(disclaimer): CCS is owned by CLAMP.
notes: this fanfiction begins some time after the series was finally mangled off air. All characters have aged 10 years, you do the math. This prologue is set in England, an amusing conversation between two guardians.
>>Prolonging Summer
"I am so bored!" The sudden outburst briefly disturbed the quiet peace of the library. Shelves lined with Chinese manuscripts rippled at the noise, as if they had been woken from a peaceful resting.
Spinel hardly looked up from his book, disregarding Nakuru's comment as she lay stretched out on the nearby sofa. She was gazing out the window, perhaps dreaming of boys or hoping something exciting would drop from the sky. Nothing did, and Nakuru continued to complain as she sprawled on the davenport. The weather was moody and gray, not unusual for England.
The past two months had been dead in the Hiiragizawa mansion. With the absence of Eriol, who had abruptly gone overseas, the household atmosphere turned lazy and still with boredom.
The creature, Spinel Sun, missed his dear master a great deal. He had not been informed of Eriol's quick disappearance and neither Nakuru. The only soul who might possibly know of his whereabouts would be Kaho, but none of them had seen her for years. That is, since Eriol and Kaho stopped dating.
Kaho Mizuki would occasionally stop by after the breakup, calming down Nakuru's whining with the explaination that the relationship was impossible to continue. Eriol on the other hand, insisted for months that Kaho only needed time, but she would eventually come back to him.
That ordeal ended right after Eriol's voice finally stopped cracking and deepened to a mature tone. Gods know how frustrated that made the boy.
Ten years had flown by since the clow cards and Sakura Kinomoto was officially the new mistress of such. For years, Eriol paced about the house, raging that England was too boring, toying with his own small magic, and missing Kaho. Eventually Eriol had shipped himself off to Oxford and they rarely saw him. He only returned home on the summers, but stayed holidays at the college.
This summer had been a strange exception. Spinel's distinct memory recalled that brisk London day, when he had been innocently floating by master's bedroom and noticed Eriol was packing clothes and not the other way around.
>>
flashback…
'Master?' Spinel had politely suspended about the doorway. 'Haven't you just returned home?'
'Ah yes, Spinel.' Eriol's eyes had lit up with a curious cheer that Spinel had not seen for years. 'I thought a vacation from this dreary place would be nice, for a change.'
Spinel raised what little eyebrow he had, 'Where would that be?'
'If I told you,' Eriol grinned 'It wouldn't be a vacation, now would it? I've already finished my fourth term at Oxford, so I though I'd fly overseas and visit a few friends.'
'Are you coming back?' Spinel asked in slight jest. He knew master would never intentionally abandon his guardians.
'In due time," He responded quietly, 'I suppose I will return for winter festivities and such. People are expectant that I show myself for Christmas and New Years.'
…flashback
>>
That was where the conversation ended. Spinel remembered being dismissed so packing could be finished, and then the next morning, Eriol was gone. Nakuru had been wild with concern when she had found out. Out of the two household members, Nakuru had obviously taken worst to the news. She ranted about the house, finding excuses to perform the oddest chores. For example, spending two days baking nothing but tarts and pies. Then again, she never had anything to do on her summers.
Spinel also disliked this particular season. Not only was the weather not summer appropriate, it was also filled the streets with children running around and causing commotion. Their immature antics drove the creature foolish, and he thought if the world were flat, he would surly scurry off the edge.
"Suppi? Are you listening to me?"
Nakuru's obnoxious voice broke his string of thoughts. A small blush crept up Spinel's cat-like face and his ears flattened. He refused to look up from his book, and retorted, "Your shriek could be heard in Bangladesh, Ruby Moon.."
Nakuru childishly threw a pillow backwards at Spinel. Missing its directed target, the pillow landed on the wood flooring. She turned over onto her stomach, moaning into the couch cushions. She raised her head over the cushion, her eyes pitiful. "Suppi—"
"Why don't you go bother your coffee-shop coworkers?" Spinel suggested, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
"I could..." She rolled onto her back and tugged at a tendril of hair, "Colin and Brian are just so yummy! But both of them are working and their boss frightens me!"
"Probably because you interrupt their business days by constantly cooing over the poor chaps."
He received a disgruntled 'harumph' from the couch direction.
"Oooh!" Nakuru flung her arms around, "I wish Eriol was here! At least he'd help out around the house..."
The creature looked up offended, "Its not my fault I have no opposable thumbs. Having such useless pads for paws makes page-turning a horrid task." Nakuru had no reply, but simply bounded off the sofa and ran toward the oak library doors. "Where are you going?" Spinel slowly asked. Nakuru briskly replied, "I'm going to the kitchen," a beat, "to make cookies."
Spinel licked his paw and turned the page. He had finished re-reading how Chinese theorist, Mao Zedong created communist ideas from Marxism and Leninism. He closed the 1976 textbook and nudged open another entitled; Buddhism. The cat creature sighed in content, wondering if he'd ever tire of Gandhi's travels. He highly doubted it.
Wind blew restlessly outside the glass windows, the London suburban life went about its dreary pattern as before.
>>