A/N: Hello! Here's the second chapter. But first...
animechick247: Thanks for reviewing! It made my day. (: And I feel the same way about KuroxOC stories.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Chronicles.
Enjoy!
e l l a ' s eyes fluttered open as she came back from unconsciousness. She found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Well, it was as unfamiliar as any other plain ceiling. She noticed that her hair was let loose, her hair tie around her wrist. Sitting up, she felt her iPod and earphones in her pocket. She placed them in her bag, which was still on her. She saw that she was in a small square room. She noticed the magician Fai and the creature Mokona trying to dry the boy's wet figure, which was still clutching the unconscious girl. In the corner was the man dressed in black. His head hung low and his headgear covered his face so Ella couldn't tell if he was awake or not.
Ella looked at them all, still finding it hard to believe that she was in a story. Was this really real? Well, there was only one way to find out: keep going and see what happened.
"You're awake!" a voice said from the creature. It jumped onto Ella's knee, surprising her. "Mokona dried you while you were asleep!"
Ella stared at it, shocked. But she recovered quickly, not wanting to be rude. She gave her - she figured it was a female - a small smile. "Uh, thanks." She hopped off her knee and resumed her task of drying the boy. She glanced up as the mage moved to her and sat down next to her. He gave her a dazzling smile.
"Hello. My name is Fai D. Fluorite but you can just call me Fai. What's your name?"
"Ella," the girl answered.
"That's a nice name," he replied.
"Thanks."
"SAKURA!" Syaoran suddenly screamed as he awoke. His panic disappeared when he saw that he was holding the said girl.
"I see you're awake," Fai said, moving back towards him. "We tried to dry her but you wouldn't let go."
"Thank you," the boy said.
"My name is Fai D. Fluorite, but you can call me Fai," the magician introduced.
"Syaoran," the boy said.
"And what about Mr. Black in the corner?"
The seemingly sleeping figure rose and angrily shouted, "It's not 'Mr. Black'! It's Kurogane!"
"Ah! What about Kuro-chan? Or Kuro-rin? Or Kuro-tan?" The angry warrior only continued to flail his arms at the creature bouncing in his lap. Then Fai pointed at the girl. "That's Ella-chan!" he said, pointing at Ella. The girl took note of the honorific. Wait, if she had been in Japan, hadn't they been speaking Japanese? But it all sounded like English to her. Maybe there was some kind of magical device translating for them. Yeah, that was probably it. Well, either way, it was a good thing she had taken Japanese as a second language instead of French.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by a scream. She looked up to see the mage was rummaging around his cloak in an awkward position. Kurogane sweat-dropped at the sight. Ella simply watched with a raised eyebrow. What the heck? When he pulled away from the poor boy, he held a large white feather with designs imprinted on it.
"Is this what a piece of memory looks for this child?" He held the feather out for them to see.
"That's one of the feathers that flew away. This is one of Sakura's memories!" Syaoran exclaimed.
The feather floated out of Fai's hand and flew towards Sakura's chest where it entered her.
"Her body's a little warmer," Syaoran whispered with relief.
"If you didn't have that feather, it would've been a problem," Fai said.
"One of the feathers stuck to my clothes by coincidence."
"There are no coincidences in this world, there is only hitsuzen," Fai quoted. "That's what the witch said, remember? My guess is you grabbed the feather unconsciously in order to save the girl. But how do we find more feathers? I doubt that we'll find more in our clothes."
The little white creature bounced and landed on top of Syaoran's head. "Mokona knows!" All their eyes landed on her as she waved her small hands to get everyone's attention. "That feather gave out really big waves so when one is nearby, Mokona will be like this.
The little white creature's eyes opened wide and her mouth made an O" shape. Ella and Kurogane screamed in shock, Syaoran seemed to have frozen, and Fai didn't have any reaction. He just sat there with the usual smile on his face.
"Well it looks like we have a way. If we get close to a feather, Mokona will let us know," Fai said.
"Whether or not you get to search for the feathers is up to you guys, but it has nothing to do with me," Kurogane said with a slight huff. "I came here to return to my world and that is my only purpose. I don't plan on joining or helping you because I'm not doing it."
Syaoran nodded. "Yes, this is my mission. I'll do my best not to cause you any trouble."
Fai laughed loudly and gave Syaoran a pat on the back. He noticed that Kurogane glared at him and Ella. "What will the two of you do? Will you help out that brat?"
