Disclaimer: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is the intellectual property of CLAMP.

Author's Notes: This one's kind of Syaoran-centric.

School

Syaoran could not say that he was happy when, upon arriving in the latest world, not ten minutes had gone past before they were stopped by the authorities who had claimed that for a boy his age to be so blatantly not in school at that hour of the day, was a serious violation of the law and had then preceded to "escort" him there themselves. All he could do was look back at Sakura and know know that Kurogane and Fai would protect her until he could meet with them again.

School itself was not so bad. Syaoran was learning an incredible amount of information on their current world. In this world, for instance, it was not a requirement for girls to have schooling as their parents might choose to home school daughters or forego schooling altogether for a future life of domesticity. Boys, however, were closely monitored by the state and upon completion of their schooling were expected to contribute to their society in strictly regulated ways.

School was not so bad because Syaoran loved to learn, even if it was information he would likely never need again once leaving this world, but sitting in a chair for eight hours a day was preventing him from contributing to more important things. He could do nothing to help them search for the feather because if he did not go to school the authorities would go looking for him and if he did not get high marks from completed homework they would want to contact parents and inevitably dig into a life which simply did not exist. Syaoran went to school, came "home" to the small house Fai had rented and did his homework, ate supper, showered and went to bed. The entire process was repeated daily while the others busied themselves searching for the feather and reassuring him that he was doing his part in the only way possible. Their travels forced them to blend in to whatever world they came to visit so as not to arouse too much suspicion. Syaoran went to school, but he went with guilt.

"Everything alright kid?"

Syaoran looked up to find Kurogane studying him from his seat on the couch nearby.

"Yea, just trying to memorize my dates for the test tomorrow."

"Would you like us to help you study?" Fai offered and Syaoran turned to him, shaking his head.

"No, you guys concentrate on finding the feather. I should be able to get by."

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura's soft voice drew Syaoran's undivided attention to Fai's side instantly "should I go to school too?"

Syaoran smiled warmly at her concern. "That really isn't necessary, princess. Besides, the more people looking for the feather, the sooner we can leave." It was clear that Sakura was still worried but she let the issue drop and Syaoran crossed the room, disappearing into the bathroom for his evening shower.

The next day at school, Syaoran discovered that the test was the least of his problems. The following day was the school's annual Parent-Teacher Conferences and they were being reminded for the final time that they had no choice but to attend. Syaoran felt bad enough for just having to go to the school, he really did not want to have to impose on his traveling companions further by asking them to lie and participate on his behalf.

He considered trying to go it alone but after a light amount of research, he discovered that there were no children who were without a guardian. If a child had no parents they were awarded to a willing adult or to the state who assigned a willing adult on their behalf. Society was monitored very carefully so as to perform at maximum efficiency, with each person pulling their own weight. It had the side effect of very little crime but there was also very little actual freedom.

Syaoran walked through the door of their cottage with the heavy feeling of dread he got whenever he had to ask for something. It wasn't that he thought Fai or Kurogane would feel overly put-out about the situation, it was just that he knew they had better things to be doing and if not for him… Syaoran walked straight into Kurogane with his thoughts and gasped. He could not believe he had been paying so little attention to his surroundings.

Kurogane's heavy hands settled on his shoulders and Syaoran was completely mortified that of all people to run into he had run into the one person who had helped him to train not to do that.

"You've been loosing sleep." Kurogane observed impassively.

"Have you gotten any clues about the feather?" Syaoran asked, avoiding the question for the moment and Kurogane released him with slightly narrowed eyes indicating that he didn't like being evaded.

"Mokona sensed the feather today." Mokona said from its perch atop Kurogane's head, bouncing down to Kurogane's shoulder, then Syaoran's. "It was very close. Fai-Fai thinks it's downtown!" it said in a sing-song voice, waving back and forth on Syaoran's shoulder.

Syaoran breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Good work, Mokona." he added, patting the creature on its head.

"Oh, Syaoran, you're home." Fai noted by way of greeting, popping his head into the living room from the kitchen. "Kuro-pu and I are going out later with Mokona so it'll just be you and Sakura-chan in the house for a while, ok?"

"Uh…sure."

"Go to bed early tonight." Kurogane said, his quiet but gruff voice adding that it was for Syaoran's own good without him having to say it.

"Um…there's something I have to ask." Syaoran said, now was as good a time as any.

"Yea? Let's hear it."

"There's a parent-teacher conference tomorrow instead of school. I can't really get out of it without drawing attention to myself." He really didn't know how to say it, but Kurogane got the gist of it.

"The mage is better at those things."

Syaoran nodded. Kurogane was right of course, he didn't lie very well and Fai had something of a silver tongue. Syaoran really admired how easy Fai made it seem to believably fit in at any given situation. He supposed he might have hoped that Kurogane would somehow scare them into not asking too many questions. Syaoran smiled to himself at the thought.

