Essence of Blood

He had met girls throughout his life but never had he met a woman as unique as her. Not only did she defy him in an erratic way but her blood held an essence that differed from everyone else. Her blood was special... her blood made her his.

.xx.

-Tomoyo-

So...

This is the story.

To be quite honest with you, it’s a very dark story—laced with sexual frustration that only pushed the two protagonists further off the edge. Actually, I would personally call them the antagonists but hey, they’re the main characters fighting for a cause...

Even if that cause was bad.

My name is Daidouji Tomoyo. Once upon a time I was a regular woman working a full-time job at a Magazine place. Those days have long passed since my distant cousin, Sakura, pulled the worst stunt in her life. Her recklessness (even though I love her dearly) put us both in the worst situation ever possible...

To be completely honest, I didn’t mind being in that situation with her mainly because it was her. Our family hated us, shunned us, kicked us out—we had to flee the city because our family was so big they were behind every corner, ready to pounce on us.

What happened?

Sakura fell in love with a gangster.

Not just a gangster—the gangster; the biggest name in the black market, the underworld society and in the gang business.

I don’t know the story in full, so I’ll just give you my version. It started years back, when Sakura had gotten a part time job as a barmaid when she just turned twenty years old. Her brother’s common-law partner, Yukito (yes, they were gay) owned the place and had given Sakura the job when Touya, Sakura’s older brother, had persisted that his younger sister needed some independence. Yukito had given Sakura a crash course in mixing drinks and maybe flair bartending, just in case, he said.

A good month or two after Sakura had started officially bartending at the Dark Night, some tipsy bar/club thing that Yukito owned, the place had a serious jam. There were security cars, big bouncers, a next-case DJ and literal lookouts that stood on the roof with rifle things. Sakura and the only other bartender, Michelle, were on duty while the number of waitresses and waiters double as well as the entertainment.

I had joined as family and since I had nothing to do that night...

And that was the worst mistake I could’ve ever made...

.xx.

July 13th, 2001- 6:45pm

“Move!!” Sakura shoved Michelle with a large casket thing. Michelle waved out of the way as she watched Sakura drop the large container and begin fishing through it. Raising an eyebrow, Michelle looked at me sitting at the barstool before back at my cousin, with obvious disdain.

“What’s wrong, Sakura?”

“Yukito said there’s this jam thing going on tonight, which is why both of us are here. We need to prepare enough glasses for a minimum of 200 guests.”

Michelle’s eyes blanched, “Say what?! The floor is only big enough for 127 guests!”

“Tell that to Yuki,” Sakura rolled her eyes as she threw a rag at me, “at least make yourself useful.”

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a cup and began wiping it down. Sakura was half a year older than me. She had turned 20 while I was merely a few months till my 20th birthday. In all honesty, I loved Sakura as I would a sister. We were always together with our three friends, Chiharu, Rika and Naoko. We all shopped together, chilled, schooled—you name it, we did it...

Well, anything that is considered straight and non-lesbian-ish.

“When’re the gates opening?” Michelle asked, bringing me out of my spaced-out glass wiping.

“Nine pm,” Sakura answered as she brought out a jar of olives. I sweat dropped.

“We have olives why?”

“Martini garnishing.” Michelle replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I twitched; I wish I could throw something at her air-blown head.

Stuck up twitch.

I guess Sakura sensed my displeasure because she shooed Michelle to the back area to check of the beer lines were running. I snickered under my breath as Sakura returned to unpacking some of their finer martini and cocktail glasses. In silence we both continued cleaning and fixing, even though I wasn’t getting paid for this.

Sigh.

“SAKURAAAA! MICHELLEEEE! TANYAAAA! TAKESHI!!!”

Yukito’s blaring voice shot through the bar as Sakura shot up straight, Michelle ran out of the back area, the head waitress Tanya dropped her washcloth and Takeshi, the usual club DJ, dropped his CDs. Meekly stepping out from behind the counter, I watching Sakura approach her brother’ s husband.

“What’s up Yuki?”

The 34-year old was standing rather dashingly in the middle of the barroom. He adorned a silk-white suit thing that looked rather spectacular I must say. Not something I would create really, but it was definitely something I could work off of...

Like make Sakura a really sexy white silk lingerie set...

Oh that gave me ideas. I wish that girl had an active sex-life... so much more fun with lingerie creation. Oh well, you can’t always get what you want in life right?

“The guests just called, they’re gonna be here in less than an hour.” Yukito looked as if he was hyperventilating. Sakura muttered something about Touya being able to calm him down and I nudged her. Glancing over at me subtly I mouthed ass-raped to her.

It was obvious it was taking Sakura all of her willpower to not crack out laughing.

“And what do you want us to do about that, Tsukishiro?” Tanya raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms. Sighing, Yukito fumbled with his bow-tie.

“Hurry up?”

“Way to state the obvious Yuki,” Michelle snorted, “now go back to paper-working and let us slave-workers slave away.”

Takeshi snorted, “Shut up Shelly.”

“Don’t fucking call me Shelly.”

“Aw shut up the both of you! Get to fucking work!!” Tanya roared as Sakura snickered. Laughing, I turned back to the counter and resumed wiping some martini glasses for my cousin-dearest.

“What’re you wearing for the jam?” I inquired as Sakura glanced at me.