Fai just smiled. "I suppose so. Unlike you, returning to my world isn't my priority. So as long as my life is not in harm, I'll be helping Syaoran-kun out. There isn't anything to do anyway."
Kurogane's eyes moved to Ella, who nodded. "Sure, why not? There's not really anything else for me to do."
The door suddenly opened, surprising the four. A man and a woman entered the room, both carrying things in their hands. Both of them took of their shoes and left it at the step before entering the room.
"Yo!" the man greeted. "You woke up. Don't be so alert, you came from Yuuko-san's place right?"
"Yuuko-san?" Syaoran asked. He was handed a blanket by the woman which he used to cover Sakura's sleeping body.
"The Witch-neesan, the Witch of Dimensions, the Far-East Witch… She's called by a lot of names," the man said with a smile. "I'm Arisugawa Sorata."
The woman bowed her head. "I'm Arashi," she said as she was handing out tea to everyone.
Sorata faced Kurogane and placed both hands on his shoulders. "If you flirt with my honey, I will kill you."
"WHY IS IT ONLY ME?" Kurogane complained with a scowl on his face.
"Rules, rules!" Sorata sang. "But I'm serious!"
"I WON'T FLIRT!"
Sorata took Mokona into his hand. "First of all, did that Witch-neesan give you this?
"Mokona Modoki!" she exclaimed.
"I heard the story from blond-niichan over there. For one thing niichan, you're a little lucky."
"In what way exactly?" Fai asked.
"Mokona has no idea which is the next world right? So, it's a happy chance that brought you to this world first." He took several steps towards the window and slid it open. "…because this is Hanshin Republic!"
Sorata held a hand puppet that looked just like him to explain things in a much more fun way. Behind him was a big white board with some charts and a map of their world attached to it to help him with his lesson. "You are in the Hanshin Republic, a very nice country. It is surrounded by seas in all sides, and some typhoons come and go sometimes but we have no earthquakes! We have a nice relationship with other countries and the economy is quite nice."
Puppet Sorata held a long pointer in his hands and approached a chart. "We have four seasons. Right now its autumn, so the rice tastes best during this season! Mostly we use flour or our food and our tiger sauce is also famous."
Puppet Sorata donned a graduation cap, while on the side Arashi now held a puppet similar to Sorata's but it looked just like her. "For laws we have the constitution of Hanshin: we never make wars with other countries!" Puppet Sorata continued. "For transportation, we have cars, bicycles, motorcycles…" as he named each mode of transportation, he moved closer to Puppet Arashi. "… Ships, trains, airplanes… and maybe a baby carriage too, Honey?"
Arashi remained silent.
"The country looks like that," he pointed at the country with the shape of a tiger using his pointer. "It looks like a tiger so many people call it the country of the tiger."
"The Republic has a lot of tiger stuff," he continued, showing them the flag of their country which had the silhouette of a tiger's head in the middle and their currency. "Our currency is called the koko (tiger), and our national flag also has a tiger mark. The baseball team also has a tiger mark!"
Fai raised his gloved hand. "May I ask a question?"
Puppet Sorata pointed his pointer at him. "Yes, Fai-kun?"
"Does everyone in your country have the same accent that you have?"
"You can call me Sora-chan," Sorata said. "The way I speak is an older version of our language."
"It was used in the old days?" Syaoran asked.
"Yeah, nowadays hardly anyone uses this language anymore, but I as a history teacher, want to keep traditions," he explained.
"You're a history teacher?"
"I take it you have an interest in history?"
Syaoran nodded. "In my world, I used to help in archaeological digs."
Ella covered her mouth to hide the yawn that came through her. She knew she should pay attention, but she felt tired and all she wanted to do was lie down and rest. She glanced over at Kurogane who was now dozing off in his corner.
"One more question," she heard Fai say. "Who owns this room?"
Sorata place both his hands on his wife's shoulders. "This is an empty traditional apartment room that my honey and I manage."
He noticed Kurogane sleeping in the corner and pointed his mighty finger at him. "Pay attention!" he said in a loud voice. An unknown force suddenly hit Kurogane at the back of his head causing the other travelers to be once again alert. Syaoran immediately used his own body to shield Sakura's.
"What was that?" Kurogane asked, scanning the room for any other life form. "I wasn't able to sense anything…" He turned his head to glare at Sorata. "Did you throw something?"
Fai was serious, he wasn't like his usual smiley self. "You're in a corner. If he had been the one who threw that, it would've hit you somewhere else. It had to come from above."