He brought up the subject again at dinner and Fai enthusiastically agreed to go, he made it sound like an exciting field trip, but the next morning Syaoran found Fai bedridden, complaining of a terrible stomach ache from that world's terrible alcohol which Kurogane had spitefully allowed him to drink when they'd gone out the night before. He just couldn't make it without throwing up, he declared with a pitiful moan, complete with Sakura crooning over him with a damp cloth and some warm soup.

"Nobody forced it down your throat you stupid mage! You functioned just fine with the last hangover you just don't want to get your lazy butt out of bed!" Kurogane shouted from the foot of Fai's bed and Fai moaned as if the yelling had injured him painfully.

"Kuro-ta's so mean! He doesn't understand my stomach is more sensitive than his! Syaoran, you should have seen him last night when I told him we had to get home or we might not get up in the morning for you. He just wanted me drunk so he could take advantage of me!"

"That never happened!" Kurogane roared, defensively, red in the face from Fai's outlandish implications.

Fai covered his ears and cringed. "Owww…my head."

"Please, don't yell…" Sakura pleaded, and Kurogane huffed, grabbing Syaoran on his way out of the room.

"Come on."

Fai peeked out from under his bangs as they disappeared into the hallway and let a small smile appear, all signs of his pain gone.

Syaoran was right about Kurogane intimidating his teachers. From the moment they took their seats in front of his teacher's desk, the man seemed nervous. Kurogane, rather than introducing himself, waited for the teacher to speak and the man, who was middle aged and bispeckled found it hard to ask Kurogane what his name was so he pressed on with the core matters.

"It seems Syaoran's papers still have not arrived from his previous school…" He left the comment open for Kurogane to explain and this time Kurogane stepped up.

"I sent for them."

The teacher looked like he had been hoping for slightly more. "Well, I am curious as to why Syaoran has transferred here so late in the semester."

"We just moved here." Kurogane replied, making it sound as if he was quite put out for having to answer such an obvious question.

"Yes but,…why?" the teacher pressed, cautiously and Kurogane gave him a look that made him swallow but Syaoran wasn't able to catch it.

"I felt we needed a change." Kurogane answered in a tone that suggested it may be ever-so-slightly dangerous for anyone to inquire further. "Is Syaoran doing poorly in your classes?"

"No," and this time the teacher seemed glad for the change of subject "no quite the opposite. Your son is a very hard working individual and seems genuinely interested in wanting to learn. He's really a model student."

Kurogane nodded in agreement.

"Just out of curiosity," the teacher added, signaling to Kurogane that the meeting was drawing to a close "what field is it that Syaoran is interested in pursuing once he's completed his education?"

"History." Kurogane replied, keeping the answer as vague as possible.

"I want to be a history teacher." Syaoran spoke up and the teacher, his history teacher, appeared sincerely flattered.

Kurogane smiled to himself, letting a hand fall into Syaoran's hair and roughing it silently as they made their way out the large front double doors. Syaoran smiled too, his smile widening as he caught sight of Sakura at the end of the walk near the front gate, waving back at them and standing next to Fai with Mokona in her arms.

"I thought you were bedridden?" Kurogane commented dryly to the smiling blonde.

"Sakura-chan's soup works miracles!" Fai replied, placing a gentle hand atop Sakura's head in praise.

"Fai-san took us downtown and we found my feather." Sakura said excitedly.

"It was in a magic shop!" Mokona declared, finding the information amusingly ironic.

Syaoran's face fell slightly. "Oh…so it wasn't really necessary for you to come at all…" he turned to Kurogane apologetically. "I'm sorry for…"

Kurogane brought his fist down on Syaoran's head gently. "Forget it."

Syaoran smiled instead. "Well, thank you anyway." and that statement seemed to pacify Kurogane and he nodded briefly in acceptance.

"Aww, it's nice to see daddy finally bonding with his son, isn't it Mokona?" Fai asked, leaning over Sakura's shoulder to address the creature.

Mokona nodded enthusiastically. "And Fai-mommy bonded with us today too! Fai-mommy bought us ice cream!" it said to Syaoran and Fai grinned.

"That's right."

Sakura blushed slightly and Kurogane suddenly felt the dire need to change the subject.

"Are you going to take us to the next world or not, pork bun?" he demanded gruffly and Mokona stuck its nose in the air away from Kurogane.

"Mokona will go when Mokona is good and ready." it informed him, bouncing out of Sakura's grasp and onto Fai's head who giggled at Kurogane's furious expression and leaped away down the street laughing, Kurogane hot on his heels, shouting furiously at them both.

Post whatevers: Sorry for calling Mokona an "it". Most people agree Mokona is a she but at the time I wrote this I didn't want to bother. Mokona is Mokona. Gender isn't important. As always, if you liked, please review. Ja!

P.S. The Bleach movie is sad! Sad sad! And I loved it.