Another Chance
By: Snow Horse
I don't own CCS, the all powerful and mighty CLAMP does. *sighs* But I do own this computer!!!!!!! *grabs computer* MINE!!!!!!!!!! And the keyboard too!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sakura and Syaoran were killed...by a Clow Card. All the cards released themselves. And now two new Cardcaptors are coming into the picture...Will they be able to take their place or will they die with them?
Key: "talking"
'thinking'
~****scene change****~
(a/n: author's note)
Recap:
Tomoyo wiped her tears away and started talking normally, "Do you want to go online? We can both go on our screen names."
"Sure," Izumi replied, taking her arm off of Tomoyo and taking out her laptop.
'I wonder if Tetsuya e-mailed me to apologize,' Izumi wondered. 'He just doesn't understand, no one does.'
Chapter 2
The First Day of School and A Capture
"Nothing," an auburn haired girl whispered under her breath.
"Nothing?" a violet haired girl asked, confused.
"Tetsuya didn't e-mail me," Izumi said sadly.
"Was he supposed to?" Tomoyo asked, looking concerned as she turned away from her computer.
"I just thought that maybe-" Izumi started but cut herself off. "I should have known better than to open myself up to him. He seemed like an okay guy, really he did. It's just-" Izumi started to get tears in her eyes.
"What happened?" Tomoyo asked as she sat down beside Izumi on the floor, her amethyst eyes full of concern for her new found friend.
"He made a rude comment to me and I will quote, 'Well, Miss Cheerleading Captain is afraid of going to a new school.'" Izumi said with her figure pointed in the air.
"He might have just been joking," Tomoyo suggested.
"Tetsuya was joking, but it's no joking matter," Izumi agreed with her head down. "I was Cheerleading Captain at my old school. I was the meanest one the school ever had before, but I turned later on."
"What do you mean?" Tomoyo asked.
"There was a time I was once the girlfriend of Kei Wong, aka Hothunk," Izumi started.
"WHAT!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?" Tomoyo yelled. "That bastard?"
Izumi nodded her head and continued. "My mom had died the year I came to that school. I officially made a name for myself, bad girl of the school. I was mean and horrid and impossible to be friends with. I found myself going out with Kei just because he was the most popular guy in the grade. I was hopeless then. I had made Cheerleading Captain and was evil and made the hardest routines for the girls. Kei loved every minute of it, of me being on his side. I had loved it at the time too. I didn't care about grades, I didn't care about anything. I would've gladly gotten arrested for all I care."
"You can't be serious?" Tomoyo asked, her amethyst eyes now filled with fear.
"I am," Izumi responded. "No matter how hard I want to forget it, I am. Until one summer, the best summer of my life. I was sent to camp for two whole months. It was a boy/girl camp and my bunkmate was Mika. I started to open up to Mika and then we met Ron. No back then, he was totally hot. Back then, both Mika and I had the hots for him. He, on the other hand, liked me for the nice, smart girl I was turning into thanks to Mika. And one night, he kissed me. I hated myself for it too. I had always liked him for his looks, but Mika had liked him for more than that. So the next day Ron and I confirmed that we wouldn't be boyfriend/girlfriend anymore. For the rest of the summer, I carried a weight around, the weight of turning on the only one who understood me."
"But you didn't-" Tomoyo started, but Izumi interrupted.
"I did hate myself for it," Izumi said. "I couldn't have been a worse friend. So before I left, I hooked Ron and Mika together. They were meant to be together and I'm meant to be alone."
"I'll say this," Tomoyo said. "You aren't making any sense."
"I know I'm not, but-" Izumi started but she was interrupted by Tomoyo's cell phone ringing.
Tomoyo walked over and picked it up. "Hello?" Tomoyo asked and then started listening intently.
Soon, her face went pale and she turned to Izumi. Tomoyo hung up the phone and started getting tears in her eyes.
"Y-your b-brother j-just got into a-an accident," Tomoyo stammered out, crying.
"W-what?" Izumi asked, crying. "Why didn't they call on my phone?"
"Your phone is dead that's why," Tomoyo answered.
"But how?" Izumi asked, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"We have to get to the hospital!" Tomoyo cried as they both ran out the door and had Tomoyo's Okaa-san drive them to the hospital.
"Will he be all right?" Izumi heard Otou-san ask the doctor.
"He can't die!" Izumi screamed out of the top of her lungs.
"Izumi," Hayao whispered softly, tears filling his eyes.
"He'll be all right, won't he? Won't he?!?!?!" Izumi cried again.
"He's unconscious right now," the doctor said solemnly.
Izumi burst into more tears as Tomoyo tried to comfort her but just burst into tears herself. It was Sakura and Syaoran all over again.
