"Well, that was interesting," Kero staggered away, the winged lion collapsing weakly before shimmering into her human form. The slightly battered woman looked up through golden hair, "Why did we do this again?" Yue sat down beside her, his blue hair flowing gracefully as he made his wings disappear. "I wanted to see if the barrier still existed," he sighed as they looked up at the old clock tower, "and it appears it still does." "Way to go, Mr Obvious," Kero sighed. She sat up tiredly as she asked, "You think the artifact is in there?" "The barrier and the artifact go together," Yue reminded her, "it's in there." "So how do we get at it?" Kero asked. "It's mostly immune to our powers," she thought to herself out loud. "But the powers of others might work," Yue nodded thoughtfully. Kero smiled, glad their thoughts were running in the same direction, "So how do you want to maneuver her?" "Oh," Yue rose before offering Kero his hand to help pull her up, "I'm sure we can think of something." Meanwhile, Tomoyo Daidouji took off her coat, the black haired woman frowning as she tried to digest what she had just learned. 'Damn that Mei-lin,' she thought as she strode through her apartment, 'how DARE she...?!' Of course, what really annoyed Tomoyo was how Mei-lin nearly got the drop on her, taking out Sakura on a date like that. Thankfully Sakura wasn't interested in her the same way, but it still stunned Tomoyo that the other woman could be so aggressive. "I suppose I should have expected it," Tomoyo said to herself as she sat down with a sigh, "Sakura is so cute anyone would be tempted." She smiled as she thought of Sakura's many fine qualities, from her lovely hair to her shapely body... The ringing phone was a unwelcome interruption, and part of her was tempted to let the answering machine get it. But it could be a tip or a message from one of her confidential sources, and one of them likely wouldn't leave a message... "Tomoyo Daidouji speaking," she picked it up, making her voice sound brisk. "Hey Tomoyo," the quiet voice answered, as usual sounding like he was whispering through a paper bag. Tomoyo sat up in her seat, quickly reaching out to grab the notepad she kept by her phone. While her contact always disguised his or her voice, the information that this particular contact had provided her was almost always accurate. "Hey," she answered cautiously, "what do you have for me?" "His honor the mayor is pretty upset," the voice answered quietly, "I think he's taking your corruption story personally." "Then he should be keeping his hands cleaner," Tomoyo answered dryly. The fallout from her recent corruption story in city hall was still being felt on the council, and the mayor's approval ratings were terribly low. While so far nothing had stuck to him directly, most citizens felt he either was involved or should have known about it and stopped it. "Maybe," her source conceded as he continued, "but since he doesn't dare take a shot at you directly, he's been pulling strings to target someone associated with you." "Oh?" Tomoyo frowned. "The head of the museum owes him some favors," the voice said grimly, "the mayor is trying to get your friend Sakura fired." Tomoyo jerked up in surprise, "Son of a bitch!" "His honor's certainly that," her contact agreed. "I'll try to get more information to you, but I can't promise anything," and with that Tomoyo heard just the dial tone. With a grim expression Tomoyo put the phone down, her own thoughts racing. While she had expected the Mayor to bear a grudge against her, she hadn't expected him to do something like this. 'And I should have,' Tomoyo admitted silently, knowing how dirty the last fight for the mayor's office had been. With a few phone calls to other reliable sources Tomoyo quickly confirmed that yes, the head of the museum was a close personal friend of the mayor, and that a review of Sakura's position at the museum was coming up. A few more calls to people that Tomoyo knew on the museum's board let them know what the mayor was up to, and she hoped they'd act to help protect Sakura from a unjust review. 'There's only one person I haven't called,' Tomoyo put her hand on the phone, hesitating before making herself dial. "Sonomi Daidouji's office," the perfectly professional secretary answered crisply as she asked, "how may I help you?" "I'd like to speak with Sonomi," Tomoyo answered, noting that it seemed to be a new girl. 'Or at least I don't recognize the voice,' she thought. "May I ask who's calling?" the secretary asked, her tone of voice implying that unless you were the Prime Minister of Japan, you were not getting through. Fighting back a smile she answered, "This is her daughter, Tomoyo. Is Sonomi in?" "Oh," the tone of the secretary's voice changed completely, "I'll see if she's in." "I'd appreciate that," Tomoyo smiled faintly as she waited. "Here you go," the secretary paused a moment, "And I wanted to say I'm a big fan. I've been following your career, and your writing is brilliant." Tomoyo blushed, "Thank you." "Who are you," Sonomi sounded very amused as she came on, "and how did you charm my new, normally frightening secretary?" Tomoyo had to chuckle softly, "She likes good writing?" "I suppose I'll let that go," Sonomi said, a smile evident in her tone of voice. 'My goodness, I think we're actually getting along,' Tomoyo thought to herself wryly, wondering if her mother had changed or if she had possibly grown up a bit. "So," Sonomi said after a moment, "to what I owe the pleasure of this call?" Tomoyo felt her usual reluctance to call on her mother rise up, and firmly squashed it. "I have a problem," she admitted, "and I need your help." "Oh?" Sonomi actually sounded a bit surprised. "It's complicated," Tomoyo admitted as she sketched in the mayors reaction to her story and his possible move against Sakura. "That son of a...," Sonomi cursed softly, her fury visible even over the phone. "I know politics can be dirty, but this is too much," she said flatly. "Agreed," Tomoyo said to her mother quietly, "I've got his opponents on the museum board primed to fight this if needed, but I was wondering if you know of any ways to pull his teeth in a more... direct way?" Sonomi thought about it, "I never contributed to his campaign, so I can't threaten him with that, but I think I know who did." Tomoyo leaned forward in her chair, "And you think they'll...?" "The president of CLAMP University would be most upset by this," Sonomi reassured her, "trust me, once I talk to her he's in serious trouble." "Good," Tomoyo said as she relaxed again. Sonomi paused for a moment then added in a much quieter tone of voice, "Thank you for asking, Tomoyo." "Eh?" Tomoyo blinked. "You haven't asked for my help very often," Sonomi said to her daughter simply, "it feels nice to help you for a change." Tomoyo almost wanted to snap at her mother, but she understood it was more reflex than anything. "I'm glad you could help," she answered honestly. "Thank you." "You're welcome," Sonomi answered. She paused then added teasingly, "I don't suppose you could warn me, next time you find a scandal at the company?" Tomoyo felt herself smile, "Oh I'll think about it." Sonomi chuckled, "I'll believe that when I see it." She paused then added with some annoyance, "My overly efficient secretary just reminded me of a appointment, I have to go." "Then I'll let you go," Tomoyo paused before deciding to add, "but I'll call you later." "I'd like that," Sonomi agreed before they said their farewells. As Tomoyo set the phone down she sighed, sitting back in her chair. It felt good, fighting for Sakura like this, and hopefully the lady would never know Tomoyo had needed to do it. At least, Tomoyo hoped her innocent friend wouldn't find out, she didn't need to know about scum like the mayor. "I feel like celebrating," Tomoyo mused as she looked out at the evening sky, "maybe I'll call Sakura and see if she wants to share dinner?"
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