I'm so sorry about how long this took. Please, no one hold that against me.
Disclaimer: The only things in the story that belong to me are Mizuki, Tsubame, Mizuki's father, Kazuki (who will be introduced later), and one currently unnamed character.
Chapter 2
The First Day in Hanshin
"For beauty is nothing
but the beginning of terror we can just
barely endure,
and we admire it so because it calmly disdains
to destroy us."
-Rainer Maria Rilke,
"The First Elegy,"Duino Elegies
Shortly after coming into the next world some guy named Sorata took us to what looked like a hotel. Then he left us alone in a room after helping lay Syaoran, who had passed out and was still clinging to Sakura, down on a mat and helping me lay Mizuki on a similar one in a separate room. There wasn't much talking between as Kurogane was brooding in a corner and Fai was attempting to dry off the two children. I was thinking and worrying about Mizuki.
We're away from the shop now. If what Yûko-san said is true, why hasn't she woken up yet? I thought, If it's true that it was just the psychic and magical power that she felt is such a short time then shouldn't she have woken up once we got away from the shop? Or do Mokona and Fai have more of an impacting presence than I'm giving them credit for?
I was taken away from my thoughts when I noticed Syaoran sit up suddenly calling Sakura's name. He must not have realized that he was still holding on to her. Fai explained that he had tried to her off since she got very wet.
"Even while you slept, you wouldn't let the girl go." he said with a smile, but there was something about it that didn't fit with his face, it looked too forced, "So you er " he continued obviously because he didn't know his name. While he was talking Mokona was dancing and saying 'praise me'
"Call me Syaoran." he told Fai.
"My name is pretty long. You can just call me Fai." the wizard introduced politely, "And Mr. Black over there. What'll we call you?"
"I am not Mr. Black!" the warrior exclaimed loudly, "I am Kurogane." It didn't occur to me before, but now that I heard his name more clearly I realized that the first part of his name was the same as the first part of Mizuki's last name.
"Kurogane, huh? So what works? Kuro-chan? Kurorin?" Fai asked completely ruining his polite credibility with me; I lost interest in their conversation and turned to look at Syaoran and Sakura. He was feeling her body temperature and he looked even more worried than he was before. Fai suddenly put his hand into Syaoran's cloak and surprised the boy very much. Then again, it kinda freaked me out too, with how sudden it was.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kurogane said stating my thoughts. Then Fai pulled out a beautiful white feather that had a pink design on it.
"Is this what a piece of memory looks like for this child?" he asked holding it up. Syaoran got a shocked expression on his face, "It was stuck to you. Only one though." he continued as Mokona jumped towards him. He let go of the feather and it floated towards the Sakura.
"This is one piece of Sakura's memories!" he exclaimed as her body absorbed it, "Her body is a little warmer." he sound relieved. I understand why. If I were in his position, I would want to make sure Mizuki was alright.
"If you hadn't had that feather, it might have been a problem." Fai said with that forced looking smile still plastered on his face.
"By coincidence, one stuck to my clothes" He started before my interruption.
"There is no coincidence in the world. Or at least that's what Yûko-san said." I said speaking for the first time since Syaoran and Sakura had shown up at the shop. It occurred to me that Mizuki would probably be very shocked that I had hardly spoken this whole time. She said that I always talked too much.
"And so my guess is without thinking, you grabbed it yourself. In order to save the girl." Fai said, "Of course I'm just guessing all this!" he continued cheerfully.
Guess or not, it doesn't make sense. Wouldn't he have known if he grabbed the feather when he grabbed it? I thought to myself, Maybe Mizuki can help me to figure it out when she wakes up.
"Who the hell are you anyway!" Kurogane yelled while staring at me with his red eyes.
"My name is Tsubame." I said annoyed by how rude this man is turning out to be, but ignoring it for now, "Now, the question is how can we find other feather?" I said.
"Mokona knows!" the little creature said jumping up excitedly.
"Huh?" Syaoran questioned.
"That feather gave out really big waves!" the thing explained, "So when a feather is close, Mokona will feel the big waves! And Mokona will be like …" Mokona opened its eyes, which had been closed until now, wide, "… this!" Mokona's face seemed to scare Kurogane a bit. Or at the very least, give him some shock that almost looked like a heart attack.
"Well, it looks like we have a way. If we get close, Mokona will let us know." Fai said as Kurogane caught his breath.
"Would you do that? Tell us when we're near a feather?" Syaoran asked.
"Leave that to me!" Mokona said cheerfully.
"Thank you!"
"Search or don't search. That's up to you." we all looked to Kurogane as he spoke, "It's got nothing to do with me! I'm here to get back to my own world. That's the only reason I'm here. Don't expect me to stick my neck out for you. Don't expect me to help you. I won't do it!"
"Right. That is my mission here." Syaoran said, "I'll do my best not to cause you any trouble." By the look on his face I could tell that the boy's words surprised the older man and he looked away as if he was embarrassed with some reddish pick tint on his face. Fai laughed before he took his turn to talk.
"Syaoran, you are so serious!" I started questioning his sanity at this point.
"Well? What about you?" Kurogane asked while looking at the blond.
"Mm?"
"Are you going to help the brat out?" the warrior clarified. The wizard looked like he was thinking about this for a second, although the amount of time it took him told me he already made up his mind.
"I suppose so. My most important mission is to not return to my world." him saying that again made me wonder what was so bad in his world that he wouldn't want to ever go back, "So if it doesn't threaten my life sure, I'll help out. I've got nothing better to do. And you Tsubame-chan?" he said looking towards me.
"Honestly, I'm here because Mizuki is here. But I know her enough to know what she would do. She enjoys helping others if she can, so I'll help as much as I can also." almost directly after my words the door near us opened and Sorata and his wife were on the other side.
"Yo! So most of you are awake now!" he said Syaoran must have tensed a bit, "Hey! No need to get all tense! You came from Yûko-san, right?" he asked. Having not heard her actual name Syaoran didn't know who Sorata was talking about.
"Yûko-san?" he questioned as Arashi got blankets from a nearby compartment.
Just who did they think that I was talking about when I said that? I thought annoyed, Were they even really paying any attention?
"You know, the Girl Witch. The Dimension Witch the Far East Witch she has a lot of names." Sorata explained. His explanation only made me wonder if she had given Mizuki and I her real name.
From what I've seen of her, I highly doubt it. But, like always, between Mizuki and I, I'll be the only one that is bothered by it. I thought. Arashi offered Syaoran a blanket for Sakura.
"Here." she said handing it to him. I could tell from the beginning that she was a woman of few words.
"Oh! Thank you!" the boy replied gratefully.
"I'm Sorata Arisugawa." he told the boy as he covered the sleeping princess.
"I'm Arashi." said his wife. Sorata suddenly went into some sort of blissful daze.
"Just to let you know. She's my wife and the woman I love." he said as she gave each of us some tea, "I call her my 'honey'! Just make sure you've burned that into your hearts." this sudden daze continued as Arashi handed Syaoran a cup of tea and he introduced himself. Then he turned to Kurogane, "By which I mean that if you lay a finger on her, you'll die horribly." he said with a voice that was so cheerful it was almost eerie.
"Why do you say that only to me?" the warrior yelled. The man had yelled so much at this point it was a wonder both Sakura and Mizuki didn't wake up and he hadn't lost his voice.