Sorata looked at them, dumbfounded. "What? I just used my kudan."
All four pairs of eyes looked Sorata as they repeated the word "kudan" with confused look on their faces.
"Oh yeah, you guys are from a different dimension so you don't know about it," Sorata said. He inserted a marker into Puppet Sorata's mouth and started writing something on the white board behind him.
"Everything in this world is "haunted" by a kudan. This is how you write it."
"Oh, I see…" Kurogane murmured.
"I can't read it," Fai said with a smile. "My country doesn't use those symbols."
Mokona bounced on Syaoran's knee. "Mokona can read it!"
"I can read it too," Syaoran said.
Mokona turned around to look at the two females. "Can you read it Ella?"
"More or less."
"So Kurogane, Ella, and Syaoran's worlds use kanji, but not Fai. But for some reason, the spoken language is the same," Sorata thought aloud.
"This kudan…" Kurogane said. "What is it? You said it "haunts?"
"Even if you are from another dimension, you will still have a kudan," Arashi spoke. She knelt down beside Sakura. "I don't know where the fragments of Sakura-san's memories went. It could be in anyone's hands right now. You don't know if a conflict will arise from this."
She looked over at Fai and Kurogane. "You guys lost your power to fight right?"
"How did you know?"
"She used to be a miko," Sorata explained. "She has the sixth sense. But she retired because she married me."
Fai scratched the back of his head. "I gave the witch of dimensions my power."
"And that witch took my sword!" Kurogane complained.
Arashi looked at Ella, waiting for her to tell her what she paid as a price. "I gave up a picture."
Arashi went back to Syaoran. "I didn't hand over any powers to her. I didn't have any magical powers or weapons to begin with."
"Maybe you are lucky," Arashi said. "…Because in conflict, kudans can be used as weapon."
"Kudans are for battle?" Syaoran asked.
"What it is and how to use it… That's something you have to find out about yourself. To understand what a kudan is, you have to see it with your own eyes," Sorata said with his arms crossed.
"So the intro to this country is finished!" he exclaimed as he nodded to the bored. He turned to Mokona and leaned forward. "Is there a feather that belongs to Sakura-chan in this country?"
"Yes," Mokona replied. "It's far away, but it's here."
"Let's look for the feather!" Sorata said to Syaoran, who nodded in reply. He looked over at the rest of the gang. "Will you guys be helping Syaoran-kun out?"
Fai smiled. "I suppose so." Ella nodded.
"If I said that I wanted to leave, would you do it?" Kurogane rudely asked the little white creature who shook her head, her big ears moving along with the motion. "Nope, I won't leave this country until the feather is found."
Sorata nodded. "Okay then. We'll be taking care of you guys until you depart for another world." He took his wife's hands and gently squeezed it. "After all, we are in the witch's debt."
"You can stay here until you go to another world," he continued, dragging along Arashi and pushing the white board out of the room. "Since it's almost midnight, I'll show you to your rooms. Fai, Kurogane, and Ella can share a room."
"Okay!" Fai said.
"WHAT?" Kurogane shouted. Ella gave the two suspicious looks, wondering if they would try something funny. Oh well, if they did, she could just kick their asses. She followed the men as Sorata showed them to their room, across from the one they were just in. She went in and saw a small mattress and a blanket on the floor in the middle of the room.
"Ella-chan can have the bed," Fai announced. Ella frowned. That wasn't fair. They shouldn't sacrifice comfort because she was the girl. She rummaged through the closet and found a stack of warm-looking blankets. She grabbed two of them and handed one to Fai.
"Here," she said. The blonde mage smiled at her.
"Thank you," he said.
"You're welcome." Ella made her way to the ninja. He opened his eyes, sensing her presence and hearing her footsteps. He didn't expect to see the girl extending a blanket towards him.
"I found some blankets in the closet. I don't think Sorata-san and Arashi-san will mind. It might be kinda cold at night." Ella wore a small smile but she felt a bit nervous when he just continued to stare intensely at her. She exhaled when he finally took the blanket. She moved towards her futon and climbed under the covers. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.
Ella opened her eyes the next day and found herself back inside the room provided for her in the Republic of Hanshin. She didn't see either man so she guessed they had woken up earlier.
Her thoughts then went to her dream of the butterfly. Her hand unconsciously went to her chest and touched the area where the kudan entered her. She could swear that she felt something move inside her.
