STUFFED ANIMAL
by Adrimarie
CHAPTER 1: Brotherly Brawl
Card Captor Sakura © CLAMP/Kodansha. The only thing I own here is this fanfic's plot and whatever original characters I may create here.
QUICK NOTE: I write all my author notes at the end of each chapter, so please, don't forget to read them once you reach the end of this page. :)
The next-door neighbor spotted Professor Fujitaka Kinomoto, Doctor of Archaeology, at the front porch area of his home, typing his words away on his laptop while soaking in the beautiful Sunday morning sun. These were the words of the upcoming university thesis that he had been working on for a year now as his final required assignment to submit for his second doctorate in the field of Anthropology. Though summer vacation just started, university still had the summer quarter and it was his turn to be a doctorate student full-time. No more teaching and lecturing undergraduate students for this quarter. That can wait until the fall.
Soun Tsukishiro, a retired former university professor in his own right and currently a restaurant owner and manager of the famous Mooncastle Diner, passed by the front and waved at the younger teacher. Fujitaka took notice and waved at him in return. "Mr. Tsukishiro, good morning!"
"And a good morning to you too, Fuji-kun," Soun Tsukishiro gave his signature grin. "This Sunday is just way too beautiful for anyone to stay cooped up inside. I see you decided to take advantage of the summer sun by working on your thesis, eh?"
Fujitaka closed his laptop and headed towards the fence. "Yeah. I'm almost finished with my thesis. I'm writing my analysis report on the nature of the Qin Emperor's tomb, most especially the theories behind the famous terracotta army sculptures. It's not just scholarly research paper that I'm turning in, I'm also including a slideshow presentation of the Qin Emperor's tomb photos from the China expedition trip I went to last year. It's going to be amazing."
Soun gave a nod. "Maybe before you do your presentation to the faculty, share your presentation with me first. I could give you a bit of pointers, but then again, you're so used to being a lecturer at the university that you may probably need any."
The two academically-minded men broke in to laughter until both found the time to stop. Soun then changed the subject with a soft cough. "So, any progress regarding your daughter?"
Fujitaka was silent at first, but then promptly answered. "I'm not sure, actually. Last night, the Sakamotos arranged to have their son, Takuya, to take my daughter out on a date." He then sighed in relief. "I really don't like much of our town's traditions, but I really have no choice but to save face for my family name."
"I know how it feels like, being a father to two daughters myself. Once our daughters turn fifteen, it was time for them to gain some experience with boys, ne?"
"Sakura just turned seventeen not too long ago and up to now she still have not chosen a suitable boy for her. Every single boy I tried to arrange with her always end up in failure. I would know that when my son starts hounding for them and… well… you already know…"
Soun patted the younger father on the shoulder. "Fuji-kun, Touya-kun is still playing the role of the big brother protector to Sakura-chan, you know, even if he's already engaged to marry the lovely Kaho Mitsuki. My grandson Yukito isn't that different from Touya-kun, except for the violent part. I was so overjoyed to learn that Yukito and the Akatsuki's eldest daughter Nakuru found each other and eventually fell in love. I didn't need to go through the hassle of finding a fellow townsfolk to set up their kids to go on dates with your own."
Fujitaka sighed. "Touya was not a problem when it comes to love. Kaho Mitsuki was a former student of mine and joined my independent study group at home one day and that was when she and Touya met. Then the rest was history."
"Not so easy for daughters, I guess."
"You're telling me. Sakura insisted she didn't want to marry and didn't want to go through Tomoeda's custom of having the parents arranging dates for their daughters if they haven't found one at age fifteen. As mentioned, Sakura is still seventeen and still not interested." He placed his hand on his forehead. "I just hope her date with the Sakamoto boy would turn out well and start hitting things off for the two of them."
"You're still young to worry about those things, Fuji-kun." Soun patted him on the shoulder once again. "I'm heading to the diner now. Gotta have to prepare and then open up. Good luck in your thesis."
"Thanks, Mr. Tsukishiro."
