Several things happened at once in Kinomoto Touya's life.
The first was that his father, Kinomoto Fujitaka, brought home a book. This was hardly an unusual occurrence, but this book had an aura around it unlike any other book Touya had ever seen before. Also, Fujitaka himself seemed to barely notice it, leaving it forgotten in the bottom of the box for Touya to shelve instead of doing it himself.
Touya stroked the red cover a moment, staring at the angry-looking animal on the front, and the lock on the book clicked itself open. Touya narrowed his eyes at the clasp suspiciously and re-fastened it before turning the book over to look at the back cover. There was a winged moon on the back, as well as a strange circle design, but it was the winged moon that caught his attention.
Touya drew the book closer to his face and ran his fingertip over that moon, breathing lightly. The moon on the cover glowed. Brightly. Blindingly brightly even. When Touya was able to blink the spots from his eyes and see clearly again, the moon was gone.
The second thing that happened was Kaho left. It was sudden, and painful, and Touya didn't want to talk about it with anybody, ever.
The third thing was the arrival of a new boy in his class. Tsukishiro Yukito was directed to the empty seat right in front of Touya, and he had the pleasure of being distracted from everything around him by the new boy's aura.
It was just like the feeling he'd gotten from the moon on the back cover of that book Otou-san had brought home the week before. That, combined with Tsukishiro's decision to engage Touya in friendly conversation and the dream he'd had upon waking that morning, had decided it for Touya: the moon had somehow left the back cover of the book, taking on human form, in order to get to know him better.
Damn magic.
Not that he'd change anything at this point. Tsukishiro somehow made the pain from Kaho's leaving just... go away. It didn't take long for the two of them to settle into a real friendship, and if Touya had the same dream every night of the full moon since meeting Yukito, then it was a small price to pay. It wasn't exactly a nightmare after all.
Things continued in this way, that is to say, normally, for about two years. Then Touya had that particular dream on a night that wasn't the full moon, and it was a bit different than it usually was. Still, nothing particularly out of the ordinary happened for a little while after that – barring Sakura's activities of course.
~oOo~
"What's going on?" Touya exclaimed as he entered the penguin enclosure with the fish, quickly running over to the struggling woman who worked with them for the penguin show.
"The penguin is caught in a whirlpool, but I'm stuck too and I can't get it!" she answered, and her own fear at what was going on was clear on her face as well.
Touya took a deep breath and jumped into the water, then blinked to get his eyes used to the small amount of chlorine. He almost doubted what they were telling him, or would have if he weren't used to seeing strange things. That was not normal behaviour for water.
"Don't be so naughty," he growled in his throat as he wrapped his hands around the spinning, swirling water that was holding the penguin captive. It was solid, not like normal water, and he could see the circle around the penguin growing larger and thinner as it pulled out.
The whirl holding his co-worker captive disappeared as well when the circle around the penguin broke.
Before the last wisp of odd water left, Touya grabbed hold of it, very firmly, before he surfaced and was able to breathe in some much need air again. "Behave yourself," he ordered the water in his fist quietly. "I'll take you somewhere you can play if you like, but you must behave yourself first. Naughty children do not get treats."
The water in his hand turned into a card. The Watery was written across the bottom and the picture in the middle was some young mer-boy. Very aquatic looking. He slipped the card into his pocket for now, and once he found a pen quickly wrote his name along the bottom so that if he dropped it his co-workers could give it back to him. Whatever magical thing he'd just caught – and he had his suspicions – he didn't want it causing any more trouble.
~oOo~
It was a Sunday. His mother's birthday. And Sakura was in her school uniform.
"Cheer leading practice," she said when he asked her about it. "Happy birthday, Okaa-san. I love you."
Touya couldn't really help but smile at that, but when he looked up, there she was. Floating, just a little bit see-through, and with those big wings just hovering over Sakura.
"Well, I'm going now!" Sakura announced, turning away from the picture and heading for the door.
She watched Sakura go, and Touya did too.
"I was just a little worried this time," Nadeshiko said, still watching after Sakura, though the girl had disappeared from sight now. "So I came by."
"Okaa-san," Touya breathed.
"But, it looks like she's alright now," she finished, giving him a smile.
"Happy birthday Okaa-san," Touya said.
Nadeshiko gave him another smile, and then she faded from his sight as well.
Touya sighed and returned to reading his newspaper. "What has the Kaijuu been up to?" he wondered to himself, though he could guess very well. He would always do his best to protect her from any danger, of course, but it was an easier thing to do if she'd just tell him what troubles she was having to deal with.
~oOo~
Damn foreboding dreams. Damn them all. He'd had the regular one about Tokyo Tower and a bunch of cards off it's usual date back in April, the night before the first time Sakura snuck out – in her pyjamas no less – and about a week before he'd gotten that Watery card while he was at work at the aquarium. That was a good job actually, even if the freezers were cold. He'd even gotten a bonus for saving that penguin and whats-her-name that was in the pool with the aquatic birds.