Izumi couldn't take it anymore. She ran out of the hospital with Tomoyo right behind her. She ran to the park and sat down on a bench.
"Izumi," Tomoyo whispered as she caught up with Izumi and sat next to her, "it'll be all right. Kero is still sleeping in my room, you know."
"No, I can't take it," Izumi replied softly. "I'm through with being the nice girl. I'm absolutely through with it. No one can tell me what to do anymore, no one."
"Izumi," Tomoyo whispered again, not sure of what to say.
"Tomoyo, we'll still be friends. We'll always be friends," Izumi said. "I will never open my heart to anyone ever again, no one except you and Otou-san. You both will be there for me no matter what I do."
"What about the Clow Cards?" Tomoyo asked.
"I'll still catch them," Izumi said. "It's my duty, but no card is going to push me around, no one will ever push me around."
~****The Airport****~
A chestnut haired boy with amber eyes walked off the plane and into the airport. Luckily, a plane was going to take off and he could get on it and come here.
'I have to apologize to Izumi personally and maybe find out why she was mad at me in the first place,' the boy thought. 'Off to Tomoeda.'
He walked out of the airport with his bags and called a cab. He got in and said, "Tomoeda, please."
The cab sped off and finally arrived at a place called Penguin Park. He got out and looked around. 'I'll just walk to my supposed-to-be apartment after I spend some time here,' the boy thought.
~****Izumi & Tomoyo****~
"Are you sure you want to stay here for a while?" Tomoyo asked with concern in her amethyst eyes.
"I want to think for a while without anybody here," Izumi replied. "I'll meet you back at your house later."
"Okay," Tomoyo said, walking out of the park.
Izumi was laying down on a bench with her hands behind her head, thinking.
"Everything always has to be so complicated," Izumi whispered to herself. She started singing 'Come Clean' by Hilary Duff.
Let's go back Back to the beginning Back to when the earth, the sun, the stars all aligned
'Cause perfect didn't feel so perfect Trying to fit a square into a circle Was no life I defy
"You're a good singer," a voice said from the right of Izumi. She sat straight up and looked at the person who talked to her. It was a chestnut haired boy with amber orbs.
"I don't need your compliments," Izumi replied and stood up, walking away from him.
"I didn't mean to offend you or anything," the boy said, walking up to Izumi and staying at her speed. "I just think you'd be a great singer."
Izumi stopped and turned toward him. Emerald orbs met amber as she looked at his eyes. Even though it was dark, she could still see them perfectly.
Izumi quickly turned away and said, "Thanks, I guess."
"My name is Tetsuya," the boys started. As soon as he said that, Izumi turned her head toward him and stared wide-eyed and then turned angry. Tetsuya saw this and immediately asked, "What's the matter?"
"I can't believe you even came here!" Izumi yelled at Tetsuya and then turned her back toward him and crossed her arms. "After what you did, you came anyway?"
"Izumi?" Tetsuya asked, astonished.
"Who did you think it was?" Izumi yelled as she twirled around.
"I had to come here to say that I was sorry!" Tetsuya yelled back.
"You're sorry?" Izumi asked, lowering her voice.
"Hai, gomen," Tetsuya said and bowed his head to make sure she knew he was sorry.
Tetsuya looked up at Izumi and their eyes met again. Izumi quickly turned away, not wanting to show any weakness to Tetsuya.
"I accept your apology," Izumi replied and smiled. Maybe she would start being her old self, tomorrow...
A sudden shock hit Izumi and Tetsuya at the same time. They both felt it.
"Let me out of here!" a voice shouted from Izumi's backpack. Tetsuya stepped back when he heard that. Izumi quickly took off her backpack and unzipped it. Kero came flying out of it like a rocket.
"I thought you were asleep at Tomoyo's, Kero!" Izumi yelled as she looked angrily at Kero.
"I went into your backpack when you guys left," Kero said. "I needed to come along in case a Clow Card showed up, which is happening right now! We have to find it!"
"I didn't know stuffed animals could talk!" Tetsuya said menacingly. Kero just realized that he was there.
"What did you call me, you gaki!?!?!" Kero shouted back.
"You heard me!" Tetsuya shouted.
"I am Ceroberus, Guardian Beast of the Seal, not someone's play toy!" Kero yelled at Tetsuya.
"Hold everything, you are the Guardian Beast of the Seal?" Tetsuya asked. "For the Clow Cards?"
"Yes, I am!" Kero shouted. "And you've already met my Mistress, Izumi Hinako."
Izumi was standing behind Kero, looking VERY confused. "Would someone please tell me what's going on?" she asked.
"I came here to capture the Clow Cards," Tetsuya announced.
"Izumi is the rightful Cardcaptor! Not some stupid gaki!" Kero shouted at Tetsuya.