"Nori! Nori!" I guess the man in the blissful daze was trying to say something like 'don't worry about it.', "But I wasn't kidding!" he said with that eerie cheer of his.
"I won't touch her!" Kurogane shouted. Sorata's mood changed and he started talking again.
"Now," he said as Mokona jumped into his hand, "I figure you went to the witch lady, and got this" he said pointing to Mokona, "from her to get here, right?"
"Mokona Modoki!" the little creature said, telling our host its name. Sorata asked the little thing if it was okay to just call it Mokona. It seemed to be okay with it.
"I heard the whole story from the man there." he said referring to Fai, "Anyway; this is your lucky day."
"Umm in what way?" Fai asked.
"Mokona has no idea which is the next world, right?" Sorata said while walking towards the other side of the room, "So it's a happy chance that brought you to this world first of all. Because this …" he said opening a window, "… is the Hanshin Republic!" revealing a city of lights.
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All I could see in the black space I was in was a flurry of multi-colored feathers. Feathers of crimson red, smoky gray, sterling silver, snow white, and raven black were everywhere. I remembered that this was the same place I talked to Tomoyo for the first time. She told me that it was a dream world somehow created separate from the actual Dream World. At the time I wondered just who created it and how.
"Mizuki, as always, it's nice to see you again." I heard Tomoyo say as she appeared in front of me.
"Likewise, Tomoyo-hime." I replied. I loved my conversations with her. Other than Tsubame, she was my only real friend. Although every time I said that, it sounded wrong. It felt like there was someone I was missing, but I could never figure it out.
"Mizuki, I think we've know each other long enough for you to call me Tomoyo." I was about to protest but she changed to subject before I could say anymore, "I took your advice, by the way. I think he took it well."
"Took my advice? Did you have to punish him or did he finally listen to you?" I asked. Her silence was enough of an answer, "You had to punish him? Jeez, I'm sorry. I know he's important to you. Out of curiosity, how exactly did you punish him?" I asked.
"You'll find out soon. By the way, I don't think I've told you this before, his name is Kurogane."
"Then the first part of his name is the same as the first part of my last name." The moment I said it I knew that this whole 'name similarity' was going to cause a few problems for me.
"Yes it is, maybe that means that you two have some things in common." The way she said and her expression (plus the fact that it was in her mind) told me that she thought so too.
"Yeah, maybe." I said as the temperature of, where ever I was, plummeted.
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Sorata had, for some reason, decided to tell us about this country using a hand puppet that had obviously been made to look like him. Same brown hair and hair style, same eye color and eye shape and such. Although it wasn't the way I would teach someone about something, I had to admit it kept my attention.
"This is the Hanshin Republic. The best of island nations. We are surrounded by seas on all sides." I wanted to say 'isn't the definition of and island a land mass surrounded by water on all sides?' but I decided not to, "We get the odd hurricane, but we hardly ever have earthquakes. We have several trading partners across the seas, and we export like crazy!" next he went to a list of the four seasons and the things that are 'best' in each one, "We have four seasons. Right now, we're in fall. The season where rice tastes its best!" next, he pointed a few small pictures, "The main staple is wheat flour. And our sauce is famous! We have the Hanshin Republic Constitution and Rule of Law! And by law, we never make war on other countries." just from that one law I knew Mizuki would like this place, " Modes of transport: car, bicycle, motorcycle, train, boat, plane, and one would consider a baby carriage to be one form of transport, right honey?" the woman, who also had a look-alike hand puppet said nothing and he just continued now pointing at a map with a tiger shaped landmass on it, "The shape of the island is thus. Because the similarity to a tiger, people call us the tiger country. Of course, the Hanshin Republic uses the image of a tiger quite a bit. Our currency is the koko. There are one-koko coins, 100,000 koko bills, and the tiger head is the symbol of the country. And the logo for our baseball team is the same!" I think the only people in our group who knew what baseball even was would have been Mokona, Mizuki, and myself, and so far, this world didn't seem all that different from ours, "This year, the team has some really great prospects! Some of the best players in the world!"
" Sir! I have a question!" Fai said raising his hand, and I suddenly felt like I was in class again.
"Yes? Fai-kun?" Sorata said calling on him, making this feel even more like it was a classroom.
"Does everyone in this country have an accent like yours, Sorata-san?" he asked, referring to his way of talking, while I heard Kurogane ask about baseball.
"Aww, don't be so formal! Call me Sora-chan! My accent is unique to me. It's an older version of our language." Syaoran seemed interested in this.
"Yours is language they used in the past?" he asked.
"That's right! Nowadays hardly anyone uses this language. I'm a history teacher, and I'm firmly against allowing all the old ways to fade away."
"You're a history teacher?" the boy asked. He was getting more interested as the conversation.
"I take it you have an interest in history"
"Yes! In my world I used to work on archaeological digs."
"Then I'd say we have something in common."
"And I have one more question!" Fai said with an almost too cheery tone, "Now, exactly where are we? Who owns this room?" I wanted to know that too. After all, we'd whisked away with no explanation at all.
"This is an empty room in an old, traditional apartment house that my honey and I manage." our host said as he went into that bliss again. I looked behind me to see that Kurogane had fallen asleep. Not that I blamed him, going to sleep seemed like a good idea, "You! Wake up!" Sorata yelled. I something looked like it hit Kurogane on the back of his head. It was very surprising and everyone, including myself and excluding Sorata and Arashi, we all tensed up.
"What was that?" Kurogane yelled, Syaoran immediately got in a position to protect Sakura, and Fai and I stood up, "I didn't feel an enemy! Who did that?" standing up and looking around the room and he stared Sorata down, "Bastard! You threw that didn't you?" he growled at him.
"You were in a corner. If he threw anything, it wouldn't hit you there. It had to come from above." Fai told him. I don't think that Kurogane was ever one to think things like that through.
"What? It was my kudan, what else?" Sorata said looking at us strangely.
"'Kudan'?" all four of us repeated.
"You don't know? Sure you don't! You all come from different worlds! You wouldn't know!" he grabbed a dry erase marker and started writing a word on it, "Everyone in this world has a Kudan attached. Here's how it's written in kanji." he said as he finished writing it.
"Ah I see." Kurogane said.
"Yeah, me too." I said.
It makes sense. I mean, didn't he say he was also from Japan? Our written language must be more or less the same. I thought.
"I don't see at all!" Fai said while waving his hand dismissively and smiling that 'used-too-much-to-be real' smile.
"Mokona can read!" the creature cheered.
"That's really great, Mokona!" Fai said as he patted the top of Mokona's head.
"Can you, Syaoran?"
"Yeah. More or less." he responded.
"Kurogane, Tsubame, and Syaoran's worlds use kanji, but Fai's probably doesn't. But you can understand what I say, and I understand you." Sorata said. He must have been in deep thought of the reasons for this.
"Now what kind of technique is this kudan? And you used the word attached." Kurogane asked them showing, for the first time since we'd met, his way of planning a fight.
"Even if you come from another world, once you enter this one, a Kudan will be attached." she walked over to and knelt down beside the sleeping Sakura, "Do you mind if I call her Sakura-san?" she asked Syaoran.
"That's fine." he relied.
"I cannot say where Sakura-san's memory went. However, if someone had picked it up it will become the cause of a fight." the boy's reaction to this was one of shock and maybe even worry, Arashi then looked to the two older men, "You've lost your method of battle." she told them. It didn't sound like a question. It sounded like a statement, like she was positive.