Now another one. Judging from the noises coming from Sakura's room, it sounded like she wasn't having good dreams either. Absently, Touya wondered if she was having a normal nightmare or a really truly dream of foretelling. For her sake, he actually hoped it was the former and not the latter, since nightmares went away when you woke up.
When break rolled around, Touya scowled to see the reason for his dream that morning. Some brat kid was getting rough with Sakura. Like hell he was going to let that pass. Yuki could tease him till the end of time, but as far as he was concerned it was fact: only he was allowed to mess with the kaijuu that was his little sister. His little sister, his. The possessive tense.
"Hey you!" he yelled, quickly climbing the fence between the two school yards. "What the hell are you doing to my imouto?" he demanded, jumping down again on the kiddie side of the fence.
"Onii-chan!" Sakura called, and Touya was very aware of how scared she looked.
The kid jumped away from her, which was at least a little smart of the gaki. That the brat proceeded to raise his fists was less smart.
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cried, running over.
Touya didn't have to worry about Sakura any further. The little Daidouji girl could be relied upon to do that much at least. Well, at the moment anyway.
"That's a stance I've never seen before," Touya allowed quietly, even as he brought up his own hands. Really, he'd be able to plant a hand on the brat's head and watch him swing his fists and they'd never land on him. "A form or Chinese martial arts?" he suggested, still quietly.
"Oi! They had them!" Now there was a familiar voice, and suddenly his best friend was over the fence as well, a brown paper bag in his hand. "They had nikuman! Here!"
"Yuki," Touya greeted, and was content to ignore the brat (for now) now that said gaki looked sufficiently baffled and discomforted by the intrusion of the ever-amiable and always friendly Yukito.
"They had some left at the cafeteria," Yukito explained, reaching into the bag. "They also had pizza-bread, and curry-bread. Would everyone like some? I've got five of them," he offered.
Touya smiled. He knew perfectly well that Yuki would be able to easily eat all five by himself. He was offering his nikuman in order to break the tension that was still hanging in the air, just a little.
The gaki still had his fists up after all, even if there was an amusingly stunned expression on his face.
"Let's see," Yukito said, then counted out as he handed out the nikuman. Touya accepted his and didn't even flinch when Yukito named the brat who had been picking on Sakura to have the fifth nikuman. "Perfect!"
Animosity just didn't survive in the same air as Yukito, or it didn't for long. Unless of course it was Yuki himself who was feeling it, and that was a very, very rare thing.
Touya smirked around his mouthful of nikuman to see the brat run in the face of Yuki's overwhelming affability. It was particularly amusing to him, since he was probably the only person who was aware that Yuki's pleasantness was actually a bit of an act.
Still, it meant that he wasn't going to have to beat up any kids right now, and Sakura had been reassured that her big brother could be relied upon to watch out for her, even if she never asked him to.
~oOo~
"She really thinks that no one is watching her?" Touya sighed as he saw Sakura pull out a staff from nowhere, caused it to grow wings and then took off above the school. "Honestly," he sighed, shaking his head in despair at her naiveté. Though, in all honesty, there were a lot of people who were more concerned with the flowers around them than the actions of a little girl to stop them.
Touya tapped his friend on the arm. "Come on Yuki," he said. "Let's save the girls holding the ribbon before they drown in flowers."
It looked like he wouldn't be playing all that much of a part in this magical hiccup of reality. Still, at least he now had a slightly better idea of who did know what Sakura got up to when she snuck away from the house at weird hours of the night during thunderstorms. Yes, he was aware. Yuki hadn't needed to say anything. Sakura wasn't exactly quiet about sneaking out of her window.
~oOo~
Touya blinked at the sight of the exam in front of him. He'd done this test already. Just yesterday. And there had been those bells the night before, ringing just as he and Yuki were bedding down after cramming. The day was a repeat. Well, he'd get in the improved score from knowing the answers already, even if it did feel a little like cheating, and then he'd go inspect the obvious source of the problem: the clock tower of the primary school.
That was where the oddly large amount of magic was radiating from after all, not just because the damn clock had gonged at completely the wrong time.
"Touya?" Yukito called when he got out of his seat.
"I'm just going to check something," he told his friend. "I'll see you in our usual spot, yeah? Save me a nakuman if you can."
Yuki smiled, nodded, and Touya headed for the fence between the upper and lower years.
Quietly, Touya scaled the inside of the clock tower. It was readily accessible and quite safe. After all, it was in a school and was used to teach the kids about both clockwork and the measurement of time. He'd missed coming here with the sixth grade class, since they'd moved to the area when he was in junior high, but he was sure that Sakura would come with her sixth grade class in a couple of years.
"Ah," Touya called, spotting the old man with the hour glass hiding among the cogs. "Grandfather Time, as much as I appreciated the chance to take my exam over and get a better score, I would appreciate it even more if you wouldn't fiddle around like that."