"I am the only heir close enough to Syaoran Li to do this job!" Tetsuya screamed back.
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Izumi shouted at the top of her lungs. "The Clow Cards are both of our responsibilities. We'll work together to capture them, just like Kinomoto-san and Li-san did before us."
"Work together?" Tetsuya asked.
"Hai, because the cards will be better this time around," Izumi answered, "so we'll have to be ready!"
"You've been spending way too much time around Tomoyo!" Kero said, sweatdropping.
"Did I hear my name?" a voice shouted from feet away. An amethyst eyed girl came up to their group.
"Tomoyo," Izumi said, sweatdropping, "what are you doing here?"
"I heard you yelling and I had to see what the problem was and tape it!" Tomoyo said, shiny eyed.
Everyone else sweatdropped. "Let's just get the Clow Card already!" Tetsuya said and pulled out his little green thingy (a/n: You know, to call upon his sword.) and turned it into a sword. Izumi got out her Key and stopped.
"Uh-what's the incantation for my Key, Kero?" Izumi asked. Kero sweatdropped.
"Repeat after me," Kero said and cleared his throat. "Oh, Key of Clow, power of magic, power of light, surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!"
"Okay," Izumi said and the held out the key in front of her,
"Oh, Key of Clow,
Power of magic, power of light,
Surrender the wand,
The force ignite.
Release!"
Izumi's Key turned into a wand with a bird-like head. She grabbed it and then turned to Kero. "Where is it?" Izumi asked him without the slightest clue.
Tomoyo had out her camera and said, "Too bad I don't have a costume for you, Izumi!"
"Uh-" Izumi started.
"The card seems to be somewhere by that tree," Kero said, trying to focus, and pointing to a cherry blossom tree.
"I absolutely love cherry blossom trees!" Izumi cried, shiny-eyed.
Tomoyo giggled while Tetsuya and Kero sweatdropped. "Let's just go already," Tetsuya said.
"Right," Izumi said, losing her shiny eyes and ready to fight.
They ran over to the cherry blossom tree and had a look around. "There's nothing here," Tetsuya said.
"How can you tell?" Izumi asked. "It's so dark..." Izumi trailed off and closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the darkness. She felt everyone's presence, Kero's was yellow, Tomoyo's was purple, and Tetsuya's was green, but there was one other. One that was white, pure white.
'The Clow Card!' Izumi yelled in her head and opened her eyes to look at the spot where she sensed it. She held out her wand in front of her. "Clow Card, show us your true form! Release!" Izumi shouted with her wand pointed at the spot.
There was a bright light and then a small rabbit-like creature with wings came into focus. It jumped up to the top of the tree and everyone looked up at it.
"The Jump!" Kero cried as he saw it.
"The Jump, huh?" Izumi asked. "Then we have to run it down?"
"Yes," Kero answered, "and where did that saying come from?"
"Uh-I felt the card's presence when I closed my eyes and just said it," Izumi replied. "Was it wrong?"
"No, now how are we going to run that down?" Kero asked, pointing up to The Jump.
"We'll surround it and then maybe we can capture it," Izumi suggested.
"Right," Tetsuya agreed and then dropped his voice to a whisper. "Lead it over to the maple tree and I'll hit it."
"Okay," Izumi whispered back and they all separated. Tetsuya ran over to get into position to hit The Jump. Tomoyo and Kero ran over to the bushes to take cover and so Tomoyo could film it all. Izumi ran right in front of the cherry blossom tree so The Jump could see her.
"Jump!" Izumi yelled, getting Jump's attention. "I'm going to catch you if you don't catch me first!" Izumi yelled and started running towards the maple tree. Jump followed with huge jumps so that Izumi would have to run her hardest not to get caught.
She was right around the bend and yelled, "NOW!"
"Raiden Shorai!" Tetsuya called, sounding exactly like Syaoran. He conjured up a bolt of lightning and it had hit The Jump right on.
"Clow Card, return to your power confined! JUMP!" Izumi yelled as she struck her wand in midair. A card was formed in front of it before it stopped glowing.
The card flew over to Izumi and she caught it with her left hand. The card had the picture of the small rabbit-like creature on it with wings and underneath, it had the words, 'The Jump.'
"I caught my first Clow Card!" Izumi yelled with joy as she raised the card over her head with joy. She started jumping around and yelling and screaming while Tomoyo, Kero, and Tetsuya sweatdropped.
"I'm glad she forgot about Jonouchi," Tomoyo said in a whisper.
"Who?" Tetsuya asked, turning towards Tomoyo.
"Her brother, Jonouchi, was in a car accident tonight and is still in the hospital," Tomoyo said sadly. "She said that she wasn't going to open up to anyone ever again except for me and her father, but I guess she forgot about that too."
"What makes you say that?" Tetsuya asked.
