Sakura: Knight of the Clow

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Talking rats?" Kaho Mitsuki blinked, then the older woman broke out in laughter. Shaking her head she muttered, "Please tell me you're not going to do a story on it."

"Who'd believe me?" Tomoyo countered, shaking her own head. The young lady took her coffee and drank a bit before asking, "Have you heard anything from the Mayor's office about what's going to happen next?"

"Nothing yet, thought there is supposed to be a announcement today," Kaho said a bit smugly.

Both woman exchanged satisfied glances. The paper had been carefully following a trail of graft and corruption in city politcs, and had made several scoops on the subject. Improper awarding of contracts, kickbacks to friends and so on. But they hadn't been able to trace the corruption to the top, despite everyone being sure the Mayor was dirty. Finally, a contact in the Mayor's office tipped Tomoyo on the proof, and in a police raid they grabbed the evidence.

"My contact in the DA's department say that charges are finally going to be filed," Tomoyo said with a smile, "he may finally be going down."

"He might still pull a rabbit out of the hat," Kaho cautioned her. She checked the time and nodded briskly as she put the TV on, "News conference should be starting now."

Yamazaki stalked towards the podium, the dark haired young man quite handsome in his suit. He nodded to some of the reporters he knew, then faced the cameras. "There will be no questions, just a prepared statement."

There was a rumble of disappointment from the reporters. In the office Tomoyo shrugged, "Well, that wasn't unexpected."

"First of all, the accounts of corruption from my office are entirely false," Yamazaki said firmly, "and are in fact the product of a vendetta on the part of the Times."

"Say WHAT?" Kaho blurted.

"I am entirely innocent of these trumped up charges," Yamazaki continued, "and I am confident I will be found innocent. I merely put my faith in individuals who were less than honest, and I feel that is entirely understandable."

"He's trying to spin this till the end," Tomoyo shook her head ruefully.

"Reluctantly, I feel I must step down while these charges are dealt with," Yamazaki finished, "I will appoint my deputy to carry out my duties while the investigation continues." He adjusted his tie then sighed, "That's all."

"Mr Mayor! Mr Mayor!" reporters cried trying to get his attention, but he ignored them as he left the press gallery and was gone.

"Who do we have covering the conference?" Tomoyo asked, frowning to herself slightly.

Kaho looked at her thoughtfully, "I had Eriol, the new kid, go down since we expected it to just be a statement. Why?"

"I have a bad feeling about this, is all," Tomoyo admitted, "Can Rika do some digging and see where his money's gone? I think he might bolt."

Kaho picked up the phone without really thinking about it, calling Rika even as she asked Tomoyo, "You think he's that desperate?"

"He's managed to lie his way out of everything," Tomoyo shrugged, "but he can lie or maneuver his way out of this. So what else can he do?"

"Pay the piper?" Kaho asked wryly, then ordered Rika to dig into the Mayor's finances and recent activities.

"Do you really think Yamazaki would do that, though?" Tomoyo asked pointedly.

"Heh, true," Kaho admitted, nodding. "You get out of here and do some digging too," she ordered, "maybe something else will turn up."

"Yes, ma'am," Tomoyo agreed, hurrying out.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So he really bolted?" Sakura asked, surprised as she and Tomoyo shared a dinner at Tomoyo's apartment. She had been spending more and more time here since they started seriously dating, and she was seriously wondering about moving in.

Tomoyo nodded, chewing on her food and swallowing. "He apparently had a private plane charted and everything," she said, sounding disgusted. "Caught the police completely flat footed too," she growled.

Sakura chuckled softly, "So all your hard work went to waste?"

"Well, it's not THAT bad," Tomoyo smiled back wryly, "he's on the run, and there's no way he can come back to Japan. All that is due to the Times."

"And you," Sakura said with a proud smile. She got up, heading to the counter as she said, "Do you want seconds?"

"I'll wait until desert, thanks," Tomoyo shook her head as she asked teasingly, "Where do you put it all away?"

"Fast metabolism," Sakura smiled. She shrugged as she added, "And I think some of it goes into magic, too. I wish I had a expert to ask about it..."

"Healing too, I think," Tomoyo pointed out, "I noticed your scratches and bruises from the cat-woman were all gone."

"Thank goodness for the quick healing," Sakura winked, "the scratches you put on my back healed up nicely too."

Tomoyo went beet red. "I didn't...?"

Sakura just smiled. "Anyway, do you want to go out on patrol with me tonight?" she asked, "And is Yukito and Mei Lin coming along?"