Just as the elderly neighbor was about to make his way, a group of teenage girls dashed their way through the street and then spotted both of them. He immediately recognized them as 17-year-olds Chiharu Mihara and Rika Sasaki with panicking expressions on their faces.
"Professor Kinomoto!" Chiharu called out the young professor's name. "Thank goodness you're home!"
Fujitaka simply grinned. "Well of course. It is Sunday, you know."
"Professor Kinomoto, no time to explain, you have to come to the town square really quick!" Rika quickly grabbed his hand, as Fujitaka hesitated at first.
"What's the rush, girls? What's happening?"
"It's your son, Touya-san," Chiharu cried in panic. "He's brawling with Takuya Sakamoto!"
"What the— that unruly…" Without any more questions asked, Fujitaka exited the fence and ran his way towards Tomoeda Town Square. The two girls and even Soun Tsukushiro followed him from behind.
#
The two men and the two teenage girls arrived at the town square after three minutes of running through the roads towards the main boulevard. When they got there, a huge crowd was already encircling the incident, with three other familiar figures standing at the front: Touya Kinomoto's fiancee, Kaho Mizuki, his best friend and Soun's grandson Yukito Tsukishiro, and his fiancee, Nakuru Akatsuki.
Touya and the younger Takuya Sakamoto had been exchanging fists at one another for the last three minutes. Rather than someone trying to break up the fight, the crowd only made things worse by provoking them to get in to this brawl. For the past six months, Touya had earned the reputation and title of "The Suitor Killer of Tomoeda," where he was known as the one to hunt down any particular young man who tried to do harm on his precious little sister Sakura, no thanks to all the arranged dates that his father had been involved with his fellow neighbors and townsfolk here and there. Last week, he just beaten up two boys that pretty much sent both of them to the hospital for the broken jaws and the broken ribs. The first boy he brawled with tried to spread nasty rumors about Sakura's purity simply because she flatly rejected him to go out on a date at night, while the other attempted to kiss her after a night out when Sakura clearly said no several times.
This case with Takuya Sakamoto may probably be similar to the rest of the boys he got in to fights with at the town square. Sure, last night, this young man had a chance to take Sakura out on a dinner date. Unfortunately for Sakura, it turned out to be some kind of a humiliation fest when the boy's buddies and even some girls made fun of her because the ungrateful jerk revealed her personal secret about her high beliefs of the town's legendary stuffed animals. Even if the town's traditions are still alive and well, most kids nowadays just don't dig the whole stuffed animal myth. They called her a baby, a foolish dreamer, and a hopeless geek. Sticks and stones may not break her bones, but words shouldn't hurt Sakura. Because of this major shocking turn of events in a supposedly quiet dinner between the two, that's what really stabbed her within. She came back home early with tears in her eyes and eventually told Touya the entire story.
"Touya! Get back here this instant and leave that poor boy alone!" Kaho shouted right at his fiancee. "Will you ever stop being like a hungry wolf? You're making another scene in front of the entire town here!"
Yukito also began shouting out: "Don't let him get away, Touya! He doesn't deserve to get away after what he did to your sister!"
"Stop encouraging him, Yukito, you're not helping!" Nakuru frowned, glaring at her fiancee. "My god, the mayor's gonna be pissed off again…"
"The only thing that would seriously stop Touya from getting in to fights like this is to get rid of that stupid tradition," Yukito sighed. "I feel really bad for Sakura. I don't understand why parents would go so far as to arranging their daughters to go on dates with random goons. This is probably the seventh time that Sakura is going through this entire mess."
Just as the brawling becomes a whole lot more intense, Fujitaka crawled himself through the crowd until he finally got to the front. Quickly he stepped in the middle and with his two strong arms, drew the two brawlers away from each other.
"Alright, enough with the brawling!" Fujitaka shouted and turned to the two. "What on earth is going on here?"
Touya, struggling to release himself from his father's grip, shouted right at the now heavily-bruised young man. "What the hell is wrong with a girl clinging in to a stuffed toy, huh? You got a problem with that?"