"She did accept your apology, right?" Tomoyo asked. "That sounds like opening up, doesn't it?"
Tetsuya blushed. "I guess that qualifies," he replied.
"You can't hide behind your computer anymore," Tomoyo said. "I can see it when you blush and I can see Izumi, in all her sweetness. She is just so much like Sakura."
Izumi was still prancing around the park like she'd just won the lottery and was still holding onto The Jump Card with her left hand.
"Sakura didn't prance around when she caught her first card," Kero stated, "but I have to admit, it is funny to watch." Kero started laughing and then got Tetsuya and Tomoyo laughing which made Izumi stop prancing.
She walked over to the others. "What's so funny?" Izumi asked, confused.
"Nothing at all, Izumi," Tomoyo said. "Now, let's go back to my house and figure out how I'm going to do your hair for the first day of school!" She had her shiny eyes in place.
Izumi sweatdropped and replied, "Okay." She turned to Tetsuya. "We'll see you tomorrow at school."
"Right," Tetsuya replied. Tomoyo put her camera up to her eye, waiting. Izumi took Tomoyo's arm and dragged her to the front gate of the park.
"Oyasumi Tetsuya!" Izumi yelled as she stopped at the gate.
"Oyasumi!" Tetsuya yelled back just as Izumi and Tomoyo disappeared into the darkness.
'Good thing I did walk in the park,' Tetsuya thought.
Tetsuya gathered his things and walked out of the park and into the night.
~****Next Day, Tomoyo's Room****~
"WAKE UP, IZUMI!" an amethyst eyed girl yelled as she shook her friend to get her up for her first day at Tomoeda Elementary.
An emerald eyed girl sat up in bed when her friend seized shaking her. "Gomen nasai!" Izumi said to her amethyst eyed friend.
"That's all right!" Tomoyo replied. "Now go get dressed and comb your hair!" Tomoyo threw Izumi's uniform at her and pointed to the bathroom.
Izumi got up and walked into the bathroom. She took off the pajamas she borrowed from Tomoyo and put on her uniform. The blue skirt fit her perfectly and so did the blue top with the white bow.
She picked up a comb and brushed out her short auburn hair. She set the comb down when she was done and looked at herself in the mirror.
Izumi loved her hair and the way it looked bordering her face and her emerald eyes that made anyone blush. 'Except for one person,' Izumi thought. 'Tetsuya didn't blush when he saw my emerald eyes or maybe I just didn't see it. I think that's it. It was so dark out there last night that I couldn't see him blush.'
"Are you done yet, Izumi?" Tomoyo yelled from her bedroom. "I would like to get your hair done before school starts!"
Izumi opened the door and saw Tomoyo sitting on the floor, waiting for her.
"About time!" Kero yelled. "Tomoyo had to get me breakfast because you are so slow at waking up!"
"Gomen nasai, Kero," Izumi replied as she walked over to the bed, picked up her socks laying there, and sat down in front of Tomoyo so she could do her hair.
Tomoyo had a brush and started brushing Izumi's hair. She put two blue ribbons in her hair with two little ponytails.
"You know I could've done that," Izumi said, putting on her socks.
"But me doing it makes it special!" Tomoyo said, shiny eyed.
Izumi sweatdropped. "Uh-let's just get to school," she said.
"Yes, and we're not late today because of me waking you up!" Tomoyo said as she stood up.
Izumi stood up also and grabbed her backpack. Tomoyo walked out the door and down the steps with Izumi right behind her. They walked outside after getting their shoes on and started their walk to school.
"I can't wait till we get there!" Izumi shouted, gleefully.
"Well, you're happy today!" Tomoyo replied, smiling at Izumi.
"Of course!" Izumi replied. "I caught my first Clow Card and made up with Tetsuya! What could be better?"
"Nothing, I suppose," Tomoyo said, smiling even wider.
"Hey Tomoyo!" a voice yelled from behind Izumi and Tomoyo.
They both turned around. "Hey Chiharu-chan, where's Yamazaki-kun?" Tomoyo asked, looking around.
"He already went to school and didn't wait for me," Chiharu replied and sighed. She turned to Izumi. "So who are you?"
"I'm Izumi Hinako," Izumi said.
"I'm Chiharu Mihara," Chiharu replied. She had two long ponytails in her golden brown hair.
"Chiharu is the girlfriend of Takashi Yamazaki," Tomoyo explained. "You can meet him when we get to school."
"Sounds great!" Izumi replied.
The three girls walked on, so they would get to school on time. They soon came to the school, surrounded by trees of all sorts. It was beautiful!
Tomoyo, Izumi, and Chiharu ran inside to catch the bell before they were late. They ran up the steps and into their classroom right before the bell rung.