The only way she could possibly know something like that is if she was like Mizuki. Now that I think of that, when she wakes up I'm going to have to talk to her about whether or not she want to tell these guys. I thought.
"How did you know?" the blond asked. Kurogane seemed stunned speechless for the first time since he showed up at Yûko's. Everything else that had shocked him he reacted to with rude words of some sort.
"My honey used to be a Shinto religion Miko. She possesses spiritual powers." Sorata answered for his wife. Syaoran looked like he was a bit amazed, "Well, she's retired ever since she married me." he said.
Maybe she's not like Mizuki then. I thought. As far as I had known what Mizuki was called was something different. Then our host went into the state of pure bliss again.
"Her beauty when she was dressed as a Miko was a God-send!" he said.
"Actually," Fai said continuing what the conversation was originally about, "I did give my magic power to the dimension witch."
"And I handed my sword to that bitch!" Kurogane said angrily.
Alright buster, if you use that kind of profanity around Mizuki you're going to hear from me! I thought. I desperately wanted to say it. I really did, but I decided against it, it would have been pretty rude of me. Arashi then looked to Syaoran and I.
"It wasn't any sort of power that I gave her." he said, "I never had magic or weapons or anything like that from the start."
"Same here." I said.
"That may have been your good luck." she told us, "There are kudan in this world. When it comes time to fight, that kudan should be able to help."
"Then this kudan was originally meant for battle?" Syaoran asked curiously.
"What you use it for or how you use it is all up to you." Sorata explained, "One look can answer a hundred questions. If you want to see what your kudan is the only thing to do is see it with your own eyes." he turned with a smile and said: "Now, I've pretty much explained everything to know about this country."
"He did?" Kurogane asked.
"Well, you were asleep through part of it. For all you know he did." I told the warrior. His response was glaring at me with his crimson red eyes. It was a bit intimidating, but I wasn't gonna' let him know that.
"Well?" Sorata said as he looked at Mokona, "What do you think? Do you think that Sakura-chan would have a feather on this world?" he asked the little round creature who was in Syaoran's hands.
"Sure does! It is still a long, long way away, but this country has one." it said.
"Shall we find this feather of yours?" the history teacher asked him.
"Yes!" he said just as determined as he was at Yûko's shop.
"And you three, do you feel the same?" Sorata asked referring to Fai, Kurogane, and I.
"I might as well." the wizard answered with a smile.
"I would love too." I answered. I knew Mizuki was going to want to help, so I decided I would help her to help the princess and the archeologist. Kurogane made a sideways glance towards the round, white (not to mention adorable) Mokona.
"If I said I wanted to leave, would you do it white thing?" he asked it.
"No!" Mokona said, "Mokona will not leave this country until Mokona finds the feather!" at this the warrior turned away and glared at nothing with irritation.
"Thank you Mokona!" Syaoran told it thankfully.
"Fine. While you're on this world, I'll vouch for you." our host said as he stood up, "I owe Yûko-san a favor." he said holding his wife's hand. She looked like she had a slight blush on her face. It looked kinda cute, "This is an apartment building. We've got room. You can use these rooms until you go to your next world." he said while pushing the white board out of the room with one hand and still holding Arashi's hand with the other.
"Thank you very much!" Syaoran said.
"It's after midnight already. It's time to sleep. I'll show you to your rooms. Fai and Kurogane, you don't mind sharing, do you?" he asked them. Even though he was asking it seemed like he was telling them that they didn't have a choice in the matter.
"Not at all!" the blonde wizard said.
"What was that?" Kurogane exclaimed with fury. Then Sorata looked at me.
"Tsubame, do you mind if those two sleep in the same room as you and Mizuki?" he asked. This time he seem to be actually giving me the choice.
"It's alright with me," I told him, "I mean, I'm fine with it so long as they don't try anything funny with Mizuki." I answered. It looked like that grabbed the attention of the three men.
"You mean that if one of those two try something they'll have to answer to you." he asked.
"No, I mean that if they try anything they better hope I get to them before she does. I might be protective over her, but she is able to protect herself to some extent, and she doesn't kid when it comes to her personal space." I replied dismissively as I walked into the room that Mizuki was sleeping in. Her back was to the door and her black hair (I noticed that Kurogane, Yûko and Mizuki all had the same shade of pitch black hair) was all behind her. I couldn't see the hair ornament from where I was standing, but that was because she was lying on the side that it was on. I wasn't paying attention to whatever Sorata said. I only knew that he was talking. Mokona jumped off of Kurogane's shoulder and waved 'bye-bye' to me because it decided to sleep with Syaoran that night. I waved back at the creature as the door closed. The two men were unexpectedly quiet after that, but I didn't have to be psychic to tell that there was still a lot of distrust among the three of us and that was to blame.
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"So she put that bracelet on you and then you passed out?" Tomoyo asked me. I told her about when Tsubame and I went to Yûko's shop.
"Yeah, although I wouldn't worry about it, it was probably just from exhaustion. I sensed a lot more psychic power and some other power more than I ever have." I answered.
"The other power is magical power." she said.
"Really?" she nodded at my question, "So I can sense psychic and magical power?"
"Yes you can!" she said while laughing, although it sounded like a giggle, as if it was funny that it had taken me so long to understand something she considered simple. I didn't get angry with for it though, "Well, it's about time I get going." she said after she'd stopped her giggling.
"Well, it was nice speaking with you again." I said knowing that there was nothing I could (or rather should) do or say to make her stay a little longer. She did have a big job as a priestess and princess of her Japan. Well, she called it Nihon.
"At least I warned you before I left, Mizuki." she teased as she faded away. She was always teasing me like that even if she already knew the reason.
"That wasn't my fault! That was my stupid alarm clock!" I exclaimed even though it was too late and I could no longer sense Tomoyo in the dream. When I was finally positive that she didn't hear what I said I sighed and started thinking about what had happened before I passed out and why I hadn't woken up yet.
"If it was the shear amount of power I'd sensed, both psychic and magical, that had put me out and we really were away from it then why haven't I woken up yet? Is there another source of power that I'm sensing even though I'm not awake or does it take a while to get over the sensing overload?" I sighed.
This is hard to figure out, at least on my own. Too bad I can't ask dad or that one fortuneteller woman I met. What was her name again? I can't remember. Maybe there's a way I can ask Yûko-san when I finally wake up. She seems to know about this kind of thing. I thought. I noticed that it was colder than when Tomoyo had been here. Suddenly, it went from a bit chilly to freezing cold. Although, this 'freezing cold' felt foreign, just like Yûko's shop, it felt as if I'd felt this kind of cold before. It felt like the only reason it had bothered me was because I'd been away from it for so , I sensed that someone … or something … had appeared behind me.
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The next morning, after everybody had woken up, the guys were all wearing lent clothes that were lent to them. Kurogane was, unsurprisingly, wearing all black. Black t-shirt, black pants, and black boots. Fai was wearing a light colored shirt with three quarter sleeves and jeans, Syaoran was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that reminded me of a sweat-shirt and loose cargo pants. I was wearing the same green t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes from the day before since they had been washed and dried from the rain. We were outside and Sorata was pretty much telling us not to be lazy.