Takuya, wiping off the dripping blood from his lip, simply gave a smirk. "I can't believe that one of the town's most eligible girls still thinks like a child! My parents must be drunk or something to actually agree to hook us up! Sorry, but I don't date little girls who don't have the courtesy to let gentlemen like me be allowed to hold her hand or even give her a kiss—-"
"Yeah? And what the hell is wrong with taking a girl out on a date without holding hands or even kiss, huh? Scum like you don't deserve to even be with real girls like my sister! My sister would never lie to me, especially when she comes back home crying her eyes out, and you— you're like the rest of them! I've warned you before last night— hurt my sister and your ass is mine!"
Fujitaka continued to restrain his hotblooded son. "Touya, that's enough! Calm down! You're making a scene here! Do you want the mayor and the police to come here and then arrest you again for disturbing the peace?"
Kaho ran to the Kinomoto father and son and then faced her fiancee. "Touya, stop it, please. You're gonna get yourself in to trouble again if you don't calm down…"
Touya sighed deeply, dropping his head and finally getting his composure back. Quickly, the young man Takuya Sakamoto stood up, turned around, and ran off away from the scene. The scenario was already over and the rest of the crowd broke out and continue on with their own personal businesses.
#
Minutes later, they arrived back at the Kinomoto Residence. Fujitaka went ahead and provided First Aid for his son's wounds as he, his fiancee, and his two friends sat at the sofa, watching over him.
"This has got to stop, Touya," Fujitaka sighed, gently cleaning away his wounds with a ball of cotton. Touya gasped softly from the sting. "I don't want our family to hold the record of having the highest number of arrests of the same person simply because of this unnecessary brawling."
Touya gritted his teeth, holding his fist tightly. "Be a father for once, Dad. Be a father for Sakura. I know you're really busy trying to get your doctorate thesis done but Sakura's suffering from all these… traditions."
"How many times have we gone through this, Touya? I also want Sakura to find a good man on her own, but it's been two years since she became eligible for the traditional matchmaking and up to now she still hasn't found the right one yet…"
"I still think this whole matchmaking and arranged marriage thing is stupid, Dad," Touya rolled his eyes. "Although I admit that I really don't want to see Sakura having a boyfriend at this age, I'll have to accept that she really deserves to be happy when that time comes. I'll just deal with it."
Yukito patted his best friend on the shoulder. "Nothing's really gonna change if she finds someone special, you know. I mean look at you and me. We now have Nakuru and Kaho and we're still best friends, ne?"
"He's right, Touya," Kaho gave a nod. "And Sakura and I have been getting along so well for the last two years now. I can't wait for us to become real sisters, you know?"
"I know, I know," Touya said, then gave a sigh. "But still… it's different when you have a sister… I mean obviously, it's normal for me because eventually I'll be the new head of the family when Dad's time arrives, but… when that time comes, I'll be the only one left to take care of Sakura."
"And what happens when your time comes early, Son?" Fujitaka frowned as he began wrapping his son's wounds with bandages. "Who will take care of Sakura then? That's why it's important for her to find a special someone now. There's not very many of us Kinomotos left in Tomoeda, Touya, so that's why we need to be prepared. That's the only reason why we have this tradition and all of us must follow it."
"All of that, Touya, only because Sakura still clings on to a stuffed toy? All of a sudden she's so uncool now? That's just pathetic," Yukito frowned, shaking his head. "And on top of things, she had to get humiliated by it on their date night? That bastard deserved what he got earlier today."
"Yukito, please!" Nakuru said with a frown. "What's wrong with a teenager still clinging on to a stuffed animal, huh? I think it's normal…"
"And one more thing, Touya," Kaho said, "you can't always play the guardian and protector for Sakura any long now. I'm willing to be Sakura's protector too so we can also protect Sakura together, but beating the hell out of him isn't the answer."
Fujitaka finished patching up his song and then give a loud sigh, leaning himself against the cushion of the couch. "Why am I having such bad matchmaking skills… I really can't tell people's motives and personalities at all."