Izumi walked up to the teacher, and said, "I'm new here. My name is Izumi Hinako." Izumi was still panting from the run.
The teacher had hip-length auburn hair and hazel-nut eyes that went perfectly with her hair. She was wearing what looked like a large school uniform except the skirt didn't have ruffles and the top didn't have a bow but instead was a tie.
"Hello Miss Hinako and welcome to Tomoeda Elementary," the teacher said kindly. "I'm Miss Perna and I will be your reading teacher for the year. You can have a seat beside Miss Daidouji." Miss Perna pointed to Tomoyo who smiled wide.
Izumi walked over to her seat and sat down. Miss Perna stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the class.
"Class we have two new students coming today, but I'm afraid only one is here right now," Miss Perna explained. "The other one will be here momentarily. Now then, how about you introduce yourself, Miss Hinako?"
Izumi stood up and walked to the front of the class. "My name is Izumi Hinako. I just moved here from Tokyo. It's nice to meet you all," Izumi said politely and bowed. She didn't really know what to say so she said it all slowly and hesitantly. She was super nervous, but she didn't let it show.
"Arigatou, Miss Hinako," Miss Perna said when Izumi was finished. "You may sit down."
Izumi walked back to her seat and the minute she sat down, the door opened. A boy with chestnut brown hair and amber eyes stood there confidently.
'How can he be so confident when I'm so shy?' Izumi wondered.
"You must be Tetsuya Li," Miss Perna said. "Welcome to Tomoeda! My name is Miss Perna. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"
Tetsuya started walking, took a quick glance and smile at Izumi, making her turn beat red, and stopped in front of the class.
"I'm Tetsuya Li," Tetsuya said calmly. "I moved here from China yesterday, but I know I'll like it here more." He said the last bit as he smirked at Izumi, making her turn redder, if that is possible. She quickly moved her eyes down to her desk, making it seem so interesting.
"Okay, Mr. Li," Miss Perna said, "you make take your seat which will be behind Miss Hinako." And if it was possible, Miss Perna just made Izumi turn even redder. "Miss Hinako, will you please raise your hand?"
Izumi slowly put her hand up still looking down, but didn't know why Tetsuya didn't just tell the teacher that he knew her. 'He just wants me to suffer,' Izumi thought in her head.
Tetsuya walked over to his desk, still smirking and sat down. Tomoyo followed him with her eyes and then saw Izumi blushing and smiled wide.
The ruby eyed girl with two long black ponytails behind Tomoyo looked very confused at Tomoyo. She looked over at Izumi and saw her blushing. Then she looked over at Tetsuya who was sitting beside her who was smirking.
'I'm VERY confused right now,' Meiling thought in her head. Then an idea hit her. She got a piece of paper from her notebook and started writing something.
Izumi continued looking down, even when the teacher started talking. She started fiddling with her hands, but was still as red as a tomato.
Tetsuya was very proud of himself, having embarrassed Izumi in front of the class. Well, he had least made her turn bright red. He leaned back on his chair with his hands behind his head.
Meiling had finished writing her note and passed it up to Tomoyo. Tomoyo quickly opened it up and read it:
What is going on, Tomoyo? Why is Tetsuya here? He is my cousin after all. And why is Izumi blushing? What happened last night?
Meiling
Tomoyo finished reading it and quickly wrote back:
Meiling, Tetsuya is here to capture the Clow Cards. Izumi is the new Card Mistress. Last night, they captured The Jump Card. Now, are you going to be all over Tetsuya like you were with Li-kun?
Tomoyo
Then, Tomoyo speedily slipped the note onto Meiling's desk. She quickly read it and replied:
No, Syaoran was the only one for me. Tetsuya isn't mine, I know that. So Izumi is the new Card Mistress? Wow, how awesome!
Meiling
Then, Meiling quickly passed the note to Tomoyo who read it, but decided not to reply because the teacher was calling on people to read where she left off at so you had to pay attention. The class was reading Flipped By: Wendelin Van Draanen.
Izumi was following along with the reading when she noticed a note lying on her desk. She picked it up and opened it:
So, Izumi, guess we're in the same class, huh? Who would've thought? And Tomoyo and Meiling too. Oh, btw Meiling is my cousin, the one sitting behind Tomoyo with the ruby eyes. She had a crush on Syaoran, but he hated her. It was a bad relationship...
Tetsuya
Izumi finished reading it and was about to write back when Miss Perna said, "Miss Hinako, please read from where I left off!"
Izumi froze, she knew if she didn't start in the right place that she could get detention for not paying attention, but she didn't know where the class had stopped.
Izumi looked at the book and saw the place she had stopped when Tetsuya had given her the note. So if she could just calculate how fast Miss Perna reads-
"Miss Hinako, we're waiting," Miss Perna said impatiently.