The group stood outside the apartment building together with Arashi and Sorata. They all wore clothes that were worn in the Hanshin Republic. In Ella's opinion, it didn't seem too different than what she usually wore. She walked out of the building wearing a plain white T-shirt tucked into a floral skirt. Her hair was let down, the wavy curls falling passed her breasts.
"You four!" Sorata said in a loud voice to call their attention as he exited the building. "There's no use staying inside. If you want to find Sakura-chan's feathers, why don't you go out and take a look around?"
"Alright!" Fai and Mokona said in unison.
"Walk around, and then you'll understand what 'kudan' is," Sorata said.
Ella noticed that Syaoran was glancing every now and then at the window of the room where Sakura was sleeping. Of course, Arashi noticed it too.
"Don't worry," she told him. "I'll take care of Sakura-san."
"Do we have to bring the white thing?" Kurogane grunted.
"Bring Mokona with you. Otherwise, you won't know if a feather is nearby. Don't worry, no one will mind Mokona. All sorts of weird things already happen in this city," Sorata said. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a frog-shaped purse. He placed this on Syaoran's hand. "There's enough money for the four of you to buy lunch. So you guys go eat lunch together like good little boys and girls do."
"Why does the kid get the money?" Kurogane asked.
"Because he looks the most trustworthy!" Sorata replied.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" the ninja shouted.
They walked together through the city, weaving through the groups of people. Buildings of every size could be seen everywhere they looked.
"It's crowded," Fai said loudly but only the other four and Mokona can hear it. "Tall buildings mingle with small buildings… Have you ever seen this kind of scenery before, Syaoran-kun, Ella-chan?"
"No," Syaoran said, shaking his head a little so that Mokona, who was perched on top of his head, wouldn't fall off.
Ella, on the other hand, nodded. She brushed her bangs away from her eyes to get a better look of her surroundings. It looked like any other busy city, like Tokyo or New York City.
"What about Kuro-tan?" Fai asked. The ninja glared at him.
"No! And don't call me that stupid name!" he shouted.
They continued to walk forward until they ended up to what appeared to be the market of the city. Stores that sold food and other perishable goods lined up the half the street.
They passed by a store which sold fruits and a man who was inside called their attention. "Welcome!" he said in a booming voice. "Would you want to buy some apples?"
The males stared at the round, red fruit in the man's hand.
"That's an apple?" Syaoran asked.
"Of course it is!" said the man with a smile.
"An apple doesn't look like that in Syaoran-kun's world?" Fai asked.
The boy shook his head. "The shape is the same but the color is more yellow."
"Isn't that a pear?" Kurogane asked.
"No," Syaoran said, shaking his head. "Pears are redder with a stalk on top."
"That's a raki-seed!" Fai chirped.
"A what?" Apple and pear were familiar terms but never before had she heard of a raki-seed.
"Hey!" the man roared impatiently. "Do you want to buy it or not?"
Mokona raised her hand. "Buy!"
They decided to eat their apples at the bridge where they could see a river underneath it. They all took an apple from the bag and slowly took a bite from the fruit.
"Apples taste good!" Fai said with a smile. Ella nodded as she took a bite. She had to say it tasted sweeter than the ones she was used to, but it was indeed good-tasting.
"But we really are from different worlds…" he continued.
"How did you get to the Dimensional Witch's place, Syaoran-kun? You said you didn't know any magic."
"I was sent by the High Priest in my country," Syaoran replied.
"Ah! That priest must be really something. It's not easy to transport even a single person yet he managed to send to people at the same time!"
"Ella-chan?"
"Uh, I think I was born in that world but a mirror transported me to that place I think," she said before shrugging. "I don't know. I'm still wrapping my head around all this magic stuff."
"I see… what about you, Kuro-rin? Who sent you to the witch's place?"
Kurogane flinched at the nickname. "I was forcefully sent there by the princess of my country."
Fai laughed together with Mokona. "You must have done something bad and you're being punished!" An angry Kurogane flailed his arms at the mage.
"What about you, Fai-san?" Syaoran asked.
Fai smiled as he leaned against the railing of the bridge. "I went there on my own."
Kurogane glared at him. "Then why did you ask the Dimensional Witch for help when you could've just travelled between the worlds by yourself?"
"I can't! Even with all my power, I can only transport myself into another world once," Fai said in a tone that made it seem like it was just common sense for everybody. "The people who transported you all have very strong magical powers. But even if they used all of their power, I suppose they can only transport someone into another world once."