The old man looked up, and he was clearly surprised to see Touya standing there.
"You tried to get me to go backwards, didn't you Grandfather?" Touya said with a smile and a shake of his head. "Come along out of there," he called, extending a hand. "Things would become difficult to explain if you kept up that trick for too long, but I don't mind extra time to study in, if that will keep you busy enough and out of mischief Grandfather. But I want to enjoy lunch with my friend before the lunch bell sounds."
The old man laughed, turned his hourglass one last time, and – turned into a card. The design was the same as the Watery he'd got at the aquarium. He didn't work at the aquarium much any more. Just a shift once a week in their tea room. Still, it was often enough for the Watery to get to play with the fish – gently of course – and he had other part-time jobs.
Touya sighed and pulled a pen out of his pocket, writing his name on the bottom of this card as well.
"Okay," he said to himself. "Now, lunch with Yuki."
~oOo~
Damn play. How did he get roped into being Cinderella anyway? He really didn't understand those of his classmates who enjoyed being overly and overtly camp for theatre – especially the ones who were completely straight. All that was bad enough, why did he have to feel another odd presence at the pinnacle of the play.
He had no particular affection for Yoko, but he wasn't about to let her fall into the presence that had rotted through the set either.
"Grandfather Time," he called softly. "Watery, a little help would be very much appreciated."
Two very different chuckles sounded, and Touya watched as the world became a landscape in sepia, everything halting. The Watery then gathered up all the green mist that had been causing problems in the first place.
"You can let go of her, she won't fall," Time promised. "Only you, us, and the Mist are able to move now."
Touya took a deep, honestly relieved, breath. Hopping down from the half-crumbled balcony, he stepped up to the cage that Watery had made for the green stuff that Time had called the Mist.
"Now what are you doing causing problems like that?" he asked. "Mist is supposed to be something that makes scenes romantic. We made fake mist for the scene. Wouldn't you rather do that?"
The green mist coalesced within its Watery prison and looked up at Touya with big eyes beneath her odd blue tattoo on her forehead. Her hands were clasped together hopefully as she nodded.
Touya smiled. "Then we'll do that, okay?" he said, holding out a hand for her.
Her card slipped through the water and into Touya's hand. With a sigh, Touya looked up at the crumbled stairs.
"Hold off un-freezing things for a bit?" he asked Time, even as Watery returned to his card form. "I've got to get back up and grab her hand again first."
Time chuckled, but nodded.
Touya grabbed a pen on his way around, writing his name quickly on the new card before going up the stairs. Once he had his hand around Yoko's wrist again and was properly braced, he nodded at Time. Colour bled into everything once more, and at the sound of Yuki yelling his name desperately, Touya pulled Yoko back up onto the tilted set piece.
"I'm okay Yuki," Touya reassured his friend. "We'd better get down though," he added to Yoko, who nodded in slightly stunned agreement.
"Touya! Are you alright?" Yuki asked, checking him over, even running his hands over Touya's shoulders frantically.
"Yes Yuki," Touya answered with a smile. "I'm just fine. I promise."
"Thank goodness," Yuki sighed, relieved.
~oOo~
Summer vacation. Blessed summer vacation. A bit of time in the car, and then they had a country house at their disposal to take the load off for a few days. Just rented, but for a little while that made it theirs. No summer homework, and time to just relax and spend time with Yuki.
The first day Sakura came back with news of having spent the day at the next house with an old man though, Touya worried a little. Sakura wasn't worldly enough to know to worry about such things, but Touya was. That his father wasn't worried however made him curious.
Once everybody was bedded down, Touya excused himself to Yuki – who he was sharing his room with.
"You're not going to sleep yet?" Yukito asked.
Touya shook his head. "I want to take a walk first. Properly cool down a little bit," he answered.
Yuki accepted this, and Touya headed down the road to the next house.
He rang the doorbell and was confronted by a familiar face when it opened.
"Daidouji Sonomi-san," Touya greeted, surprised. "I apologise for calling so late."
"That's alright Touya-kun," she answered with a slightly sad smile. "Won't you come in?"
"Thank you." Touya followed her in and through to a lounge room where an old man was sitting with some ice tea. "I see now why Otou-san wasn't worried about Sakura making friends with an old man in the area. It is good to finally meet you, Great-Grandfather," Touya said, bowing to the elderly gentleman.
"It is good to meet you as well Touya-kun."
"Please don't tell Sakura," Sonomi asked quietly.
"Why?" Touya returned. "She'd be very happy to know that she's met her great-grandfather."
The old man smiled a little. "Indulge an old man," he asked quietly, hopefully.
Touya sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I agree," he allowed. "But I want my share of time with you as well," he added with a smile.
Both of the adults smiled.
"I'll fetch another ice tea," Sonomi offered.