"O-okay," Izumi replied and picked the beginning of a paragraph and started reading. "A few minutes later I saw Bryce coming down the sidewalk toward his house..." No one said anything until she had finished the page.
"Good," Miss Perna replied, clearly disappointed at not catching Izumi not paying attention. "Miss Daidouji, please continue from where Miss Hinako left off."
Izumi sighed and thanked God she didn't mess up. That was probably the most embarrassing moment she has ever had! I mean risking detention for a note! Was she out of her mind?
Tetsuya saw what happened and only widened his smirk. 'This is way too much fun!' he thought as he followed along with the class in Flipped.
~****Lunchtime****~
"Oh good God!" Izumi yelled when she got out of reading class. "I thought I was going to die in there!" She pointed to the door of the class. She was breathing hard and people were staring at her.
"It's lunchtime," Tomoyo said, trying to calm Izumi down. "Maybe eating will take your mind off reading class."
"Boy, I hope so," Izumi said as her and Tomoyo walked into the lunch line and waited for their lunches.
Izumi started walking forward when the line was moving, but accidentally bumped into someone because she wasn't paying attention.
"Gomen nasai," Izumi said quickly without looking up.
"Well, I've never seen a beauty like you here before," a male's voice sounded from in front of Izumi.
Izumi looked up and met dreamy blue eyes. The boy had chocolate brown hair. 'He's like a mix of Kei and Tetsuya,' Izumi thought as she looked at him. 'I wonder if he's bad or good?'
"I'm Chris Hall, but you can call me Chris," the boy said, putting out his hand.
"I'm Izumi Hinako, but you can call me Izumi," Izumi replied, shaking his hand and smiling with her eyes closed.
'It's my eyes,' Izumi thought. 'Every guy I've went out with only liked me for my piercing emerald eyes. Why did I have to have these things?' She opened her eyes again when she stopped smiling.
"Kawaii!" Tomoyo yelled, interrupting Izumi's thoughts.
"Tomoyo," Izumi said menacingly and then changed her mood to cheerful. "This is my friend, Tomoyo Daidouji."
Tomoyo and Chris shook hands. "So where did you move here from?" Chris asked Izumi as the line moved up.
"I used to live in Tokyo," Izumi answered as she looked around the courtyard where the school always had lunch. Soon, she spotted Tetsuya eating with a boy with blue spiked hair.
"That's Yamazaki eating lunch with Tetsuya," Tomoyo said when she saw Izumi looking over that way.
"Oh, so that's Yamazaki!" Izumi replied. "And there goes Chiharu." Chiharu was walking over to Yamazaki. "She looks like she's going to kill him!"
"Don't worry!" Tomoyo replied. "That's how she always looks at him!"
Izumi let out a sigh and turned to Chris, but he was gone. "Where'd Chris go?" Izumi asked Tomoyo, looking confused.
"Maybe he went to get something," Tomoyo replied and smiled. "I'm sure he'll be back. He has a thing for you."
"He does not have a thing for me," Izumi replied. They both got their lunches which consisted of popcorn chicken, French fries, brownies, and chocolate milk.
They walked out onto the courtyard and headed towards the table Tetsuya and Yamazaki were sitting at. Izumi sat next to Tetsuya while Tomoyo sat across from her and beside Yamazaki. On the other side of Yamazaki was Chiharu. Next to Chiharu was a girl with short brown hair and glasses. Next to Tetsuya, on the other side, was a girl with lighter brown hair that sort of curled or waved.
"Izumi, this is Rika Sazaki," Tomoyo said as she pointed to the girl sitting next to Tetsuya, "and Naoko Yanagisawa." Tomoyo pointed to the girl sitting beside Chiharu. "They're in our morning class, too."
"And this is Yamazaki," Chiharu stated, nudging the blue haired boy beside her, "my boyfriend."
"Did you know that the word boyfriend comes from-" Yamazaki started.
"Stop right there!" Chiharu interrupted. "He gets into boring explanations about everything. Sometimes you just have to ignore him."
Izumi giggled. "Well, it's nice to meet all of you," Izumi said with a smile.
"Wow, you're right Tomoyo," a voice said from the side of the table beside Izumi. They all turned to face a ruby eyed girl with long raven hair. "She really does look like Sakura-chan."
"Izumi, this is Meiling Li," Tomoyo stated, "Tetsuya-kun's cousin."
"Whom didn't know about all of this business with 'the cards!'" Meiling shouted.
"'The cards?'" Chiharu, Naoko, Rika, and Yamazaki asked together.
"Uh-will you please excuse us for a moment please?" Izumi asked as she stood up. Her and Tetsuya dragged Meiling over to the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard with Tomoyo right behind them.