"That's because you're so used to facing a entire lecture class in university, Dad," Touya said. "You mostly interact with fellow professors and lecturers and students and all you talk about is archaeology and anthropology and not much social matters. If you want, I'll find the right guy for Sakura even if it pisses me off—"
"Don't even try, Touya," Fujitaka glared. "Knowing you, you're only going to give your sister a hard time."
Nakuru softly cleared her throat. "One thing I noticed about Sakura though. Of course, I'm not trying to be nosy or anything like that."
"What's that, Nakuru?" Yukito asked.
"Well, I have a theory that maybe the reason why Sakura isn't making herself progress on finding the right guy is because… well… I think there's something that's holding her back from doing so."
"Oh? What are you talking about, Nakuru?" Kaho asked curiously.
"Well, you did mention about Sakura clinging on to a stuffed animal, right?"
"Yeah? So?" Touya became curious as well.
"Well, do you guys remember the old Tomoeda legend about the special stuffed animal?"
Yukito blinked in surprise. "Now that you mentioned it… Nakuru, are you saying that Sakura's teddy bear may be what's holding her back?"
His fiancee gave him a nod. "There's no other explanation I could think of, you guys. Remember how the legend goes?"
"Yeah I do," Yukito nodded. "How does it go again?"
There was silence among them for a bit. Then moments later, both Yukito and Nakuru spoke the same words simultaneously:
"When two lovers filled with love for each other
Were to part in such a sorrowful way
These two lovers exchange these STUFFED ANIMALS of Tomoeda
Signifies that someday, somewhere, and somehow, they shall be together
For always, forever, for eternity, for life."
Kaho gasped and placed her hand on her mouth. "Oh my… now I remember. That was mentioned in the Book of Keroberos, right?"
"That's right," Nakuru grinned. "What do you think, Touya?"
Fujitaka shrugged his shoulders. "Well, her teddy bear 'Chiirou' was given to her by a childhood friend when he moved away some ten or so years ago, but I thought that was just a part of their home economics project in school. She also gave that childhood friend her teddy bear as well. Ever since then I've always seen her bringing her Chiirou bear along with her even up to now in high school."
Touya gave a soft chuckle. "Wait wait… so you're saying that the only reason why Sakura isn't making an effort to find herself a new man is because of some raggedy stuffed animal she's been carrying around? What the hell is wrong with that girl…" He shook his head and slowly crossed his arms.
"Touya," Kaho interrupted. "I think what Nakuru is saying isn't just about the teddy bear itself. What she's trying to say is that she's saving herself, her mind, heart, body, and soul, to the one who gave her the Chiirou bear." She turned to the professor. "Professor Kinomoto, we're assuming that the one who gave Sakura that teddy bear was a boy, isn't it?"
"That's nonsense," Touya rolled his eyes. "What on earth kind of boy would wanna like her that way at age ten, huh? That's just dumb."
"Obviously there's a lot of things you still don't know about your sister, Touya," Kaho rolled her eyes in return. "Now I know where Nakuru is trying to point at."
Nakuru nodded. "I really think Sakura has high hopes and has high beliefs that the one who gave her that Chiirou bear will come back here to Tomoeda so they can be together. That's why she hasn't been giving the effort of finding herself a new man all this time."
Fujitaka sighed, lowering his head. "Oh Nadeshiko… being a father of a son and daughter at the same time is no easy feat. I'm on a roll with me thesis and all these sorts of problems just have to get in the way. What am I gonna do with her now…?"
Touya shook his head. "That doesn't do any good. Sure, it's a legend and not very many around Tomoeda is lucky enough to experience exchanging stuffed animals when one of them has to move away. Who on earth kind of a kid would easily fall in love with another kid at such a damn young age anyway?"
Yukito coughed softly. "Um, Touya, you just happen to be a good example. Didn't you start having a crush on Kaho when you were only in fourth grade before?"
"Shut up, Yukito, that's… that's different!" Touya began his denial. "Besides, I didn't move away. Kaho didn't move away, so we didn't have to do all that crazy stuffed animal business."
