Mei Lin by now hung limped on Ken's side, finally giving up with her struggles and admitting defeat. "I need him to see that I didn't mean any of this. That all I want is for my brother and Sakura to be together. And that I do feel the same way…" Longingly, Mei Lin let out a heavy sigh, "But I guess it's too late."

Ken almost lost his clutch on her from the brunt of the confession. Touya shivers from utter vexation and disorientation, slowly backs away from the scene as he sees Ken twist his head on their direction. Yukito nodded some consolation at Ken as he again trailed behind Touya.

You've got sadness twisted up with jealousy
You show your fists to make them look like loyalty
And I have seen what holding on can take away
If it's the past you love then that's where you can stay

Parting the riotous crowd in frustration, Yukito almost yelled again for his best friend when the said friend stopped abruptly that Yukito almost collided with him, and whined. "Mutual feelings?"

"Now of all time, she confesses her feelings for me, when I'm totally still pissed off from what she did to my sister?" Touya almost punched the nearest person near him, when Yukito swiftly yanked him before making the hit and hauled him to a nearby tree. "Talk about great timing." Touya puffed in weariness.

Yukito squarely grabbed Touya's shoulders to gain his attention, pinning him to the almost maimed tree, "Mei's feelings for you and the past actions with Kura's are entirely different."

He then continuously pokes Touya on his right shoulder as he points out every justifications he has to say. "She has always these conflicting feelings for you…" (Poke) "That your continuous sappiness hinders her…" (Poke) "…from admitting it to you." (Poke) "Now, her action towards Kura's situation…" (Poke) "…is purely just to push them together…" (Poke) "…to realize their feelings for each other." (Poke) "Their methods are quite unconventional…" (Poke) "…but the purity of the intention is there." (Poke) "They just want them…" (Poke) "…to experience falling in love." Yukito finally released his hold on his best friend after delivering his standpoints.

"I still don't…"

"Coz you'll never let go of this colossal pride of yours." Yukito shakes his head in utter surrender. "You're as stubborn as it can be. Keep it up and you'll lose everything you held dear."

A sudden squeal caught their attention and broke the silence emanating from the two friends. They then watched the animated exchange of the source of the said squeal. "Kura's not a fragile doll that you can always protect. Have you even confronted Sakura on her feelings about this before blowing up on Mei?" At this, Touya blanched as he watched his best friend walk away from him.

Can you hear the crowd? They all go wild
For you and your denial
They're watching you break down (break down)
Hate me all you want, I'll be okay
I'm half the world away
I'm letting you go now (go now)
Go Now (go now)

Slipping away from her band mates to be alone and get some needed space Sakura then incidentally stumbled upon her faux brothers.

"Hey squirt, how are you?" Ikki gently pulled her into a surprisingly calming embrace. Sakura squealed in surprise but then succumbed into it unenthusiastically, once she knew who it was. Noticing her downcast disposition, Ikki tighten his grasp on her desperately trying to give comfort to his beloved cousin.

Ren gently ruffled her hair, "Been looking for you after your song. Where the heck did you disappear into?"

But then again silence ensues as Sakura soaks up the solace given by her two current confidants instead of answering their questions. "I'm sorry squirt; if I didn't pressure you into covering for me none of this bullshit would ever happen." Ikki rubs her back, intensifying his embrace though not too much to squeeze the daylights out of her.

"If only I didn't been too naïve about those two schemers, you'll never be in this situation. I apologize for not sheltering you enough from those two idiots, kiddo." With this, Sakura grabs Ren's arm to bring him closer for her to give a proper one arm hug and Ikki with her other.

"You guys didn't do anything wrong. It's just plain bad luck for me, I guess."

Desperation kills
But when it's on your sleeve you wear it well
Underneath it all you'll always have this war inside yourself

After Yukito have left him to God knows where, Touya decided to just brood over his best friend's deductions. Yukito has always been the voice of reason, but why for the life of him, have the difficulty to digest just what he said. Slumping beside the tree he was pinned into a few minutes ago, Touya closes his eyes in an attempt to calm his nerves and clear his chaotic mind. He was quite successful for a few minutes until he heard some familiar voices.

