Warnings: Spoilers for almost all of Card Captor Sakura. Shounen ai.
Another bike ride along a familiar road, another trip with his disorganised sister to get a present for their father. Touya was kind of edgy about leaving Yukito alone when he'd been so weak recently, but he really didn't have much choice. Plans were plans, after all.
"Sakura, did I make you wait long?" he asked, coming to a stop in front of the figure waiting at the gate. He paused, and looked at the girl in front of him. He looked again. He knew that aura, and it didn't belong to his sister. Neither did the faint flicker of another presence that he could just make out with his power, reminding him of those times when he looked at Yuki and saw a flash of white wings and long hair, pale silver like moonlight.
"Shall we go?" said the girl, in a small voice, avoiding eye contact.
Touya groaned silently. "Is something up with Sakura again?" he asked, seriously.
The girl hesitated. "Ah... well"
Touya sighed. "She went that way..." he observed, glancing over his shoulder and frowning in thought. "If I go after her, I'll probably get her into more trouble." He paused for a moment, then turned to the girl beside him, who was looking slightly miserable. "Would you like to go shopping... with me?"
The girl looked up at him. "Okay!" she said, with a bright smile.
As they shopped, Touya caught himself staring at his companion. It was rather like looking at a double-exposed photo - as soon as he got close enough, he could see the image of another girl on top of his sister's form, one with much longer hair and... He frowned. Holding a mirror?
She turned a rather endearing shade of red when she caught him looking at her.
"You have someone you like, don't you, onii-san?" she said, softly, as they walked.
Touya glanced at her, puzzled at both her tone and the term of address. "Yes," he said, shortly.
"You should tell him. Ne?" She smiled at him in a distinctly Sakura-ish manner, but he thought he could see her true feelings in her eyes. "Yue-san has been alone for too long," she added, so softly that Touya knew he wasn't supposed to hear it.
"I can't," he said, shrugging. "I don't know why, I just can't. I don't think it's time, yet."
"You needn't worry that he doesn't love you back," said the girl, blinking at him. "How could he not? He's your best friend, and you're... you're kind, and..." She stopped.
He gave her a searching look. "I'm sorry," he said, after a moment. He took her hand and squeezed it gently.
She blushed. "It's okay. I'm not..." She fell silent.
Human, Touya finished silently. But neither was Yuki.
He wondered, sometimes, if Yukito was like this nervous creature before him with the form of his sister. Was there a real Tsukishiro Yukito out there, somewhere? Was his Yuki just a clone?
In his heart, he doubted it. What he sensed from this girl was different to the feeling he got from his friend. No, Yukito was Yukito. And "Yue"... Well. He'd find out, wouldn't he?
Touya straightened his back in resolve. He was absolutely going to tell Yuki at the next opportunity, interruption by Akizuki or no interruption. Yukito deserved to know.
Besides, if he didn't... He could lose his best friend. Not even all of his reservations put together could stop him from doing his very best to prevent that from happening.
Loyalties were funny things. The feeling this girl had for his sister must even be close to the loyalty he felt towards Sakura. He knew that it bordered on, as Yuki so charmingly put it, "a sister complex", but that didn't stop him from wanting to protect her in any way he could.
He had always had the love for his family to be loyal to, but when he'd moved to Tomoeda he'd found other loves to be loyal to. For the longest time he'd sworn to be loyal to Kaho's memory, to never love again and wait for her return. Meeting Yuki had changed all that. Before even he knew it was happening, a charming little snow bunny had slipped inside his heart and taken up permanent residence.
Still, Sakura was growing up and growing away from him, becoming more and more capable of looking after herself. And now... Right now, it was Yukito that needed his protection.
"He's very young, you know. Much younger than you are," said the girl, unexpectedly.
He glanced at her, and then thought back to his perpetually cheerful best friend. "Because he only came into existence around the same time I met him?" he asked, already suspecting the answer would be yes.
She nodded. "He has the memories of someone older, but not the experience. He doesn't know how to read people accurately."
So that was why Yuki always seemed so oblivious; why his smile was so innocent. "Why are you telling me this?" he questioned, curious.
"Because it means you need to make the first move, or he'll just continue to hurt and never know why... Please, let him know, soon."
"Because if I don't, I could lose him forever?"
"Yes," she said, in a very small voice.
He thought about what she had said as he went to pay for their purchase. He was beginning to come closer to understanding his friend. His own emotions didn't seem so frightening, when compared to what someone like Yuki might be feeling.
A small display by the counter caught his eye. He stared at him, then glanced at the girl waiting for him to finish paying for the wallet.
Well. She was a cute kid. And he had to thank her in some way for all she'd done.
He grabbed two of them and told the clerk to giftwrap it. Then he returned to his companion, and asked her to afternoon tea in the store's cafe.
Predictably, she blushed.
After a while, he decided to put her at ease. "Don't worry. I won't tell Sakura."
She blinked at him, then nodded thankfully.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he pushed his gift towards her. She glanced at him quizzically. "I bought it when I was buying the wallet. It's my way of saying thank you for shopping with me, and also an early Christmas present."
"For me?"
"Mm." He nodded.
She opened the box carefully, to reveal the twin green ribbons surrounded by tissue paper. She looked back up at him, quizzically.
"Your real hair is long, right?"
She blushed, and hugged the ribbons closer towards her. "Thank you."
"No, I should be the one thanking you, for looking after Sakura." And, for helping him find some confidence. "Thank you."
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Comments appreciated.
The part about Yukito being very young is more a manga thing than an anime thing, but it seems much neater that way given Clow's thing for 'destiny'.