“My uniform?”

That... was breaking one of my ten commandments. Sakura couldn’t just wear nothing to a jam. The girl had the body of a model mannequin—it would be an eternal sin if she wore a disgusting apron. She needed to flaunt her body.

“Funny, right?” I rolled my eyes, “Thank goodness you have me Sakura.”

She visibly paled. “What do you have in mind?”

I smirked, I love myself. “You’ll see...”

“Should I be scared?”

“More or less.”

“...shit.”

That made me laugh even harder.

.xx.

July 13th, 2001- 7:39pm

There would never have been a grander entrance. The doors just flew open. Like you know in those movies where the door opens and this Godly light enters in before the image of the guest? Yeah, it was one of those moments. Smoke screens went up and a breeze of air blasted through the bar.

Sakura had her arms crossed behind the counter. I was still sitting at the barstool, chewing on a straw watching the scene unfold. I had gotten Sakura changed into a nice dress that I had created a year back. It was a mid-knee length black body dress. It hugged her like a second skin that her bra wasn’t even required. It was large-necked and off the shoulder/sleeveless. Diamonds studded the collar and there were cuts in the dress exposing the most general of her skin.

To top it off I made her wear 7-inch stilettos. She was in pain.

But she looked sexy so it cancelled each other out.

I wore a jean-skirt and a black skin tight full-sleeved shirt. My hair was up in a ponytail and I had knee-length leather boots to top it off. Not as fancy as Sakura but she was the bartender and I was not.

She was privileged.

Or unfortunate according to her.

“What’s with the dramatic interlude?” Sakura nudged me. “It isn’t as if God is entering the damn place.”

I giggled, “Maybe this guy thinks he is God with all the money he’s blasting on this jam.”

“What’s the occasion anyways?”

I shrugged, “Beats me.”

Takeshi had the DJ counter ready for the guest’s personal DJ. No outsiders were allowed in except the workers of the bar. I had somehow managed to stay in but then again, they probably thought I was the third ‘tender. The smoke finally left and there were three guys walking through the door.

.xx.

Okay let’s pause. This story is about my cousin Sakura and the deadliest of the deadly gangster alive. The beginning was generic—general to the point where whatever I said wouldn’t really influence the take on the story. However, after this moment where the antagonist (or protagonist, depending on which view you took) enters the scene, any simple word can influence your take on the story.

This story is laced with three love stories... the story of my cousin Sakura and the gang leader. This is the story I am telling right now. It has its downs... and very few ups. It’s a love triangle to be honest and there’s a lot of blood and tears. Sakura and his story isn’t a very happy story but it does end satisfactorily.

Their story is the primary one.

Then there’s Eriol. He’s the best friend to Sakura’s gangster boyfriend. He has his own love story too. It isn’t as complicated as Sakura’s but it is out there... Thing is, he’s a married man but he does not want his wife. So he chooses to go out and fall in love...

With me.

And lastly there’s the story of Takashi and Chiharu. Their story is simple, sweet and fairy-tale like. They meet. They like. They marry.

Happy?

No.

Somebody dies.

Throughout this story I will be telling you all of their stories but under the base of Sakura’s story and Syaoran Li. It was because of their forbidden love that the three of these stories played out...

And it was because of them why everything in Japan is the way it is right now.

Some can say it’s good... some say it’s bad.

I honestly cannot say anything because I left my family for this... for Sakura and I can’t say I don’t regret it.

Because sometimes I do.

But everything happened for a reason and who’s to say that maybe that night Sakura wouldn’t have been the specific barmaid working?

What if Sakura never got hired?

Then this would’ve never happened...

.xx.

July 13th, 2001- 8:06pm

A cool breeze past me and I glanced over to find one of the three guys sit down beside me. He was cute—okay cut my tongue off, he was sexy. The man had the body that a man should have. It was like... Sakura’s variation of a woman’s body. It was perfect to the point where anything I made would look so amazing on him...

Damn.

I glanced over at Sakura and saw that she was entranced. Poor girl kept on sneaking glances at him.

I wanted to laugh.

“How ya’doing, babe?”

His voice was... different.

If it was Sakura she would’ve said something like luscious and I still don’t understand how a man can have a luscious tone of voice...

Sakura’s eyes widened before she lowered them again, “Fine...” She mumbled out.

How cute.

“How good are you with the drinks?”

“Um... pretty decent...”

“Yeah?”

Sakura nodded.

“Then mix me up a vodka and coke.”

Such a soft drink. Wow.

Sakura immediately got to work and in a matter of seconds she had his drink ready. Smirking, he took a sip...

“Beautiful.” He stood up, “Just like its maker.”

That made Sakura blush. Wow.

Extending his hand, he made the motion he wanted to shake Sakura’s hand...

“Li,” he introduced himself, “Li Syaoran.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. “Kin—kin... Kinomoto Sa—Sakura...”

I didn’t know why Sakura was stuttering but I realized after about a few seconds when I saw a tattoo poke out from under Li’s sleeve...

Li Syaoran... I stared with wide eyes...

The leader of the Bloodhounds was flirting with my cousin...

And that was when the story truly began.

.xx.

Let me tell you this right now: this story is alternating POV between Tomoyo and Sakura. There’s a reason to it but that won’t be revealed till much later on.