"You guys won't get anything done sitting in your rooms," he said, "You have to start your search for Sakura's feather someplace! So get out into the neighborhood and see."
Not that I want to insult our host or anything but this guy just seems way too enthusiastic. I thought, Wait … scratch that. Fai and that creature are the 'too-enthusiastic' ones.
As if on cue Fai and Mokona, who was sitting on the wizard's shoulder, both gave a happy-go-lucky 'okaaay! Syaoran gave his response while Kurogane and I gave none. Although, I don't think our reasons were the same. I mean we both looked bored, but he didn't look the same kind of bored that I was. He seemed like he was 'man-I-wish-there-was-a-fight-I-could-get-into-right-now' bored as opposed to my 'I-really-hate-this-class' bored. So we had different levels of two different types of bored.
Sorata looked as his watch as said that his class was about to start.
"If you walk around, I think you'll begin to figure what this kudan talk is about." he told us while looking at Syaoran.
"All right." the boy replied as he nodded. I noticed that he looked over to the window of the room that Sakura was sleeping in.
"I'll stand by Sakura-san's side for you." Arashi told him.
"Thank you." he answered.
"I'll watch over Mizuki-san as well." She told me.
"Thank you. I know she'll be in good hands." I answered.
If I didn't think so in the first place I would never leave her alone here. I thought.
"Is the white thing coming along, too?" Kurogane asked.
"Mokona isn't a white thing! Mokona is Mokona!" the rabbit looking creature said jumping from Fai's shoulder to Kurogane.
"You have to take Mokona or you'll pass the feather by and never know! Don't worry nobody will give Mokona a second thought," Sorata said as the two men and the creature had a conversation of their own, "What I mean is, this world is used to weird sights."
"Huh?" Syaoran and I said at the same time.
"Now …" Sorata said, "… take this." he said pulling out a coin purse that was shaped like a frog and then gave it to Syaoran, "There's enough for lunch in there, so the four of you should take your time and make friends."
"Why's he giving it to the kid?" Kurogane asked over me. He didn't seem to be talking to anyone in particular, but it was Sorata who answered.
"Cause he's the one who looks the most trustworthy!" he exclaimed happily.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurogane yelled at him.
"Thanks a lot. That really makes me feel good." I mumbled to myself sarcastically, not really wanted anyone of these annoyingly happy-go-lucky people (and one cute rabbit-like creature) to respond.
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Although I knew I was waking up I didn't want to. Not yet, anyway. The blanket that was over me was really soft and I didn't want to escape its comfort and vaguely familiar scent, which was a mix between vanilla and honeysuckle. I felt like I could just stay there forever. The only thing that was stopping from falling back to sleep was a bit of yelling going on outside. After the yelling stopped though, I was able to fall back into my World of Dreams.
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The four of us were walking through the city. It looked like we were the middle of down town to me, but I couldn't be sure since we were in a different world.
"It sure is a bustling place!" Fai said as we were walking through the crowds.
"People all over the place!" Mokona said from on top of Syaoran's head.
"Small buildings are bunched up next to huge ones!," Fai said describing the typical 'big-city' setting, "Syaoran-kun, have you ever seen this kind of thing?" he asked him.
"No. Never." the boy answered.
"Tsubame-chan, what about you and Mizuki-chan?"
"We pretty much grew up in a city like this our whole lives, but there are places with no buildings in our world." I answered.
I know I shouldn't be speaking for Mizuki since neither of us are really sure whether or not she grew up in an urban or rural environment. And now that I know that there are other worlds, how can we be sure she's even from the world we met in? No, she must have been born in our world. Otherwise we would have never met since there's no one we know that could've done something like that. I thought confident that she and I came from the same world.
"Kuro-tan, what about you?" Fai asked turning to face Kurogane armed with a nickname that was sure get a violent reaction.
"Never! And why do you have to call me by weirder and weirder names?" He bellowed.
"Is it really necessary to keep yelling like that?" I asked him, "Shouldn't you be more polite to people you just met?"
"Why should I?" he yelled with his attention now fully on me.
"Because it's common courtesy, because it's rude otherwise, because you just come off as a jerk if you don't? I don't know, take your pick!" After that he started screaming at me about how he shouldn't have to be polite, and we ended up having an argument of our own, which I'd really rather not go into details about.
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Kurogane and I both had calmed down after a little while. While we were walking through the city we walked by a few people walking by in the opposite direction who started talking about and pointing at Mokona.
"It's you they're laughing at." Kurogane told the bunny-like thing. At that the thing just blushed, put its paw (if you could call it that) to its face, and said: "Mokona has many girlfriends!" Which Kurogane told it was not true. Then we passed a street vendor advertising his apples. Syaoran looked surprised that it was called an apple.
"That is an apple?" he asked the man.
"If it isn't, I have no idea what it is?" he replied with a smile (probably because he saw us as potential costumers). Fai walked over to Syaoran and bent down to his level.
"So it doesn't look like that on your world?" he asked him.
"The shape is the same, but in my world, the color is a pale yellow." the boy answered describing a different kind of apple than what we were looking at.
"Isn't that called a pear?" Kurogane asked.
The cashew apple is shaped like a pear, but I don't think that's what Kurogane-san means. I thought to myself.
"No. A pear is redder and has leaves coming from out the top." Syaoran said describing what sounded more like a tomato.
"No, that's a raki seed, isn't it?" Fai asked.
What the heck is a raki seed? I wondered as I looked at the street vendor and his expression went from confused by our conversation to being annoyed that we haven't decided to buy any fruit.
"And do you want it or not?" he said interrupting us annoyed by us not making a choice.
"Want it!" Mokona answered for everyone excitedly.
"Five please." I told him. The vendor looked pleased that he was finally able to make a sale despite us being a very strange set of costumers.
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We stopped on a bridge to eat our apples.
"These apples are pretty good, huh?" Fai said starting conversation. I nodded (apples are my favorite fruit).
"Yes." Syaoran replied formally.
"But it really is true that the four of us come from completely different cultures." Fai said.
"I thought that would be obvious." I muttered to me self before taking another bite out of my apple.
"Come to think of it," Fai continued, "I never asked, how did you get to the shop of the dimension witch, Syaoran-kun? You said there was no magic in your world, didn't you?"
"There's a high priest in my land. He sent me." Syaoran answered as I watched Mokona literally inhale its apple (and I thought I loved apples!).
"That's impressive. It's hard enough to send one person across dimensions. But he sent two." Fai said. Although, that didn't seem to make sense to me. In my way of thinking, wouldn't sending more than one person be the same as just one, "Tsubame-chan, who sent you and Mizuki-chan?" he asked me.
"Well, if you want to be specific our parents sent us. But not by using any magical power or anything like that. Yûko-san's shop is in the same world that Mizuki and I live in. So we just walked there." I answered. The way Mizuki and I got there was by far the least interesting, but that probably means that we were in less danger and less in need for help. (So why are we here in the first place?)
"How about you, Kuro-rin?" Fai said asking, and annoying, the tall man in black. The look on said man's face told me that he was thinking the same thing I was about Mizuki and I.
"The princess of my country sent me away - by force." he answered. He seemed a little bitter about it, but when he started talking I could tell he has a lot of respect for his princess.
His princess sent him away by force? As like a punishment? Hmm… Why does that sound familiar? I thought. When it finally hit me I had to hold back hysterical laughter. Is this really the ninja that Mizuki talked with Tomoyo-hime about?