"That's why the priest transported Syaoran-kun to where the Dimensional Witch is. In order to get all of Sakura-chan's feathers that contain her memories, we have to travel to different worlds and the only one who has the power is the Witch of Dimensions."
Just then, there was a loud shriek. They saw people running away from that direction. A group of people who wore goggles over their eyes and stood on top of the buildings. There was another group on the ground who wore caps and they seemed to be fighting with the group who was above them.
"We'll get you this time for sure! This is our territory!" shouted the leader of the cap-wearing group.
The leader of the group wearing goggle stood in front of the group and gave them a "thumbs down" gesture. Bystanders ran away, dragging along their children and their loved ones.
"Just because you have a high level kudan doesn't mean you get to be so cocky!" shouted a member of the cap-wearing group.
The leader of the goggle-wearing group raised his arm above his head and his members behind him jumped off the building to attack, creatures of different shapes and sizes appearing on their arms out of nowhere. The opposing group below also had creatures appear on their arms as they engaged into battle. Beams of light came out of the creatures and were aimed at the enemy.
"So that's a kudan?" Kurogane asked, unshaken by the panic around him as he had his hands inside his pockets. Even Fai was relaxed and didn't seem to care.
"No wonder Mokona didn't scare anyone even though he can move around," Fai said.
Some of the beams of light hit the buildings, causing some parts to collapse and fall on the sidewalk. The bystanders who happened to be standing there covered their heads and ran away screaming.
A tall kudan in a shape of a humanoid appeared and leaped to attack the leader standing at the top of the building. He didn't move from his spot.
His kudan appeared in a form of a large manta ray and had the powers of water, unlike the other people who just had beams of light come out from their own kudans. The kudan opened its mouth and brought a huge wave of water, washing away the opposing group.
Syaoran noticed two boys running away. One of them slipped in a puddle of water caused by the huge wave from the leader's kudan.
"Watch out!" he shouted and jumped to cover the two boys from another wave. A huge ball of flame with an orange wolf in it appeared above Syaoran and made the wave evaporate and turn into steam. He glared at the man on top of the building.
"Looks like you have a high level kudan too!" he said with a smug smile.
The big, flaming, orange wolf landed on the ground beside Syaoran and stood in front of him to protect its master.
"A kudan that manipulates fire…" the leader thought aloud. "I'm water and you're fire… This is fun."
Syaoran stepped in front of the two boys together with his own kudan. Another huge wave came when the leader's kudan opened its mouth. This time, Syaoran was surrounded by a wall of flames that quickly turned the water to steam as soon as it made contact.
"I'm Shougo Asagi," the leader said. "What's your name?"
"…Syaoran."
"I like you now," he said with a smile.
A loud police siren was heard not far from the street that they were standing in.
"Shougo the police are coming!" said a member as they were starting to run away.
"Damn… and things were just getting interesting," he muttered. He looked over his shoulder to leave his last message for Syaoran. "The next we meet we'll have some real fun!" He jumped on top of his kudan and it flew away together with his group just before the police arrived.
Syaoran's wolf kudan turned into a ball of flames and entered through his own chest. Fai, Kurogane, and Ella approached him slowly.
"You were great, was that all you Syaoran-kun?" Fai asked with a smile.
"I don't know but my body just started to get hotter," he explained.
The smaller boy bowed and then suddenly disappeared.
"It disappeared!" Syaoran screamed in surprise.
"Oh, that was also a kudan!" Fai said.
"What?" Ella exclaimed in slight disbelief.
"Anything's possible…" Kurogane, who stood next to her, muttered.
"Anyway, what happened to that kudan of ours?" Fai said as he looked around for a little round white ball with a red gem on her forehead.
"Isn't it squished somewhere?" Kurogane said tiredly.
"No…" Fai said, pointing his finger. Ella looked in that direction and saw Mokona surrounded by a group of girls who were all hugging and cuddling the little white creature. She sighed and shook her head before going to get Mokona back.
"Where were you, Mokona?" Fai asked as Ella brought Mokona back to their group.
"Mokona was on top of Kurogane, then he threw me off…" the creature explained. She bounced to Syaoran's head lightly and leaned forwards and flapped her arms up and down. "And Mokona went like this!" She opened her eyes and her mouth formed into an "O" shape, saying the word "Mekyo!"
"Sakura's feather is nearby?" Syaoran asked, pulling Mokona to make her stand on his hands.