It really was a very nice summer vacation. The only slight let down was that he still didn't tell Yuki how he felt about him, something he'd known since March. He'd had more than one really good opportunity to as well. Except that he had no idea if Yuki felt even remotely the same way, and if he didn't then it would just make the vacation awkward.
~oOo~
"By the way, did you know there was a festival going on?" Yukito asked Sakura.
She was mixing, Touya was chopping the cabbage, and Yuki had just offered to chop the leek so that he was helping rather than just sitting at the table watching.
"Yes," Sakura answered. "I was planning on inviting Tomoyo-chan and going later."
"Just you two?" Touya asked.
Sakura nodded.
"I'll go with you," he pronounced. Damn prophetic dreaming again. But, at least the dream had been a pleasant one. Still, he would not be gainsaid.
"Why?" Sakura asked, surprised.
"Because I want to," he answered, still not looking away from the cabbage he was chopping. He wasn't about to tell his little sister any other reason, even if they were all far more valid. He didn't want her to know about those parts of the world yet, and there was the glowing things from the dream to consider.
"Can I come too?" Yukito asked.
"Sure," Sakura answered, not that there had ever been any doubt. She was incapable of denying Yuki anything really. "Then I'll just go and call Tomoyo now and ask her."
As soon as she was out of the kitchen, Yuki pretended to cover laughter in coughing. Touya wasn't fooled for an instant.
"Festivals have lots of people, and it's dangerous late at night, so you're worried," Yuki observed, with that smile on his face that he always wore when he was teasing just a little, but in a way that said he was actually pleased by what he had noticed and was teasing about. "You're so kind, 'Onii-chan'," he added, that smile stretching into a properly amused grin as he bowed his head to try and hide it.
"Shut up," Touya countered softly, not interested and not able to come up with anything better that could be said before Sakura got back.
"Tomoyo said she could go," Sakura announced upon her return, barely a moment later.
"Then the four of us can go together," Yuki said with a smile. "Do you know where it is?"
"Yeah, it's Tsukimine shrine," Sakura answered.
Touya froze in his place, then quickly set down the knife he was using to chop with before he did himself an injury. Never hold a knife if you aren't able to give it the attention it deserves, and at the mention of that place, he could have carved a line down the back of his hand and not noticed. His dream hadn't indicated that. Damn.
Once there, at least the gaki's presence was able to distract him from all the memories, and he even got the rabbit for Sakura while he lost himself in the dumb competition, just throwing all his anger and frustration out with those dumb rings, not even aiming properly. If he'd actually been calm, and aiming, he would have gotten the rabbit faster, but it was kind of therapeutic.
Sakura was out the back of the shrine with Yuki, under that tree. After giving her the rabbit – in his usual brusque way of course – he sent her off to get snow-cones with her friends. He didn't particularly want to linger here, it was full of memories that were better left forgotten, but...
Eventually he persuaded her to go on ahead, and as Yukito was determined to buy a snow-cone for the gaki as thanks for the rabbit he'd been given, Yuki would watch over the kids.
The glowing lights that he'd seen in his dream the previous night came out of the tree and floated around him.
"It's very pretty," he complimented. "Thank you," he said, "for a good memory for this place. Can I take you home with me?" he asked, holding out a hand.
The card pulled itself together over his fingers. The little fairy girl smiling sweetly on the face of the Glow card.
Touya tucked the card into his yukata sleeve next to his wallet and returned to the festival.
~oOo~
"Touya, you'd better watch out too," Fujitaka said, no trace of a smile on his face. He was genuinely concerned by these reports of a strange girl beating up other skilled fighters in their local park. "You're a first-level black belt in karate."
"First belt is hardly worth challenging Otou-san," Touya answered, "but I promise to be careful anyway," he added with a smile.
After walking Yukito back to his place, Touya took the long way home through the park. He had a fairly good idea of what was going on.
"Oi," he called. "Come out. I'll be your last challenger. You've had your fun."
The girl who burst out of the water was blue and white, and yes, oddly-dressed just as the newspaper had said. She was also glowing slightly in the dark and the lamp light.
Touya bowed formally, and the girl bowed in return. Fists were then raised.
After several punches and kicks were dodged, blocked or turned back on the other, Touya smirked as both of them halted their fists a mere breath away from the other's nose. A draw.
"Thank you," Touya said, stepping back at the same moment she did and bowing.
She bowed, smiling, respect in her blue eyes before she closed them, drawing her fists into her sides as her smile vanished into solemnity and she shrank into her card form.
"Fight huh?" he said with a smile. "You're certainly very good at it."
~oOo~
Coming home to find Tomoyo but no Sakura was singularly odd, particularly her very fake little fainting act. Honestly! Touya could practically smell the odd magical happenings, and that Tomoyo was in the house and acting nervous made him nervous, since Tomoyo was usually with Sakura on her magical misadventures.
There, just as he was filling the teapot with more hot water, there was the tiny bouncing ball of glowing magic. And Sakura hiding behind a chair leg, all of two inches tall.