"You did something bad and she did it to scold you!" Fai said teasing and pointing at the ninja. Thankfully, even though I wasn't able to hold back the laughter well, it looked like I was trying not to laugh at him for the same reason Fai teased him for. Kurogane looked as if he was going to react with yelling (again) or maybe even violence, but instead asked a question of his own.
"What about you? Who sent you?" he asked the wizard.
"Me?" he said point at himself, "No one I sent myself there." Fai answered.
"Then you didn't have to ask the woman for anything! You could have done this yourself!" Kurogane exclaimed. I sighed just wished he would calm down.
"Not even close." Fai said cheerfully and then he sat up, "Were I to must all of my magical abilities, just getting myself from one dimension to the next would take everything I can do. The one who sent Syaoran-kun and the one who sent you Kuro-chin are people with a lot of magic power. But I'll bet it took all they had. I imagine anyone has the power to send someone to another world only once. That's the reason that your high priest sent you to the witch's place. It would take going to a lot of worlds to be able to collect all of Sakura-chan's feathers. And I think the only one who can send someone to many worlds is the dimension witch." Fai explained.
Maybe that's true. But, in my opinion, if there's one person who can do something like that then there's probably at least one other person who can do the same thing somewhere else. I just hope we don't run into that person. If everything truly happens for a reason, then there must be a reason why a wizard, a ninja, a psychic, that psychic's protector, a princess, and her protector were all gathered up for the same journey. I thought. I just brushed all of that off thinking that I must have been thinking too deeply into this whole 'hitsuzen' thing, and making something of nothing.
Suddenly there was a scream to our right. On top of a building there were a few guys wearing goggles and on the ground there were a bunch of guys with hats. The guy who looked like the leader of the group with hats said: "This time we're going to kick your butts and take over this neighborhood!"
The leader with the goggles group made a thumbs down sign like some Roman Emperor.
"They're cool!" Fai said as time started going much faster than before.
"Another roped-off battle!" I heard someone say.
So they've risked other people's safety like this before? In that case I'm glad Mizuki isn't up right now and with us. I thought. It seemed reckless to me, fight with all these people around.
"That bastard has a special kudan, but don't let that go to your head!" one of the guys in hats shouted to the others. It was right then I felt like there was electricity running through me. Like that feeling you get just before static electricity shocks you. The battle started when the guys in goggles jumped down from the building they were on. All these creatures showed up next to each person and bursts of power were firing everywhere.
"So that's a kudan?" Kurogane said as the crowd's commotion muffled his voice.
"I think I've figured out why no one was surprised at Mokona." Fai said his voice also a bit muffled along with my own.
"I think that would be obvious." I told him. Then this kudan that kinda looked like an alien (if they existed too) appeared in front of the leader of the goggles group. After that a huge manta ray of water, who I guessed was the kudan belonging to the goggled leader. It's attack sent a wave of water towards the group in the hats and washed them away. I noticed a boy in a school uniform slip and fall because of it and a billboard that had broken free was falling towards them. Before I could react I heard Syaoran yelling.
"Watch out!" he screamed as he ran to shield them. Just before it hit them the billboard landed on them it burst into flames and disintegrated.
"You seem to have a special kudan, don't you?" The guy in the goggles asked as the fire formed into a fox-like creature.
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I decided to give up on trying to fall back to sleep, so I pushed the covers, that were completely covering me (as usual), from over my head and discovered that I didn't recognize my surroundings. I looked at the blanket and it turned out to be a coat with a white fur lining and on the inside. It also has blue designs on the sleeves. It was the kind of thing you'd expect to see in to far north (and I mean far north). I folded the coat, with much difficulty (I know I probably should have hung it but there wasn't anywhere that I could hang it, not even a coat rack) as it was about three times my size, and looked around to see if I could find Tsubame anywhere. When I opened the door I saw I beautiful woman with long black hair that went a ways past her shoulders. She had this feeling of having spiritual powers, which is what I knew some people called psychic powers.. She was kneeling over a girl, who looked a couple years younger than me. She looked up at the sound of me coming in.
"Oh, you're awake. My name is Arashi. Tsubame-san will be back in a little while with the others." she said with a small smile.
"Um. Thank you. My name is Mizuki. Where is Tsubame? Who are the others? And where am I?" I asked confused and impolitely bombarding her with questions, which I immediately regretted even though it didn't show on my face. She seemed okay with it though and answered each one. Then, she further explained how it was that I was in a different world, and she explained everything she could. She told me that Tsubame was in town and I would meet 'the others' in question when they came back. As to my third question she told that I was in Hanshin Republic, which was in a different world from Japan, and explained the city. After that, she told me that, most likely, when I arrived in this world I became attached to a kudan. After she said that it made me think of what happened after Tomoyo had left my dream.
"Um, I don't want to a bother, but you wouldn't happen to have anything to eat would you?" I asked praying that my stomach wouldn't grumble a complaint to loud for anyone to ignore.
"Of course, Mizuki-san. It's not a bother at all." She told me as she got up, "I just need to go pick up some things."
"I could go do it. I mean I hate feeling useless, and at home I did it all the time. You could draw a simple map or write down 'easy-to-follow' directions. " I suggested. At this her expression didn't change, but I knew that she thought that my eagerness to be of use was cute.
"Alright, just let me write down the directions." she said leaving the room.
"Thank you, Arashi-san." I said gratefully. After she wrote down the direction to the store and a list of things she wanted me to get, she got me a change of clothes so that mine could dry. 'It's a wonder you didn't catch a cold sleeping in those drenched clothes' she said, or at least something like that. It was a bit muffled since she was on the other side of the door while I was changing. She'd gotten me a red button-up long sleeved shirt, a black sleeveless T-shirt, jeans, and boots that had a small wedge heel. After I was done getting dressed I made sure that no one was able to see the marking on my arm. When I was sure that it would go unseen I came out of the room. Arashi gave me the directions, list, and some money so that would be able to buy the food. As I walked down the street, following the directions that were given to me, I felt that Tsubame was thoroughly annoyed. I couldn't tell why though (I guess I'll find out later on). After that, I heard someone say something about there being some sort of battle going on somewhere in the city while I was in the store paying for the food.
I hope it isn't anything where people will get hurt. What am I talking about? It's a battle. Of course people are going to get hurt; I just hope it's no one innocent. What if Tsubame gets involved? She wouldn't be that stupid would she? I mean since I'm not there she has no reason to act irrational like she always does with anything concerning me. I thought as I was walking back to the apartment house that Arashi was at.
If she's like that then she must be a really loyal friend. I heard someone say. I looked around and didn't see anyone. Suddenly, I felt rubbing at my legs. I looked down and saw a black cat with orange and white markings. It looked like a calico that was mainly black instead of white. The cat didn't seem to be too interested in the conversation, but that's usual for cats so it's not like I was too surprised.
She is. I told her. Whenever there's someone who does anything, and I mean anything, that she finds even the slightest bit threatening to me she goes off on them. I have to admit it's pretty scary sometimes. After that the cat lost interest in the conversation, as cats always do, and walked away. Although, I could tell it wanted to follow me home.