"You oughta take some time to read the Book of Keroberos one of these days, Touya," Kaho chuckled. "All of Tomoeda's ancients old folktales and legends are all written in that book. Each Tomoeda family has at least one copy. Sakura isn't exactly stupid, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Touya pouted.
"Hm, speaking of Sakura," Yukito changed the subject. "Where is she right now?"
"Oh!" Fujitaka exclaimed. "She's somewhere at the meadow forest, babysitting the neighbors' kids right now. She'll be back home soon."
#
Sakura sat down underneath the huge cherry tree, reading a book while cradling her Chiirou stuffed bear against her chest. From time to time she continued to watch two children, a boy and a girl, she was asked to babysit playing tag with each other while looking at all the flowers they can see on the way on the grassy fields. After the rather shocking event she had to go through with that pompous jerk Takuya Sakamoto, she needed to be alone for today. She did not want to see any trace of Takuya Sakamoto around town or anyone else who would be harassing her because of her devotion to the one who gave her the Chiirou stuffed animal. Taking over her bookworm friend Naoko Yanagisawa's babysitting job to keep an eye on the children while she was away on a creative writing camp trip was the best way for her to get over the incident and then walk back home with her head up.
While she kept an eye on the two children, now swinging round and round with both their hands held together, she began to give a chuckle. She pushed her tousled chin-length mocha hair behind her ear just when the breeze was beginning to get a little chilly. With Chiirou bear sitting against her chest, she began reminiscing the old days.
The very spot that the two children were playing now happened to be the same spot where she first met Syaoran Li, the first boy, and most likely the only boy, who captured her heart. She was heading out on a hiking trip to the forest with her father and her brother at age six when she first spotted Syaoran and his father intensively training in martial arts. She already knew Syaoran as the boy living next door to her house and even back at elementary school but never really spoke to each other. With his fluid movements and his precise strikes, Sakura fell under his spell without being aware of things. Though Syaoran was always alone and never made that many friends with the exception of another boy named Takashi Yamazaki since he came in to the picture, Sakura became the first female friend he ever made.
It was Sakura's curiosity of his martial arts training that made Syaoran open his heart to her. Since then she would often come to that very same spot, not because she wanted to watch him and his father go through their usual martial arts routines, but simply because she just wanted to see the chocolate-haired, amber-eyed boy. During nighttime, the two would often talk to each other through their side windows and at times, Syaoran would use the sturdy branches of the cherry blossom tree standing in between their homes to climb over from his window to Sakura's window, just so they can spend some time together in secret and vice versa. He vowed to be a champion in martial arts when he grew up and Sakura gave her promise to support him all the way. It wasn't that long that both discovered that they were simply meant to be inseparable and before they knew it, they established a brand new level of their relationship.
Syaoran was everything to Sakura, always first at everything. He was her first partner in their couple bonfire dancing during sports days, her first boy partner in school projects, the first boy who ever held her hand, touched her hair and her cheek. Not to mention that he was the first boy to stand up against her against other unruly, immature boys and most of all, he was the one whom she shared her first kiss.
Oh how much she treasured that one special kiss, so much that she can't afford to give her lips to any boy unless his name happened to be Syaoran Li. Her heart still beat for Syaoran even if he and his family no longer live in Tomoeda. A sad mystery simply came to her when all of her letters to him suddenly returned back to her by the post office, saying that there was no such person or no such address. She vowed to hire a private detective should she ever have enough money just to search for him. Even Takashi Yamazaki, now her next-door neighbor since Syaoran's family moved out, even had bad luck in reaching out to his best friend.
While contemplating her past memories with her beloved Syaoran, the two children approached her with a homemade flower wreath on the boy's hand. The flower wreath was that of white, red, and yellow peonies, which also gave Sakura another memory of Syaoran. Peonies just happened to be Syaoran's favorite flower.
"For you, Sakura-san," the boy said, placing the peony wreath over her head.
"Oh!" Sakura laughed and began helping the boy securely place the wreath around her head. "Thank you! You made this?"
The girl nodded. "Kyo-kun and me found so many flowers nearby and so we decided to make a wreath for you."
"Aw, you guys… thank you so much!" Sakura grinned and embraced both the children tightly.