"Troublesome," he said, raising an eyebrow at the bouncing light. "Funny, but troublesome."
A tiny laugh sounded.
"Fix her please, and stop playing about," he said firmly.
That tiny laugh came again, and Touya had the pleasure of seeing Sakura bump her head on the bottom of the chair and the table before the card slipped into his hand. He wrote his name along the bottom and quickly slipped it into his pocket, pulling out another.
"Grandfather, can you turn time back please? I would like to avoid the awkward questions if possible," he asked the Time card.
A more wizened chuckle came from the card in his hand, and then he was back outside with Yuki, still on his way to the house. A quick check of his pockets showed that the Little was there. That was a good thing, but...
"That long huh?" he muttered to himself.
"Touya?" Yukito asked, having heard him.
Touya just shook his head. "Nothing," he said. He knew he could tell Yuki the truth, but it just wasn't the best time.
~oOo~
Touya sighed as he looked down at the imitation of his little sister. She was smiling up at him, but she wasn't Sakura. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, being confronted by this figure who honestly had the same aura as a ghost, but who had his little sister's face. It was like Sakura had died. Not nice.
"Alright," Toya said once he had the not-Sakura alone and was certain that they wouldn't be interrupted. "I know you're not Sakura," he informed the girl gently, looking her in the eye.
Her eyes went wide and a scared look appeared on her face.
Touya smiled gently. "No need to look so scared," he said, resting a hand on her head. "I'll take care of you anyway."
A huge smile spread over her face, and the not-Sakura's appearance changed.
Touya smiled. This was her right form. Long green hair, a blue... shape on her forehead, white kimono, and a mirror with tassels on either side held to her chest. Oh, and she kind of glowed.
"A mirror," Touya said. "You're a mirror."
She nodded, and when he lay his hand on top of her head again, she returned to her card form.
Toya held the card a moment, then fished out his pen and wrote his name across the bottom of the card. "I'll take care of you," he promised again. "And next time you want to come out to play, if I can, I'll buy you some hair ribbons."
The little face of the girl on the card smiled just a little wider at that, and Toya chuckled before gently tucking the card into his jacket pocket with the other cards he'd collected.
~oOo~
"They said she left school at the usual time," Fujitaka confirmed once he'd hung up the phone.
They were both worried. Sakura had written on the board that she didn't have practice and would be home early. It was now seven in the evening and there was no sign of her.
"I'll go look around," Touya said. "Otou-san, you stay home in case she calls."
"Aa," Fujitaka agreed. "Be careful!" he called after Touya as his son ran out the door and grabbed his bicycle.
"I'll be fine," Touya said to himself as he rode away from the house. "Sakura's the one who's in deep, again. She doesn't even have her stupid talking plush toy to help her out this time. He stayed in her room today and is still playing games."
He almost wished he didn't know where Sakura was though. The Tsukimine shrine. Her shrine... and if the dream he'd had a couple of days ago was right, then she was back.
As relieving as it was to see Sakura there, and just turning a big green twisting maze into a card with a rather elaborate spell too, it was not so good to see Kaho again. Her and her knowing-ness. She was still as beautiful as ever though, which made things a little harder, but he was in love with Yuki now, even if he hadn't told his friend that yet.
"Come on Kaijuu," he said quietly, laying a hand on Sakura's head. "Otou-san is probably still worrying, and I'll bet you're more than ready for dinner by this time."
"I'm not a kaijuu," Sakura objected.
Touya just sighed and smiled fondly. He needed the distraction of Sakura's objections to teasing, just so that he wasn't thinking about Kaho. He wasn't going to think about what she'd said that last time they'd seen each other – that they would both have fallen in love with someone else by the next time they'd met.
Damn. He was thinking about it. Her 'hunches' always were too accurate for his liking sometimes, but he'd learned since how to have even better 'hunches', which levelled the playing field a bit.
Touya breathed deeply. Yuki. He would think of Yuki. Yuki and Sakura. Yuki and Sakura and Otou-san. He would not think about Kaho any more.
~oOo~
Well, he wouldn't think about Kaho any more except to go to Tsukimine shrine one more time to save Sakura from the presence that was drawing on the power of the ancient cherry tree there.
"I didn't want her seeing my past with Kaho," he told the tree quietly once Sakura was out. "Please don't do that again. I'm sure it tired you out anyway."
"Return to the guise you were meant to be in, Clow Card!" Sakura proclaimed on the other side of the tree.
The card formed under the hammer of her wand, and flew gently over to Touya.
"Rest," he told it. "And no more trips into the past for my little sister."
"Eh? Where did it go?" Sakura wondered.
"To whoever got you out probably," the plush toy answered from where it was hovering in the air.
"But Kero-chan, who was that?" Sakura asked.
Kero shrugged, shaking his head and signing. "I don't know. It wasn't the kid. I'm worried about there being a third person capturing the cards. Especially since they haven't revealed themselves to us yet. That was the first thing the kid did after all."