"Why am I not surprise with your involvement?" Yukito chastises the now somber duo that is Andy and Tomoyo. Both girls hung their heads low in shame, too caught up with their guilt to talk. "You girls can't stay quiet to avoid this, coz I won't let you guys go until I get some freaking answers." He taps his fingers on the tree bark behind the two, minutes passed and his patience running out.

Both girls jumped from surprise at the tone he used. "Now tell me, before I drag you both out of here and lock you up with Sakura's fans club after telling them what you did to her."

Andy gasped while Tomoyo winced at his threat. Yukito glared at them, giving them a few more minutes before hauling them to his promised threat. He was about to grabbed both of their wrists when Tomoyo took a heavy breath. "Fine, we did it to get those two together. We knew Syaoran's attraction to Sakura whom he'd mistaken to be Andy in the beginning and Sakura's developing feelings toward him while being his confidant as Ikki."

"We never thought that Syaoran would be able to find out about everything." Andy gulped as he received a severe look from his brother. "I mean, umm… we were going to tell them everything after this camp? After they get together?"

Yukito's eyes widened in realization, idiosyncratic accusation in his tone, "You guys never intend to tell them anything, let them live in ignorance, and just hope to get away with it!"

"Does your silence means yes?" Andy, Tomoyo and Yukito recoiled in alarm with the looming presence of Touya.

I'm letting you go now (go now)
Can you hear the crowd? They all go wild
For you and your denial
They're watching you break down (break down)

"Touya just let me handle them."

"What do you mean by handling them? You're barely getting anything out of them."

"And what, intimidating them until they turn white from fear will help you get some answers?"

"Whatever it takes to get it from them!"

Tomoyo and Andy looked at each other having a silent discussion on what they're going to do with the predicament they're in. They bid their time as they waited for the two bickering best friends to be too engrossed with their arguments to start their escape. But as they inched away from the two, they came upon a solid wall of bodies. They both groaned as they slowly turn around to see the hindrance from their sweet getaway.

"Mei!"

"Ken!"

Hate me all you want, I'll be okay
I'm half the world away
I'm letting you go now (go now)

Mei Lin who barely acknowledge their presence, went straight to Touya and hug him from behind for the second time in a just a span of an hour. "Touya, please."

Touya stiffened considerably and immediately stop arguing with his best friend. He takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and calmly peels off her clutch on him. "Mei, not now… umm… We'll talk later, okay?" Mei considers this and silently stays put behind him.

"Now, you two got some explaining to do." Andy and Tomoyo cower from the intensity of the three older boys: a disappointed brother, a temperamental cousin and a disheartened friend.

Go Now (go now)

Ken tried to stifle his laughter from the irony of the situation. "So you mean to say, you tried to set up Kura to that gaki while she's posing as Ikki, making the gaki question himself if he's gay?"

"And you spread a rumor that you dumped her as Ikki, your ex-boyfriend coz he was cheating on you coz you caught them? And that they were a gay couple?" Yukito scratched his nape in bafflement while Ken was in hysterics unable to contain his laughter at this point.

Touya, on the other hand, was beyond livid. "You all planned to hire a bunch of fanatics, got them trapped in a comfort room and videotaped it?!" Touya spun around to face Mei Lin, "Are you on this too?" Mei Lin just nodded in shame. "What the hell were you thinking? Conspiring with these two idiots?"

"Hey, we're not idiots!"

"And we totally have the support of his cousins too!"

"Will you guys stop making it worse by adding up more people to his death list..."

"Death list?"

"Yuki, I'm not in it, right?"

"I can't believe you'll do this to us!"

"Stop blaming Mei, it's our entire fault!"

"We just dragged her into this!"

"SHUT UP!"

Go Now (go now)

Sakura incidentally happen to witness everything and found out all their involvement. Screaming for them to shut up, she pleaded to be left alone and for them to stop blaming each other. After saying her piece, she abruptly left the scene, followed by Ikki and Ren who gave the group a stare down with their actions before resuming in shadowing Sakura and tend to whatever she needs.

"Oh, Shit?!"

"Double crap!"

"Now what?"

"Damn it!"

"F#$&!"

"She knows everything."

Go Now (go now)

- to be continued -

A/N: Two more chapters to go. Words that were bold and italicized are lyrics to the song, "For you and your denial" by Yellowcard

Oct 4, 2013 bangag_pa