They listened as Mokona explained how she felt the feather during the fight, but she didn't feel it anymore. Syaoran looked sad and disappointed.
"It's difficult to figure out who was there a few minutes ago…" Fai said, leaning against the railing.
Syaoran tried to put a smile on his face and to be optimistic. "But the fact that we know someone has it is good."
The boy who Syaoran had just saved approached him slowly and gave him a low bow. "Thank you very much for that situation," he said. "My name is Masayoshi Saitou. Please allow me to do something in order to repay you for saving me."
Syaoran tried to decline the offer but Mokona suddenly jumped on top of his head and exclaimed. "Mokona wants lunch! Something really good!"
Masayoshi nodded and led them to a shop where they sold food which they called "okonomiyaki".
The five of them (Mokona included) stared at the pancakes in front of them. It was one of those shops where they cook the food in front of you so there was a stove on top of the table.
"This is…?" Syaoran asked.
"I like this okonomiyaki the best here!" Masayoshi said.
"This is called okonomiyaki?" Fai asked. He laughed softly when he noticed Kurogane staring intently on his own share.
"Okonomiyaki is the main food here in Hanshin Republic, so if you don't know, that means you're from outside of Hanshin?"
Fai placed his head on his hands. "You can say that." Masayoshi looked at him, confused. He then decided to change the subject. "Do those people always fight over there?"
Masayoshi looked down. "That… They want to test their strength. They form teams and compete to see who has the stronger kudan. There are bad teams and there are good teams. The good teams watch for people not to get violent in the property, and they fight the bad guys."
"What about the team that came here?" Syaoran asked.
"The ones in caps are the bad guys! But the ones with goggles are different! When they fight with the other teams, he only destroys a few buildings, and when the adults get mad, he doesn't do anything bad to them unlike the other teams."
Ella let her thoughts wander, not listening as Masayoshi explained the kudan rankings. She really didn't care and instead, she watched the okonomiyaki fry in front of her like what Kurogane was doing. She watched as Kurogane picked up the spatula on the plate in front of him and tried to flip it by raising it on one side.
"WAIT!"
The two jumped, seeing as they were not listening. Two servers who both carried trays appeared in front of them, one with dark hair and another with gray-blond hair.
Suddenly, Syaoran stood up and looked at the two of them with wide eyes. "Your Majesty? Why is the king here?"
The man who had the name Touya written on his name tag wore a confused look. "I think you are mistaken, I am not this person who you referred as "king." He looked down on Kurogane who still had his arm up. "And sir, please wait so you don't knock anything over."
"O-Okay…" he replied.
"He was a king in your country?" Fai asked Syaoran. "And the other one with him is the priest?"
"Yes…" Syaoran whispered.
"It's like the witch of dimensions said. You might meet someone from another world, but in different worlds they have different lives," Fai said, lost in thought. "But at the same time their "connections" are the same."
"Connections?" Ella asked.
Fai put his fingers together and made a heart shape. "The place of their lives, their name, their heart…"
"You mean their soul?" Kurogane grunted. Ella wondered if she could see people she knew. Maybe she would. Maybe she wouldn't. Either way it didn't matter to her. But it would be interesting if she saw someone she knew.
The five of them ate their okonomiyakis while Masayoshi further explained the meanings of kudans and other stuff to know about Hanshin that Sorata wasn't able to explain. When they finished, they left again to search for the feather.
Masayoshi made them wait at a certain spot by a tall pillar so that he can call his parents and accompany their group around town to search. It was easier with someone who actually lived in this dimension instead of going around and getting lost. Also, it seemed like Masayoshi wanted to hang around Syaoran more.
"So, Syaoran-kun…" Fai said. "When we stopped talking before, you mentioned that you had a dream?"
Syaoran nodded. "That thing that came out of me was in a dream about a fire beast."
"I had a strange dream with a beast in it as well," Kurogane said.
As Fai was about to open his mouth to say something, a fat man wearing dark glasses and a v-shaped Mohawk stepped forward to them. "Who is the boy called Syaoran?"
"Why do you want to know?" Fai asked with his usual smile.
"Are you the man Shougo said he liked?" he asked the blond. Fai just continued to smile at him. "What if I am?" Ella gave him a strange look. What was he trying to do?
Syaoran stepped forward. "I am the person whom you are seeking," he said firmly.
"You're just a kid!" the man exclaimed.