Sakura nodded in agreement, also worried. "And Mizuki-sensei gave me back Maze when it went to her after I sealed it," she muttered, giving the tree one last look before turning away.
~oOo~
Touya woke up with a frown on his face. There were a couple of stops he'd be making on his way to school this morning it seemed, so he'd better get moving and get an early start.
"Oh, Touya?" Fujitaka said, surprised to see his son in the kitchen already. "You're up very early."
"A couple of things to do before school that I just remembered this morning," he answered easily. "I don't really have a lot of time, could you get Sakura to bring my bento?"
Fujitaka nodded, smiling now.
Touya sighed as he left the house. He'd so been looking forward to teasing the kaijuu this morning too. First stop was a fountain in an out-of-the-way square in the shopping district.
"You're quite tall," he observed the blue lady.
She smiled and nodded, standing from where she had been sitting.
"You'll come with me, no mischief?"
She bowed and glowed a little more brightly for a moment. Touya held out his hand and her card appeared there. No trouble at all.
The second stop was a bookshop, and his target was a book that the shop owner wouldn't remember putting on the shelf. Touya parted with one hundred yen for it all the same, and knocked his knuckles on the cover.
"I'm not going to write in you," he informed the book sternly. "I know perfectly well that doing so is just asking for trouble."
The pages rustled gently, seeming to sigh before the book turned into a card obediently.
Touya wrote his name at the bases of the cards and slipped them into his pocket with the others. Now, if he was quick, he'd be able to meet Yuki at their usual spot and ride to school together.
Well, he could certainly be quick.
With a smile, Touya took off down the street towards his school.
~oOo~
"Onii-chan," Sakura yelped in surprise. "You really do work everywhere, don't you?" she asked weakly.
"I guess," Touya allowed. He was working at the amusement park that day, and the uniform really wasn't that bad. Just as sensible as the uniform that he'd worn working in the tea-room at the aquarium, though the jacket he was wearing now wouldn't work in as many places as the vest that he had been wearing then.
He calmly ignored the way Yuki just politely shovelled all his food into his mouth, though of course he couldn't fail to see the way the gaki blushed first at Yukito and then at Sakura as well. Attention then was forcibly drawn from the blushes by the little fires dancing all over where there were supposed to be electric lights.
He managed to catch the look between the kaijuu and the gaki though. Apparently they worked together now. Well, it wouldn't matter this time.
"Grandfather," he called softly. "Don't let them run off."
"Hai, hai," the card agreed, sweeping out of Touya's pocket and around all the people.
"Watery, the small fires?"
"Hn," Watery agreed with a vicious grin.
"And bring the culprit here when you find them!"
Watery just laughed and pointed to the bit of bush just off the café patio.
"Right," Touya said with a sigh and headed over.
It was a young boy with long pointed ears, wings, and his head on fire behind his flowing fringe. Little to no sign of legs, though the smirk on his face that said 'like hell I am going to submit' more than made up for that.
"I can ask Grandfather Time to stop you in place as well," Touya suggested to it.
The boy just crossed his arms and pouted.
"I'll bet you don't get let out to play much," Touya observed. "Too destructive."
The boy nodded, still pouting.
Touya sighed and ran a hand through his hair before fisting it briefly and letting go.
"Well you can't keep this up," he told the boy. "Or else when Grandfather Time lets them move again, the kaijuu and the gaki will try and stop you and that would just get them hurt, not to mention all the others. I guess I'm for candles and fireplaces from here on instead of electric lights and space heaters."
The boy's face lit up. It wasn't what he was after – he was a fighter, not just someone who hovered around – but little fires were better than nothing at all.
Touya suppressed a chuckle at the expression of gleeful hope that the young boy was wearing.
"Yes, I mean it," he promised, holding out his hand to the boy.
The fires that were still there all put themselves out as the boy became a mass of orange and flowed towards Touya, all settling down at last into a little rectangle of card over Touya's palm.
Touya took out the pen he used to write down orders and quickly wrote his name across the bottom of the card before returning to his previous position.
Watery gave him a salute – all fires were confirmed out – before diving into the pocket he kept the other cards in, and Time gave him a nod before following the blue boy into the pocket as well.
"Hey Yuki," he called. "Come back to our house after I get off shift," he said, laying a hand over Sakura's shoulder, making sure that his invitation was clear. "I've got your birthday present and your Christmas present to give you."
"Oh?" Yuki asked, a big grin on his face. "They're separate?"
Touya snorted. "Of course," he said. "They're separate reasons to celebrate. I got you separate gifts last year as well remember?"
"So you did," Yukito agreed with a smile. "I'll come," he agreed happily.
Touya nodded. "Good. Enjoy your food," he said, excusing himself to continue working.
~oOo~
"You're out of season," Touya scolded when he found snow piled so high he wouldn't be able to ride his bike home again. "Best pack it up and pack it in before I let out Firey to clean you up. Snow in winter is nice, snow in spring not so much."