Good bye, Mizuki-sama. Make some happy memories on your journey. I her say as she walked away. I looked where she was walking and saw a fuzzy, gray cat that looked a little bulkier (I figured that the gray cat was the odd-colored calico's sister).When I had gotten back to the inn, Arashi thanked me and started preparing lunch for us both.
And to think I was hoping my abilities wouldn't act up while here, or at least so soon after I'd woken up. I guess I should be glad it was just 'Animal Telepathy" and not anything else like actual 'Telepathy' or 'Pin-Pointing' or even the visions. I thought. It was later on in our journey that I thought about this again and realized how ironic it truly was for a psychic like me to even begin to think anything that would even begin to relate to regretting my powers.
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"A kudan that can wield fire," said the guy in the goggles, "mine works water and yours, fire. This will be interesting!" he said just before his manta ray, water kudan shot a blast of water towards Syaoran. Syaoran's fox-like, fire kudan was able to create a shield enough for both him and the boy who had slipped because of the water. I noticed that, as the water blast headed towards the brown-haired boy, that I felt what was similar to a shock of lighting within my body. It immediately reminded me of the dream I had last night.
I noticed that, as the water blast headed towards the brown-haired boy, that I felt what was similar to a shock of lighting within my body. It immediately reminded me of the dream I had last night.
After the water evaporated, the goggles-guy introduced himself.
"I'm Shôgo Asagi. You?" he said.
"Syaoran." said boy answered.
"I like your style." Shôgo Asagi said.
If you like his style, then why did you attack him? I thought to myself just before another guy in goggles told Shôgo about the cops coming.
"And it was just getting good." he sighed, "Come on, ya bastards! Let's get outta here!" he said to his group and they made noises of agreement. He turned to Syaoran as he was running off and said: "Next time we mean, we'll have some real fun!" Then the policemen came chasing after them.
After that, the fire fox-like creature went into Syaoran's chest.
"It … went … inside me." he said.
"That was amazing! Syaoran-kun, did that come from you?" Fai said all smiles when he, Kurogane, and I were finally able to get to him. I mean … I don't think any of us were going to get involved with what looked like a fight (or at least I definitely wasn't … I wasn't too sure about the two men in the group).
"That's a "kudan", huh?" Kurogane and I both said. He seemed annoyed that we both said the same thing while I didn't really mind (and I didn't feel like telling him how annoying he was … again).
"I'm not sure, but I suddenly got very hot …," then as if he suddenly remembered, he turned to the two boys, "You're okay, right?" he said to the one in the school uniform. He nodded telling Syaoran that he was fine.
"I'm glad for that! And you, you're okay, too?" he said to the other boy who seemed to be dressed oddly (if that's a word) for this world and also looked like the one in the uniform. If I hadn't seen the smaller one suddenly go into the later I would've wondered if they were related. Don't get me wrong the boy (who had … obviously … turned out to be a kudan) vanishing did shock me. To the point where I couldn't speak and just had this shocked look on my face. If Mizuki were there she would ask me if the shock had broken my brain (joking of course, she would never insult someone intentionally … unless they made her extremely pissed).
"He vanished!" Syaoran exclaimed looking worriedly around trying to find the boy.
"Oh!" Fai said putting his fist to his hand (it looked like he was putting 'rock' in 'paper, rock, scissors') as if a thought had just come to him, "That kid was a kudan!"
"It looks like they could be anything!" Kurogane grumbled loudly to himself. I was just coming out of my shock but still didn't say anything. What else could there have been to say? Although I did remember a missing 'something', but Fai beat me to saying anything about it.
"Now, where can my 'almost kudan' have gotten off to?" he said putting his hands over his eyes to motion ( … or actually I couldn't tell) search for Mokona. Just realizing we had a missing member of our group Syaoran gasped and searched erratically (a word I learned from Mizuki) for the round, white creature.
"It probably got stepped on somewhere around here. Like some discarded pork bun." Kurogane said scratching the back of his neck like Mokona was too much of a bother to even think about.
"Look. The truth is quite different" Fai said pointing. I looked the direction he was pointing and saw Mokona being held, cuddled, and fawned over by a group of girls. They were saying things like 'it's so cute!', 'look how soft!', and 'the sweetest thing!' which in and of itself was pretty annoying alongside all their 'kyaa!'s or the thing. Then again that was mostly because all of it was getting to Mokona's head.
"Mokona is popular with the ladies!" it said. After we were able to get Mokona from the group of women and it waved its goodbyes, we asked it where it was.
"On top of Kurogane." it said from on top of Syaoran's head, "But then Mokona fell off! " then the white creature looked down at Syaoran (as it was on top of his head), "But just earlier Mokona went just like this!" Mokona said showing us the face that it showed us earlier meaning that there was one of Sakura's feathers nearby.
"You mean that Sakura's feather if somewhere nearby?" Syaoran asked with what looked like a mix between shock, worry, and … well that was about it.
"It was … but Mokona doesn't feel it anymore." the small thing told him.
"Did you figure out who had it?"
Mokona shook it's head (or rather … it's body as I couldn't tell the difference between its head and it's torso) and said: "Don't know."
"Oh … I see." Syaoran said with disappointment immediately appearing on his face, and Mokona suddenly looked like it was depressed (as opposed to it's usual 'Fai-like' happy-go-lucky attitude) which looked really cute despite the reasons for it.
"Even if we limit it to the people who were here, it'll still be a long search. There were lots of people." Fai said while looking up at the sky appearing thoughtful.
"Fai-san's right. It'll be very hard." I said, "Also, there's no guaranty we'd even be able to find all the people that were here." I emphasized the 'were' since there were obviously more people in the city than that were in than in the small area we were just in (in that same city no less).
"Still, we now know that someone close by has it. That's pretty good progress." the boy said.
That's true too. Or at the very least that's something along the lines of what Mizuki would say. It seems like both Mizuki and Syaoran-kun are pretty optimistic people … even though Mizuki has different reasons. I thought (look at me … I'm already making comparisons between these people and Mizuki). Syaoran told Mokona that if it sensed anything else to tell us.
"Yes! Mokona will go all-out!" it said excitedly from Syaoran's hands. As Fai was teasing Kurogane (again) the young boy Syaoran had saved earlier went up to him and bowed respectfully and in thanks (wow … I'm starting to sound like Mizuki).
"I just wanted to thank you!" he said before standing up straight again, "My name is Masayoshi Saitô. Please let me do something for you in thanks!" he told Syaoran.
"No, we really didn't do anything …" Syaoran tried modestly to refuse the offer.
"But … but …" Masayoshi started before being interrupted by Mokona.
"Mokona wants lunch! Something really good!" our own personal little mutant rabbit said excitedly leaving Syaoran dumbfounded and Masayoshi happy to treat us.
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Later at the restaurant that Masayoshi lead us to (I think it was a town in the city called Tsuruhashi).
"What is …" Syaoran started to ask. While we were all look at the food frying in front of us. I was sitting in front of Syaoran and beside Fai. Kurogane was on the other side of Fai and Masayoshi was next to Syaoran.
"Y'see … okonomiyaki is my favorite dish, so … I ordered Modanyaki, but maybe Topeiyaki would have been better." Masayoshi said nervously.
"'Okonomiyaki'? Is that what this is called?" Fai asked.
"Okonomiyaki is a staple of the diet in Hanshin Republic." Masayoshi said with confusion on his face, "If you don't know, then that must mean …" sudden realization hit him as he figured out the reason for all this, " … you come from outside the country?" he said. He mentioned that Fai also had blond hair.