'I can call Yukito pretty easily," Tomoyo said as she got up, stretching, "but Mei Lin's helping put together our story on Yamazaki for tomorrow's paper."

Sakura was quickly polishing off her seconds, but between chews she asked, "Don't you need to help with that too?"

"Not really," Tomoyo shook her head, "it's mostly a retrospective of our investigation, plus the new information that he fled the country."

"I almost feel sorry for him," Sakura admitted. Briskly she added, "Well, let's get ready."

Tomoyo brightened, "Yeah, I have a new costume for you to try out."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The night wind blew as Takashi Yamazaki made his way through the shadows, his black hair and dark clothes helping hide him. Despite news reports he had not fled the country to some tax haven, but he had deliberately planted evidence to convince his enemies otherwise.

As Yamazaki walked, he pondered his situation. He had never thought of himself as a bad man, he had merely followed in the example of people he respected. Was it his fault that most of his mentors in city government had been corrupt? Of course it wasn't! He had learned that graft was fine, that putting your friends in positions of power was a wise move and that you should pad your savings accounts for a rainy day.

'Then she came along,' Yamazaki thought darkly as he skirted the pools of light, making his way from the safehouse to his destination.

Tomoyo Daidouji SHOULD have been his natural ally. From a rich, successful family she was a daughter of privlage, she understood how you had to scratch another's back to get things done. When one of his people reported that Tomoyo was sniffing around, he had merely assumed she was looking for a bribe.

Instead, Tomoyo had ruined his public works scam! The hiring of friends to do fake 'jobs' in exchange for contributions, the bribery of city officials to look the other way... hell, she even forced the resignation of his cousin from his cushy job. Yamazaki just couldn't believe it. It was insane!

'Doesn't she understand how the world works?' Yamazaki thought, furious once again.

And even worse, Tomoyo just refused to stop digging! Yamazaki thought he had hidden other sweetheart deals with friends and supporters, but somehow she found them! Again and again she published damning stories, and it seemed she was unstoppable. In a last ditch bid to keep at least some of the information private Yamazaki had hidden the contracts in his home... and she had the police turn on him! Searching his home!

Yamazaki had never been so humiliated as standing there, watching the police cut open his safe. And Tomoyo was there to watch, that damn smug smile on her face. 'Evidence of a crime' HA! It was all harassment, he knew. She had turned everyone against him, in the end.

He stumbled over a section of curb, and Yamazaki cursed softly. Recovering his balance he looked up, then stopped as he realized he was nearly at his destination. The woods were oddly close to city center, yet the land here had never been developed. There was a reason for that, and tonight Yamazaki was going to find it.

The ground was rough and uneven as he made his way down the rough trails surrounding the old clock tower, but strangely nothing troubled Yamazaki. The woods were eerily quiet as he walked, only the occassional snapping of twigs heard in the night. The moonlight lit his way well enough, even thought it wasn't quite the full moon yet.

Finally after much effort he had reached the base of the old wooden tower. There was a eerie chill to the air, as if from fall, yet the plants all seemed unaffected. Shrugging off the sensation Yamazaki pulled at the old wooden boards covering the entrance, casually flinging them aside. He hesitated before the darkened opening, then made himself go forward.

It was nearly pitch dark as Yamazaki moved forward, but his eyes quickly adjusted to the dark. Wait, no, there was a light! Coming from up in the tower there was a golden glow, shining down. Hurriedly he looked around, eventually finding a old ladder going up into the tower.

'Where are the cobwebs?' Yamazaki wondered as he swiftly climbed. There should be bugs or insects around, yet there were no cobwebs or other signs. In fact the place was quite clean, with little dust or dirt.

The golden light seemed to pull at Yamazaki, making all his questions fade as he climbed. He no longer remembered where he'd heard about this mystery, in fact he was beginning to think whatever was here had simply planted it in his mind. Whatever was glowing there wanted out, and it had chosen him to bear it.

Some part of Yamazaki's mind was fighting now, whimpering as it fought but the body climbed up until it reached the room just below the bell. There a cloak and staff... floated above the floor, shining with a light he now found frightening. No matter how much he screamed and begged in his mind Yamazaki couldn't stop the body from walking forward.

First, the cloak flowed over Yamazaki's shoulders and instantly whatever was left of his mind went silent. His clothes bleached themselves white in a moment, while the cloak became a beautiful overcoat. The staff was picked up and hefted confidently, even as a new mind and spirit took residence within the body.

"Well," the man smiled as he mused, "it seems things are quite a mess, now. But Clow Reed will put it right."

To be continued...