"Meiling!" Tomoyo whispered loudly. "You can't say anything about 'the cards' to them!"
"Gomen," Meiling said as she put her head down in shame. "I didn't mean to."
"So, Meiling knows about 'the cards?'" Izumi asked, confused by all this.
"Hai, she was the cousin of Syaoran Li too," Tomoyo stated. "So she came here wanting to help him but couldn't because she didn't have any magic. She was forced to watch as Li-kun and Sakura-chan fought the battles."
"And you should've called me last night!" Meiling almost shouted.
"It was Izumi's first capture," Tetsuya said. "And we didn't know where to contact you."
"She did!" Meiling practically screamed as she pointed to Tomoyo.
"I'm sorry!" Tomoyo said and bowed her head. "I'll call you next time."
"You better," Meiling stated and turned to Izumi. "I really can't believe it, but the team is back together again! This is so radical!"
"Of course!" Tomoyo agreed, shiny eyed. "More outfits for me to make!"
Tetsuya and Izumi sweatdropped. "Uh-Do you know what to say to that?" Izumi asked Tetsuya.
"I can't say I do," Tetsuya replied. Izumi and Tetsuya started laughing hysterically about nothing in particular. Tomoyo and Meiling looked at them, confused.
"Why are they laughing?" Tomoyo asked Meiling.
"That's easy," Meiling stated, "I don't know!"
Tomoyo fell over anime style! "Meiling!" Tomoyo yelled as Meiling started laughing just when Tetsuya and Izumi stopped laughing.
"What's with her?" Izumi asked, confused.
"It's a LONG story," Tomoyo said as she lead Izumi and Tetsuya back to their table.
Meiling stopped laughing and looked around. "Guys? Guys?" Meiling asked. She turned angry and walked over to the table.
"GUYS!" Meiling said menacingly when she got to the table.
"It's okay, Meiling," Tomoyo said.
"Yea," Izumi added, "we're sorry."
"That's okay, guys," Meiling replied with joy in her face.
"Well, now that that's settled, how about we talk about our new project for Social Studies?" Chiharu asked.
"Huh?" Izumi asked.
"In Social Studies today, we will be-uh-married to a guy in class and we get jobs," Tomoyo explained. "We'll be working on it for 8 months and the we have to give a report on the difficulties we had throughout our marriage."
"How many difficulties can a couple have at ten years old?" Tetsuya asked sarcastically.
"The teacher will make us pick difficulties from a hat," Rika explained. "We could win the lottery or lose money in the stock market. You see, today, we all get $1,000 for starting money and our job has money, too, so we get that everyday also."
"Exactly!" Tomoyo said cheerfully. "And every week you have to buy groceries. We also get grades for the things we did on Fridays."
"So, we have to-uh-practice for our marriage later in life?" Izumi asked.
"Yes, that's exactly what Mr. Kreminess said," Naoko replied, "practice for marriage."
"That's stupid," Tetsuya said, "like we're going to get married at ten years old."
"Mr. Kreminess is an odd teacher, I guess," Yamazaki replied. "And another thing is that you have to spend at least 4 hours a week with your 'husband/wife.' It's really the only assignment this year, really, which is a good thing."
"You guys did this yesterday?" Izumi asked.
"Well, Mr. Kreminess explained it yesterday, but today we're getting our partners, jobs, and our first problem to solve," Tomoyo answered.
"Okay-" Izumi replied just before the bell rang. They all got up and Tomoyo lead the way to Social Studies class. She walked in with a smile, followed by Izumi with another smile, and then came the others, all with huge frowns on.
The bell starting class rang so everyone got seated. In this class, Izumi was behind Tomoyo and to the right of Tetsuya. In front of him was Yamazaki and then Chiharu sat to the left of him. Meiling sat on the other side of Tomoyo and no one sat behind her.
They were all in the back on the classroom. Rika and Naoko sat in the front of the room along with Chris.
'I didn't know he was in this class!' Izumi thought. 'That's cool. Maybe I'll be with him for our project.'
"Okay, class," Mr. Kreminess said. He was tall, about 6 ft, with black hair and jade eyes. He was wearing a blue suit that matched the uniforms the students had to wear. "Today we're going to see who will be marrying who! You will also get jobs and your first problems to solve."
Izumi wasn't listening to the teacher one bit. Instead she was focusing on Chris and how it would be being partnered with him. She was kind of using the "love" stare which of course, Tetsuya saw.
He looked where Izumi was staring and saw Chris. 'How can she like him?' Tetsuya thought. 'He's such a wannabe. At least that's what Yamazaki told me at lunch.'
"Now we will pick the pairs," Mr. Kreminess said, interrupting Tetsuya's thoughts. "I have two boxes here. One has all of the boys names in it and the other has all the girls names. I will pick one from each and those two will be partnered together. They will then pick from the job jar. Any questions?"