There isn't anyone with blond hair in this country? Usually they're everywhere. I thought to myself.
"Outside? You could say that." Fai said with that smile of his growing bigger and Masayoshi looked confused, "Do those people always run roughshod around this district? The guys with the caps and the ones with the goggles?" he asked, although, I couldn't tell whether or not it was because he was concerned for the people or just looking for information.
"That was … a fight for dominance. They form teams and fight to see whose kudan is the stronger." Masayoshi answered.
"And the strongest ones get the territory?" I asked, thinking that this sounds an awful lot like gangs or warring countries. Not that I would've known what those things were like.
"But think of the lives put in danger when they fight in such a large public place." Syaoran said.
"That's true, huh? Masayoshi-kun was in big trouble." Fai agreed.
"There … there are bad teams, but there are good teams too! They patrol their territory making sure no bad kids cause trouble. And if bad people are around, they take care of the problem!" Masayoshi explained.
"Like a local militia?" Syaoran asked.
"What about those two teams before?" Fai asked before I even had the chance to open my mouth.
"The ones in caps were the bad ones! But the ones in goggles aren't like them at all! When they battle other teams, some of the surrounding buildings get damaged, so the adults are afraid of them … but they wouldn't do anything else that's bad! They're really cool!" out of excitement Masayoshi suddenly stood up, "Especially their leader, Shôgo-san! They say his kudan is special level! It's so big and strong … everyone wishes they had a kudan just like it!" It was just then that Masayoshi seemed to realize how excites he got. Ashamed of himself, he sat back down and apologized. I honestly don't know why he even saw the need to apologize in the first place.
"And you wish you had a friend just like him, huh?" Fai asked.
"I-I sure do!" Masayoshi replied timidly with a bit of excitement in his voice, during this time I noticed that Kurogane was looking intently at the food in front of him, "But I'd also like a friend like Syaoran-kun."
The boy mentioned looked shocked to hear this, but I was just confused. Masayoshi noticed and continued to explain.
"Anybody with a special level kudan is just amazing!" he said.
"Special level? What is that?" I asked him as Fai said that leader of that goggle gang mentioned that too.
"It's an especially high level for kudan. The fourth-level kudan is the lowest. And moving up, there's the third level, second level, first level, and at the very top is special level. Years ago, all the countries got together and banned the use of levels on kudan, but normal people got still use the system." Masayoshi explained further.
"Then that leader's kudan must be very strong." Fai guessed still not looking as serious as it seemed like he should have been.
"Yeah!" Masayoshi exclaimed, "So is Syaoran-kun's! To get a strong kudan, especially a special-level kudan, you need to be a strong person yourself, or they won't stay! It's a person's heart that controls a kudan. So if a person can command a strong kudan, that's proof that the person is strong! Who wouldn't want a friend like that?" Masayoshi said.
I have to admit, the kid has a point… Did I just call someone so close to my age a 'kid'? Wow, way to go Tsubame. I thought as Masayoshi told us that his own kudan was fourth-level and at the very bottom. It was Fai's annoyingly too-happy voice that interrupted my thoughts and self-accusations.
"But when did Syaoran-kun's kudan join up with him?" he asked
"Now that you mention it …" Syaoran started as Kurogane started to put the spatula under the frying food to flip it, "… I had an odd dream last night." And before anyone could reply there was a sudden 'STOP RIGHT THERE!' that made everyone freeze. We all looked in the direction of the voice and saw a tall, dark-haired, handsome looking guy and another shorter, light-haired guy who both looked close to my age, if not a little older.
"Your Majesty! And the high priest!" Syaoran suddenly yelled with shock, "Y-your Majesty, what brings you here?" he asked looking at the taller one.
"You got the wrong guy. 'Your Majesty' is nowhere in my name." he said looking as confused as I was.
"What?" Syaoran sounded shocked and confused all at the same time. So that guy and I weren't the only ones, huh?
"And mister…" 'His majesty', as Syaoran called him, addressed Kurogane, "…we do the flipping here. If you'd just leave it and wait, we'll be right there." He told him as the two boys started walking away.
"Y-yes, sir!" the ninja stammered. I was amazed, after all, the way Mizuki described him from her conversations with Tomoyo-hime he didn't seem like the type of guy that would stammer. Then again whenever Tomoyo-hime talked to Mizuki was he was being a troublemaker. The two guys were making their way to another table when Fai started a whole new conversation.
"Majesty … was he a king in your world?" he asked Syaoran.
"Yes…" the boy answered with an expression on his face that I couldn't read.
"And the guy with him was the high priest… it's just like the time witch said. 'People you've met on your world they've developed under completely different conditions on other worlds'."
"You're saying they're the same as the king and high priest of the kid's world." Kurogane asked.
"They're the same … and not the same." Fai answered, "The two from Syaoran-kun's world lived a completely different life than these two." I noticed that our conversation was seriously confusing Masayoshi, "But when it comes down to it … at the very basic level, they're the same. I guess."
"Basic level?" Kurogane asked trying to understand.
"The very root of their lives. Their nature … Their hearts …" Fai explained while making the shape of a heart with his hands.
"'Soul'! That's what you're saying, right?" Kurogane said.
Does that mean that there's a Mizuki and Tsubame running around Hanshin? I thought to myself. I looked over to Syaoran only to find that he seemed lost in thought. Our food had even been finished and he didn't seem to notice.
"Syaoran-kun?" I said trying to get his attention. My voice pulled him from his thoughts and his attention was now on us.
"If you don't eat it, we will." Fai said holding up the food with chopsticks, which I remembered him complaining that they were hard to use. Syaoran said 'okay!' while Kurogane and Mokona were fighting over the same piece of food and poor Masayoshi was trying to calm the fuming ninja. I smiled lightly at the scene and decided that this journey may not be such a bad thing for Mizuki after all.
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After Arashi and I had eaten lunch I wondered how it was that the odd-colored calico knew my name or even that I was on a journey in the first place. It also called 'Mizuki-sama'. I mean, I'd gotten used to it all the animals I'd ever spoken called me that (no matter how annoying I thought it was). It was just that, when Tomoyo told me about them, I thought that if I ended up going to a different world the animals there wouldn't do that (guess I was wrong). During lunch though, Arashi told me that Tsubame and the others (whose names or even appearance I still didn't know … except for Sakura-san of course who we both were taking turns watching over at the moment … it was Arashi's turn right now while I was in the room I woke up in) had each given up something as a price to be able to travel between worlds. I don't think she had meant to mention this, though. It was just part of the answer to my questions. But it made me wonder what Tsubame gave up (as well as the others); although the only thing that bothered me was that I couldn't remember the price that I had paid to Yûko.