The children then released from her as the boy spoke to her. "You look really lonely, Sakura-san, so we thought that maybe we would cheer you up."
"Aw, thanks so much. You didn't need too. I'm fine, really."
The girl blinked. "You know, the neighbors were saying that another boy hurt you again. Kyo-kun and I really like each other and are the best of friends. Why would boys want to hurt you, Sakura-san?"
"It's not that," Sakura said, patting the girl gently on her head. "It's just that… I already have someone now."
"Oh? Really? Who?" The boy asked.
"He… well.. He doesn't live here in Tomoeda."
"Oh." The two kids frowned sadly. The teenage girl simply chuckled at their reactions.
"Come on now, you two, no reason for you to be sad for me, ne? Don't give me that look. I want to see your smiles, come on."
The two children flashed a smile and the three of them burst in to laughter. At this point, their laughter was interrupted by a familiar angelic voice, calling out her name.
"Sakura!" She turned to see who was calling her and found a slender, long raven-haired, doll-faced young lady all of Tomoeda knew as the undisputed beauty queen. Seventeen-year-old Tomoyo Daidouji, the town's teenage angel, the queen of fashion, heiress to the Sonomi Daidouji Couture, a world-known fashion design owned by her mother, and all-around best friend to all, appeared before her in one of her stylishly custom-designed dresses. Even though Sakura knew that there was no way she can compete against her long-time best friend and partner-in-crime, Tomoyo always made sure her shoulders are always available for Sakura to cry on whenever she has her troubles.
At this point, Sakura found the angelic Tomoyo waving right at her. She turned to the children. "Look, kids! Tomoyo's here! Maybe she'll treat us out for ice cream again like yesterday."
"Yay!" The children quickly dashed to greet Tomoyo, as Sakura eventually caught up to them. Once she did, Tomoyo gasped in awe to see her best friend wearing a short-sleeved white lece dress that she especially designed for her last year.
"This is why you are my favorite model for all my designs, Sakura," Tomoyo chuckled. "Even on bare feet and sitting on the thick roots of the cherry blossom tree, you still look so breathtakingly beautiful!"
Sakura chuckled nervously. "Thanks a lot, Tomoyo."
"It's almost time for the meeting, Sakura," Tomoyo reminded her with a wink.
"Meeting?" Sakura slowly backed away. "Oh no, after what happened last night, I rather not…"
"No, silly, not about meeting some other random jerk now. We're talking about the Club Wolfpups!"
"Club Wolfpups?" Sakura gently scratched her head. "What is… Club Wolfpups?"
Tomoyo giggled and locked her arm around hers. "Don't you remember? The Club Wolfpups— the official fanclub of popular teen idol Li Xiaolang! Oh, and they'll be having a joint meeting with the Club Moonies!"
Sakura raised an eyebrow. Club Moonies? Who are they?"
The four began walking back in town, with Tomoyo chuckling. "Earth to Sakura! Where have you been all this time? Everyone in school know the tandem of Li Xiaolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa in a series of action movies for kids for some time now. The Li Xiaolang fans are called the Wolfpups and the Eriol Hiiragizawa fans are known as the Moonies."
"Whoa. Strange names," Sakura chuckled. "So, what are they got to do with us, Tomoyo?"
"Remember last week? I told you before, Sakura. We promised Chiharu and Rika that we'd go to the meeting, since Chiharu's the president of the Tomoeda Branch Wolfpups and Rika is the president of the Tomoeda Branch Moonies. This is really important, so we have to go."
Just as they were nearing town, Sakura halted herself, which forced Tomoyo to stop as well. "W-wait a second, Tomoyo. Important? But you know as much as I do that we don't even watch teen movies or even watch celebrity TV shows and… well, we don't even watch TV!"
"I know, I know, but you know, Chiharu said—"
"And… well… I'm gonna end up falling asleep over there since I'm not really in to—"
"This is the perfect opportunity for you to forget about last night's incident, Sakura. That's another reason why I want you to be there."