The snow built up the form of a woman, and she pouted at him.
"You can play as much as you like in your right season," Touya told her, "within reason," he added. "I'm sure there are things you would like to do more than just spread snow all over. Building snow men is fun, and maybe by next Christmas we'll be able to have snow-ball fights with our friends?"
She clapped and in a short burst of light turned into a card and floated into his hand.
The snow that was everywhere stayed, but it wasn't cold any more apart from what was coming from the snow itself, so it would probably be gone soon enough.
~oOo~
"Onii-chan, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, clearly surprised.
"I wrote it on the board," Touya answered. "No school today, so I'm working." He had been looking forward to it too, until that dream he had just before waking up. Since arriving at the strawberry farm he'd inspected every shed and room with a lock, as well as a bunch of them that didn't have any method of security, until he'd found the reason for his dream.
He wasn't particularly surprised when Sakura ignored him in favour of Yukito, but she was so happy that he wasn't offended either. Seeing her smile was a good thing.
"She's cheerful as usual today," Yukito commented as she ran off.
"That's all she has going for her," Touya answered fondly.
It really was a good thing he'd found that magical presence, or the afternoon plans would have needed to be altered. It had been hanging around the catch on the door for the materials room, and he was sure that Sakura would have been sad if she didn't get to learn to make strawberry desserts in the afternoon.
He'd be using the Lock card he'd coaxed away from that door to make sure none of the girls at school ever got into his locker again. Especially on Valentine's Day. If they couldn't leave their cards or chocolates, then he wouldn't have to deal with getting rid of them later. Chocolates accepted always meant having to do something come White Day.
Yes, having the Lock would make things a lot easier at school.
~oOo~
Sakura was sick. She was dizzy and she was feverish and she wasn't the sort to do the sensible thing and stay in bed when she was put there. And there was a presence in the air.
"You're not helping matters you know," he called up past the edge of his umbrella into the sky.
"Oh?" answered a little purple person sitting on top of a cloud.
"She'll notice, and then she'll over-exert herself and make herself worse," he explained. "I like cloudy days as much as sunny days, but now is a bad time. So, if you don't mind?" he asked, holding out his hand for the little person.
"Mn," the little fellow agreed and fell into a card shape and Touya's hand.
"Onii-chan?" Sakura asked, stirring a little where she was half-asleep on his shoulder.
"It's nothing for you to worry about Sakura," he assured her and kept walking. They were nearly home after all.
~oOo~
Sakura was cast as the prince. He couldn't believe it. Or rather, he didn't want to believe it. Unfortunately it was both true and frustratingly easy to believe, especially considering he'd been Cinderella to a girl's 'Prince Charming' at the senior school's last arts festival.
The dreaded 'kissing scene' came, and Touya was ready to storm the stage to prevent that kiss when a magical darkness washed through the theatre.
"Small mercies," he grumbled as he saw the gaki push Sakura back and start yelling before the darkness swallowed him as well. They gave him a name for the cards though, which was nice. Only Sakura was still visible, and Touya knew because he raised his hand to his face but couldn't see it, even though he could feel it.
"So Dark is all over, and Light is just in Sakura?" he asked quietly as Sakura started moving, searching for anybody who might still be able to help her.
The Light sprung from Sakura and raced over to him, the Dark falling into a single figure beside her.
"You figured us out!" the white-dressed Light said, though she didn't move her mouth, Touya still knew it was her.
"And so quickly!" the black-clad Dark added, and her mouth didn't move either. Both of them had gentle smiles on their faces as they held each other's hands while giving him their full attention.
Touya bowed his head in quiet acknowledgement. "Will you return to your card forms now?" he asked.
They both nodded. Black swirled around Dark and white around Light.
"We hope that you or your sister will be chosen to be our master," Light said as she disappeared.
"But the final decision rests with Yue," Dark added as she too vanished.
"Yue?" Touya asked. "That's Yuki's other name, isn't it?"
"Oh, you are smart!" the two cards answered happily as they drifted down into his hand. Touya hid them behind his camera just before the lights came up again and the stage was once more visible.
Sakura was still standing next to the bed where the gaki was sitting, and Touya was pleased to see that they both looked thoroughly confused. He bet they weren't the only ones, but for once they were able to blend in properly with everybody else who was wondering what had just happened.
~oOo~
Touya looked at those gathered together at the end of the archery tournament that Yuki had participated in. It had rankled more than a bit to be so near to where Yuki was competing, but unable to actually be there and cheer his best friend on.
Once he was out of the suit though, his shift over, it was quite something to see Sakura bind that great big thing of dirt with that magic tree of hers. It was interesting to see the plush toy turn into a winged, armoured, lion-like beast too.
~oOo~
Kero frowned. This wasn't right. There were still cards that they hadn't found. Two of the major four were still missing in particular, and a good lot of others as well. Ones that he'd only caught a hint of before they disappeared and ones that he hadn't even caught that much of. Why was Yue appearing now to give judgement? Had the mysterious third person collecting the cards gathered the rest? That was a lot of cards if they had.