Whenever I get the chance, I'll have to remember to ask Yûko-san about it, or Tsubame might know the price I paid. I wonder if maybe the bracelet she gave could have been it. Could having it for whatever reason be a price? That thought brought the bracelet she put around my wrist back to my attention. When Yûko first gave to me I'd had only a few moments before everything went black, so I didn't get to get a good look at it. I brought up the wrist that the bracelet was linked around, and only part of my mind registered that it was my right arm (the same arm that had the marking that looked like wolf). It was actually a very beautiful charm bracelet. The chain itself was silver like platinum (and something told me that it might have actually been platinum) which had charms from all around it. Closest to the clasp was a charm that had two gems coming from it, one a ruby red and the other a sapphire blue, to the right of that was a tiger's head which I had seen on the money in this world (which I was told was called 'koko'), after the tiger was what looked like a small pagoda which the top was a pale blood red and the pillars and bottom were a pale dark brown, then there was a fish that pale yellow a curled into a circle, then the next charm was a black bird (although if looked like a very dark gray, but I knew I was right to assume it was black) that was shaped a bit like a sparrow that was in flight, after that was a pale pink sakura flower (I'd have to remember to tell Sakura about her namesake), then there was a Ferris wheel like the ones in amusement parks (although the bright colors were pale instead), after that there was a totem pole (which had the animals an eagle, a small bird, a panther, a dragon, a fox, and a wolf bottom to top respectively), then there was a paper lantern that, like the pagoda, was mainly red, after the paper lantern was a small flame that was the pale orange and red instead of being the bright versions of those colors, then there was an eye but the eye was sideways instead the way an eye normally looks which meant that that particular charm had something to do with the mind's eye, the symbol for psychic power (what was weird about that one though was that the charms eye color was a paler version of my own cobalt blue, with streaks of gray, eye color), then there was a white (which for this charm bracelet seemed more like white gold) plump, cartoon-like wing, then there was an open book next to the wing, after that there was a small circle that had so much detail in it that it was amazing and beautiful at the same time, it was the type of thing that I could stare at all day (the only details I could see for sure was a wolf, that looked precisely like the marking on my arm, a crescent moon, and a symbol like rune that I never remembered seeing before although I knew it meant snow, ice, or winter), when I was finally able to tear my eyes away from the circle I saw that the next charm was a queen chess piece from the black side (it never occurred to me before now that black could be pale too), then there was a blue rune character that I couldn't remember ever seeing but it looked familiar, next was another charm that had more than one thing hanging from it, they were pale blood red, an off-white color, an ash grey that was even more pale than usual (if that was even possible), a platinum silver that looked worn down and didn't glow quite like the chain it hung from, a pale gold, and black that was also paled, then there was a crescent moon, finally, on the left side of the red and blue gems, there was a black set of wings. Although instead of just one pair there was seven, and there was something about that made fear the symbol itself. After a couple of minutes of studying it and trying to think of how all these were related, I noticed that the tiger looked like it was glowing slightly. As well as the fact that the two gems and the tiger head were the only charms that didn't look paled like the others did.
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"That was great!" Mokona exclaimed from the top of Syaoran's head.
"Yeah," I agreed, "it was really good and filling too."
"It really was." Fai said agreeing with that phony smile still on his face. He'd done so much since I first saw him that there was no doubt in my mind that it was false now.
"Good job guiding us here. It really did taste good!" Syaoran told Masayoshi, "If you know any other good places, tell us." Syaoran continued. As we started walking I had this feeling that someone was watching us.
"Now, what's the plan from here?" Fai asked Syaoran.
"I thought we would search in this section of town." The boy answered.
"Hm. But we don't know our way around, so we won't be able to go far. We have to be able to find our way back to Sora-chan's apartment." Fai said as if he was thinking over Syaoran's idea. It annoyed me that he took up Sorata's offer to call him 'Sora-chan' and I had a feeling that there was going more that he would do to annoy me and try and get a reaction similar to Kurogane's.
If he pushes the right buttons, he will get that reaction from me. I thought.
"Uh … excuse me." I heard Masayoshi's timid voice, "Are you guys going somewhere?" he asked.
"Yes." Syaoran answered.
"Where would that be?"
"We don't really know. We're searching for something."
"If it's okay with you, I'll help you look. I can show you around."
"We don't want put you out …" Syaoran started.
"Not at all!" Masayoshi exclaimed eagerly, "But I should phone home first. If you'd wait here just a second …" he said as he scurried off to find a phone.
"He really does want to be friends, huh?" Fai asked Syaoran, "I nearly forgot. Our conversation was cut off. You were talking about your dream…"
"Yes, it was about that creature that appeared, that beast of fire." Syaoran replied.
"If you're talking about dreams of weird animals … I had one too." Kurogane said from not too far off from us. It would look to other people like he was 'window shopping'.
"Now that you mention it, I had a dream with an animal in it too." I said bringing my hand to my chin thoughtfully.
"Me, as well. It was very persistent." Fai was able to finish his sentence just before our conversation was interrupted, again.
"I wanna know who this 'Syaoran' is!" the interrupter demanded.
Seriously, do these people not know how to mind their own business! I thought.
Yeah, like you should talk. I knew that was a thought, but I also knew it wasn't mine. It sounded a bit like Mizuki's voice.
Well, she's awake. I thought. I wondered how long she'd been awake now. Was it since we left those apartments? While we were having lunch? Or could it have been during that time when there was that territory battle in the middle of town? Also, Mizuki was always so resistant to using her psychic powers, so why did she do it now? There'd been no point in asking her then; she was long gone back to listening to her own thoughts. The only reason I didn't freak out was because she told me about and done it before. I'd already been used to it but I still doubted that she'd want to tell our new traveling 'companions' about any psychic ability she had.
"A little kid? Are you serious?" I loud and annoying voice snapped back into reality. The owner of the voice was a short (sorry … I mean vertically challenged), fat guy with thick lips, sunglasses, and (like all the followers behind him) a Mohawk. Pretty poor taste in style, if you had asked me, but I was a 'good' little girl and kept my mouth shut.
"No, he's the guy! I'm sure of it!" One of his followers said. 'He's the guy'?
What in the world are they talking about? Hee hee … get it. What in the world. Hee hee… Okay that was a lame joke. I need to come up with … Damn it! I've stopped listening again! Maybe Mizuki's right, I should start paying attention to what people say. Speaking of …
"I'm not joining." Said a blunt Syaoran.
I don't know what's going on, but you tell him Syaoran-kun!
"Then you'll join my team!" The little guy said excitedly.
"I'm not joining you either. Not a chance." He replied.
"He doesn't mince words, does he?" Fai said with an amused smile.
"No, he's very blunt." I said to no one in particular as Syaoran continued.
"I have my own affairs. So …" but he was interrupted.
"Then you're planning to start a team of your own!" the Mohawk leader exclaimed.
"No, you're not getting-" the boy tried to explain, but unfortunately he was again interrupted by the Mohawk leader. This guy had serious problems in either listening or in comprehension. In what seemed like a frenzy the Mohawk leader suddenly called his kudan, which looked like a giant crab. Although, it had spikes (I know that some crabs have spikes), no legs, and a tail.
"Well, I'm gonna take you out right now!" He yelled as he did. I heard Mokona and Fai comment on it but I hadn't been listening.
"I'm not doing any such thing!" Syaoran again tried to explain in vain as the giant thing attacked him swinging its tail like a sword. Luckily though, Syaoran had enough skill to dodge it as it sliced through the pillar he was in front of.
"Not a good listener, is he?" Fai said. Even though he also said this with a smile, like he did everything else, this time it seemed more sinister and almost made a spine shiver. Almost. Fai was just about to step forward when Kurogane's hand blocked his path.
"I've been pretty bored here." He said as he walked toward the Mohawk leader, but only enough so that he was in front of Syaoran, putting the 'spotlight' on him, "I'll take you on!" he finally announced.