"He's the one!" one of the members confirmed.
"Are you going to join Shougo's team?" the man asked.
"Team?"
"Don't play dumb with me!" the man shouted. "Shougo says he likes you! You've been haunted by a special kudan!"
"I do not intend to join."
"Then you'll join our team?" the man asked, hopeful.
"No," Syaoran said firmly. "As I said, I do not intend to join any team. I have nothing to do with you so…"
"So you intend to make your own team!" the man exclaimed. "I am going to break you to pieces!"
Suddenly, his huge kudan appeared above him. The creature was like a ball of spikes with a long tail.
"It's so big!" Mokona and Fai joyfully exclaimed.
"That's what she said!" Ella said softly with a smirk, unable to help herself.
The kudan swung its tail to attack Syaoran, slicing the pillar behind him in half. Syaoran easily evaded the attack by ducking down.
"I don't think he deserves this…" Ella heard Fai whisper to himself. He took a step forward, only to be stopped by Kurogane.
"This is getting boring," Kurogane said loudly. "How about I take you on?"
"Kuro hasn't been having fun up until now!" Mokona said.
"Yes!" Fai replied. "He's happy to be in the Republic of Hanshin!"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Kurogane shouted at them.
"But Kurogane-san, the person still has your sword," Syaoran said.
"It was special. It had a cursed blade," Kurogane replied, not turning around. "I need to cut spirits back in the country of Japan." He looked at the kudan in front of him. "This kudan is not a spirit."
"What level is your kudan?" the gang leader shouted at Kurogane.
"Don't know, don't care," he answered. "Stop rambling and attack."
"Syaoran-kun!" Ella turned and saw Masayoshi running towards them.
"Masayoshi-kun, do you know that man?" Fai asked.
The boy nodded in reply. "That team hits our neighborhood. He fights Shougo-san for territories."
"I wonder if that man is strong," Fai mused.
"He has a first grade kudan," Masayoshi said. "That man himself is, um…big. But the kudan is very quick."
"Look at how my first grade kudan moves!" the gang leader shouted to Kurogane. "Hot Crab Attack!" He swiftly moved to avoid the attack, which broke the pillar behind him.
"It broke?" Syaoran exclaimed.
"That kudan's body is completely covered in sharp blades," Masayoshi explained.
"Go! Go! Go!" the leader shouted at his kudan, which was chasing the man. It tried to ram into the ninja but he managed to dodge it.
"Watch out!" Syaoran shouted, starting to run towards him. However, he was stopped when Fai put a hand on his shoulder.
"About Kuro-tan," Fai said, "I think he's trying to help you."
"Falling Crab Attack!" This time, Kurogane was unlucky and got buried under rubble.
"Kurogane-san!" Syaoran screamed.
"What happened to the kudan?" the leader taunted. "It's so weak you can't see him."
"Annoying," Kurogane said as he lifted a piece of rubble off him. He was covered in scratches but it didn't seem like he had any major injuries. "Your constant talking is annoying."
"My kudan is first grade! It is very strong!" the gang leader boasted.
"But it still has a weak area," Kurogane said. "If I had my sword I could stop this quickly." Just then, a mighty blue dragon appeared behind him, catching everyone by surprise. After a few seconds, it transformed into a sword with a large blade and fell into Kurogane's hands.
"I can use this, ay?" he said. "So, you want to fight?"
"Is that your kudan? Well, it looks like it's going to fall," the leader said. "This attack will stop you. Gunshot Crab Attack!" Blades shot out from the kudan's body.
"Spirit Dragon King Blade!" Ella watched with awe and admiration as the ninja easily defeated the gang leader's kudan.
"Looks like Kuro-tan can take care of himself," Fai commented. Ella nodded in agreement and watched as the gang members crowded around their fallen leader.
"You already made a team didn't you?" the man said. "Syaoran's team… and you're part of it!"
"No, I work for myself. Only for Tomoyo-hime," he said bluntly. The gang quickly ran away, bowing their heads in defeat.
"We're back!" Syaoran announced as he entered the room. Arashi was sitting beside the still-sleeping Sakura.
"We're home!" Fai and Mokona called in unison.
"Welcome home," Arashi replied. Then to Syaoran, she asked, "Did you find any clues?"
"Yes, we did."
"Ah, you're all here? How was it?" Sorata said, making his presence known. "Oh. Before that," he then said. He turned to Arashi, spreading his arms out in a hug. "Honey! A welcome home kiss!" However, what he received was a bump to his head.