"First to be judged will be the child with the smallest magic power and fewest cards, and the disproportionately big mouth," Yue stated, taking Syaoran away to the rooftop for the judgement.
The kid was returned very shortly, bereft of his cards and a good chunk of his ego.
"Now, Keroberos' chosen candidate," Yue summoned, turning his eyes to Sakura. "The candidate with the second smallest amount of magic."
She too was taken away and returned to them before very long.
"I failed," Sakura sobbed as she was returned to them. "I had a second chance even, and I still failed! I didn't want to let everybody down. I can't think of anything more terrible than to forget the person you care the most about! Yue-san has all the cards we caught now."
"I am reserving my judgement," Yue clarified as he descended. "There is another candidate, one with much more magic than either of these two."
"Another?" Kero asked, looking around for this third person.
Yue nodded. "Sakura is a passable possible mistress. Until I have judged the last candidate however, I will not name her Mistress of the Cards." Yue cut his eyes across to the tori gate. "Though Yukito would prefer for the last candidate to never know the truth about me."
Touya stepped out of the shadows and walked up to the angel that had been hiding inside his best friend all these years. "I knew from the day we met, I just never said anything, since there never seemed to be a good time," he said plainly. "He doesn't need to hide it from me."
"Big Brother!" Sakura yelped. "You've got Clow Cards too? You knew the whole time?"
Touya gave her a small, quick smile on his way past her, patting her on the head as well. "That's right Kaijuu," he said, then continued on towards Yue.
"You must defeat me," Yue said once they were behind his barrier and away from the anxiously awaiting audience. "Or face the consequences."
Touya shook his head. "How perfectly misleading," he said. "This test isn't about besting you in a fight Yue." Slowly, Toya walked towards the angel, side-stepping any crystals that were thrown at him. "I do not want or expect you to forget Clow Reed," he continued as he reached Yue and gently placed his hands on either side of the angel's face. "Just let me care for you as well. I couldn't bear it if Yuki disappeared, and his staying or going depends on you. You're aware of everything that happened in Yuki's life. I don't think you want to forget me either."
Yue grit his teeth, frowned and flinched back all at once, trying to deny what Touya was saying, trying to get away from his gentle touch that just followed him but didn't actually hold him in place.
"Let me take care of you," Touya whispered, slipping a hand around the back of Yue's head and only now pulling them together. "I'll keep you safe, I promise. You know I can, please let me. That's all I want to do, that's all I ask."
Yue choked on a sob and finally collapsed against Touya's chest, gripping the fabric of his soft navy jacket tightly in his fists and hiding his face in the warm fabric as he slid down to sit on the roof, pulling Touya with him as he went.
"Shh," Touya comforted, sitting properly and pulling the Guardian of the Moon into his lap. "It hurts, I know, but I'm sure he didn't want you to hurt. I know I don't want you to hurt. I'll take good care of you," he promised, stroking white hair gently and rubbing his other hand up and down between Yue's wings in an automatic, repetitive, and (most importantly) comforting motion.
Yue cried for a long time. He was loud at first, screaming and railing about Clow and betrayal, then just wailing wordlessly, then sobbing harshly, then more quietly. Eventually the tears began to subside into sniffles and at last Yue let Touya wipe his eyes and offer his handkerchief. Yue looked up at Touya once he'd cleaned his face. "You'll take care of all the cards?" he asked earnestly, desperately, the threat of more tears clear in the red rims around his eyes.
Touya nodded in answer. "All of them, both sides of you, and even that stuffed lion that's been hiding in Sakura's room," he assured the luminescent figure in his lap, pulling him a little closer to his chest as he did so.
Yue nodded as well, wiped the very last of the tears from his eyes, spread his wings wide even though he was still in Touya's lap, and relinquished all of the cards he had taken from Syaoran and Sakura. "The Clow Cards have a new Master," Yue intoned.
"Care-giver," Touya countered, squeezing Yue gently. "Big brother, friend, source of magic from which to draw their strength."
Yue nodded in acceptance of these terms. "That is what a good master is," he answered, and all the cards that he had taken from the kaijuu and the gaki appeared, circled him once, then slid into the pocket where Touya had been keeping the cards he already had.
"I'm sure they're worried by now," Touya said, looking down at where everybody was waiting. "And asking lots of questions they can't answer."
Yue nodded and pulled himself up out of Touya's lap. "Let's go tell them."
"Yue," Touya called gently before the pale figure took off to head down. "Yuki needs to know. It will hurt him, and you, to continue being so separate. I'm not suggesting you let him know everything all at once, that would be a problem too, but..."
The moon guardian nodded slowly. "I understand Touya," he said. "As you said, you want to take care of all of us."
Touya nodded, a smile on his face, glad that he had been understood.
~oOo~