Sakura knew that whenever Tomoyo Daidouji was around, there was no way she could ever escape from her. She turned to the two children. "Do you guys want to go to the Wolfpups and Moonies meeting?"
The boy exclaimed happily. "Wait. Did I just hear Li Xiaolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa? They're like the coolest stars I've ever seen on TV and the movies! They're like blood brothers who can fight evil and save the world all the time! I wanna be like them, especially Li Xiaolang! He makes all of his martial moves like it's the real deal!"
"Um, I like Meiling Li," the girl said. "She's always Li Xiaolang's partner in most of the movies. My big sister is a huge fan and she said that the next movie they're gonna be having isn't gonna be adventure anymore. It's gonna be one of gross school romance movies. Aww…"
Sakura sighed and gave a slight grin. "Alright kids. Let's all go to the meeting then."
"Yay!" The four proceeded to town until they reached the town square area. So far, nothing out of the ordinary was occurring since the brawl earlier this morning. It was a good thing that news about her brother getting in to another fight with one of her suitors didn't reach her earlier today and attending some idol fanclub's meeting would definitely help her get her mind off of her humiliation.
Sakura then turned to her teddy bear, with its head sticking out from her shoulder bag. "Well, Chiirou, there's always the first time for everything. I'm going to attend my very first fanclub meeting for Li Xialolang and Eriol Hiiragizawa. I don't really know how they look like since I rarely watch TV or go to the movies but, well, guess we'll know how they look like soon."
"We'll be having our meeting at Mooncastle Diner. Mr. Tsukishiro closed early to reserve the entire space for the fanclubs. Still, his waiters and cashiers and cooks still have to work though."
Sakura sighed. "That means Oniichan will be there."
"I heard that your brother took the day off. Um… he wasn't feeling very well…" Tomoyo chuckled nervously.
"Oh? Not feeling well? What exactly do you mean?"
"Um… well, I just heard it from my mom. She and your dad met up at the library earlier today and… yeah."
"Poor Oniichan. I hope he feels better."
"Oh, after the meeting, I was wondering if you can come over my house tonight really quick."
Sakura gazzed right at her doll-faced friend's dark purple eyes. "Oh?"
"I've written a couple of new songs that we can perform in the upcoming festivals, but I want to run them with you first, since you're our keyboardist and all!"
"Wow, sounds great! I'm looking forward to that!"
"Aaaand—" Tomoyo squealed with excitement. "I also wrote a song just for you!"
"Really? You wrote a song for me, Tomoyo? I can't wait to hear it!"
The chirpy beauty grinned. "Now you have a chance to have your own solo song!"
Sakura's eyes widened. "Wait… solo?"
"Yup! It's a song that you will be singing solo one day!"
"Eeeehhh…" The chestnut-haired girl moaned. "You mean I'm singing that song?"
"But of course! I wrote a song for you to sing to the world!"
"But… But I can't sing that well—"
Tomoyo simply placed her arm around her. "No complaints, Sakura. You and I sound good together whenever we do our duets. It's your turn to have your own solo now!"
"But… Tomoyo…" And once again, when it came to Tomoyo, Sakura knew there was no escape.
A/N: And here we have our first chapter, so yay! Just a couple of things to point. Originally, I was going to mix and match the names of the characters from the original Japanese to the character names from "Cardcaptors" as stage names, however I decided to just omit all that and stick with the original names. I didn't want to confuse all the fans so I'm taking the "original" route.
Regarding honorifics, I'm going to use them sparingly because it'd only make things a whole lot more confusing than it is unless you're fluent/proficient in the Japanese language. I'm also not going to use any overused Japanese phrases and words such as "kawaii" in them because that's not going to make the fic become "authentically Japanese." I think the environment and atmosphere is what makes the story "authentically Japanese" and I'll be trying to focus more on that, rather than just throwing out random Japanese words that don't even make sense if you know what I mean.
Please do read and review. Don't forget to read my old CCS fanfics from 11-ish years ago under the ~daidoujitomoyo username. FFnet doesn't read links/URLs so it'll have to be just the username.
Thank you for all your support!