"I see," Sorata said after Syaoran explained the events of the day. "You had a feeling about that, but it went. So, when you were in trouble something that looked like a beast of fire appeared from out of your body?"
"Yes," Syaoran answered.
"Like I thought, that's Syaoran-kun's kudan right?" Fai said.
"Yup. And the thing haunting Kurogane must have been pretty big too."
"How did you know?" Kurogane asked.
"Oh hey," Sorata said, turning to Syaoran and completely ignoring Kurogane's question, "I'm really interested in history but kudan was my starting point for that interest. I think kudan are like the gods of this country."
"This is something like a myth passed down through Hanshin's history, you see," he said. "In this country, there are myriads of gods."
"Myriads, huh," Ella said.
"It's written as eight million," Sorata added.
"There's eight million gods here?" Fai asked.
"No, there's more than that," Sorata said. "You can say that there's as many gods as there are different things and happenings."
"So, the gods of this legend are now called kudan?" Syaoran asked.
"So we're co-existing with gods you mean," Fai added.
"The country's gods and the people of this country are working together to protect it aren't they?" Syaoran said.
"I think so too Syaoran!" Sorata said excitedly. "I've always thought that way. The kudan, or should I say gods, that live in this country must have a fondness for us."
"Absolutely everyone here is haunted by a kudan. Which means, that in this country there's not a single person that isn't protected by a god. Well, there are a lot of Hanshin's citizens who always go blood-boiling meat dancing, but it's still a really good country, I think. So, searching for Sakura's feathers here in this country means that you won't have to worry about things like you would in other countries that are in the middle of the war, or in countries filled with bad people."
"Yes," Syaoran said, looking down at Sakura and brushing a strand of hair from her face.
"So!" Sorata said, standing up. "Let's go buy some dinner! Fai and Kurogane can be my helpers!"
"What!" Kurogane exclaimed. "Why me?"
"If you don't work you don't eat," Sorata said simply. Syaoran stood up to go but Sorata shook his head.
"You don't have to go. You can stay here with Sakura. You've been away from her all day right? You were worried huh." Syaoran looked a bit taken aback. He looked at Sakura and smiled.
"Okay! Let's go to the store and buy some food to cook."
"I'll help," Ella said, standing up. She didn't have anything else to do, and she thought that Syaoran would want to be alone with his princess. Ella followed the men out of the room. As she closed the door, she caught a glimpse of Syaoran holding the princess's hand and smiled to herself.
They walked out of the hotel and onto a street lined with restaurants and stores. They walked into a particular one that looked like a grocery store. Ella was suddenly reminded of the previous evening. She had been going to the store to buy some food for Molly before she found the mirror and transported halfway across the world. She wondered if Molly and Victor were doing okay. Were they worried about her? She shook her head. They probably weren't. They had done fine before she joined their family. They would be okay without her.
She grabbed a shopping cart and pushed it along as Sorata grabbed things and put them in.
"Does any of the food look familiar to you?" Sorata asked to start a conversation.
"A lot of it does. It's kind of weird since this is supposed to be another world. Shouldn't it be different?" Ella said.
"Well, not everything can be different," Sorata said.
"I guess so. But I didn't think it'd be this similar."
"You seem used to having supermarkets," he then said. Ella nodded.
"We don't have market stands or anything. Well, we do sometimes. It's called a farmer's market."
"Japan has marketplaces," Kurogane said. "Not this…'supermarket.'"
"Is it mostly land and small houses?" Ella asked.
"Yeah," he said, wondering how she knew.
"My world was like that before everything became modernized. Now you only find those kind of things in countrysides and such." Ella suddenly caught sight of a familiar fruit. She grabbed a plastic carton filled with small round blueberries.
"Are these blueberries?" she asked.
"Yes," Sorata said as he grabbed some apples.
"Can I get them?"
"Sure! Go ahead and put them in the cart," Sorata said. Ella felt a bit hesitant. She felt bad spending their money. But the more they helped, the sooner they'd pay of their debt, right? Ella shrugged off all second thoughts and put the blueberries in the cart. She followed Sorata around the store as he picked out food, some familiar,f some not. Eventually they finished up at the checkout area. As they walked out of the store, groceries in hand, someone bumped into her.
"Hey!" Ella exclaimed when she almost dropped the brown bag in her arms. She spun around and came face to face with a face she thought she'd seen the last of.
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