Not a hand in the room rose. Half the class was excited about being married, (hence the girls) and half the class was terrified, (hence the boys.)
"First up," Mr. Kreminess said as he put his hand in the girls' box, "Rika Sazaki, and," he stuck his hand in the boys' box, "Justin Hempfield." They both walked up to the front of the room.
Rika made the most disgusted face in the world. And everyone knew why, Justin was the ugliest boy in the class. Izumi saw when he had walked up. She was super glad that she wasn't stuck with him.
Rika stuck her hand in the job jar and pulled one out. "Assistant manager for the Mighty Ducks?" Rika asked, confused. "They're a hockey team, right?" She looked toward Mr. Kreminess who sweatdropped.
"Yes, they're a hockey team," Mr. Kreminess replied.
Justin put his hand in the job jar and pulled his out. "Gymnastics Instructor?" Justin asked, like he got the worst job in the world.
Izumi gave a giggle, but quickly covered it with a cough. "Well, okay then," Mr. Kreminess said. "Will you two please sit down so we can pick the next two people?"
"Sorry," Rika and Justin said at the same time and then quietly took their seats.
"Now, let's see who's next for the girls," Mr. Kreminess said and reached his hand in the girls box and pulled one out. Izumi had her fingers crossed that she wouldn't get picked anytime soon.
"Tomoyo Daidouji," Mr. Kreminess said and reached his hand in the boys box while Tomoyo walked up to the front of the room. Izumi let out a huge sigh and uncrossed her fingers. "And Chris Hall."
Chris walked up to the front of the room too. Izumi sighed and put her chin in her hand with her elbow on her desk. 'I guess it was never meant to be,' Izumi thought. She didn't even notice that Chris got garbage man for a job and Tomoyo got owner of KiNkS Industry, a huge company that owns most of the town.
The next few people got picked, which Izumi didn't notice either, but when she looked to the front of the room, Chiharu and Yamazaki were paired together and were picking their jobs.
"Right," Mr. Kreminess said, "now we'll need," Mr. Kreminess stuck his hand in the girls' box after Chiharu and Yamazaki had their jobs, "Izumi Hinako, our new student."
Izumi needed a shove from Tomoyo to notice that her name was called. She walked up to the front of the room and looked around at the class. Some of the boys looked really mad, but others were crossing their fingers tightly.
'None of them want to have me as a partner,' Izumi figured in her head. Then she noticed Tetsuya. He was just sitting back on his chair and looked really comfortable. He was looking out the window and didn't really notice that Izumi was at the front of the room.
"And the boy paired with Izumi is," Mr. Kreminess said as he stuck his hand in the boys' box, "Tetsuya Li, our other new student."
Tetsuya heard his name called and quickly put his chair down. He looked up at the front of the room and saw Izumi standing there watching him with a smile on her face. He blushed as he stood up and walked to the front of the room.
Izumi picked her job first and looked at the slip. Her face lit up as she read out loud, "Horse instructor/trainer!" She was super happy that her smile reached her ears almost.
Tetsuya stuck his hand in and pulled out executive officer for KiNkS Industry. He worked for Tomoyo.
Tetsuya and Izumi sat down and the next two people were called. It continued like that for the rest of the class. Everyone got paired up with someone.
The bell rang, signifying that class was over. Tomoyo ran over to Izumi. "I'm sorry for taking Chris, Izumi!" she said with panic in her voice.
"It's okay," Izumi replied with a smile. "I'm with Tetsuya so it's fine with me."
"You like Tetsuya?" Tomoyo said really loud. Izumi quickly covered her mouth before she could say anymore.
Izumi slowly took her hand off Tomoyo's mouth and said, "I don't like Tetsuya in that kind of way! I'm glad I got him because he's someone I could work well with."
"Oh, okay," Tomoyo said sneakily, "I understand."
"Sure you do," Izumi replied.
"Oh come on!" Tomoyo said, a little angry. "Let's just drop it. So, what are you and Tetsuya doing for your four hours this week?"
"Since we have to write down what we do, we can't include captures, so, I don't know," Izumi answered, "but we'll think of something. We always do!"
"Everyone is jealous of you," Tomoyo giggled as they walked by a group of girls glaring at Izumi, "because you're partnered with Tetsuya who in fact, got VERY popular with the girls in one day."
"I don't see why they are," Izumi said, being dense again. "Tetsuya and I are just friends and besides, he is not in any possible way, cute." She shuddered at the thought.
"Okay, I get it, jeez," Tomoyo replied and they both started laughing. Every girl in the hallway glared at Izumi as they went past.
"Uh-Tomoyo," Izumi whispered quietly, looking at the glaring girls, "I can see why you think that."
"Just ignore them," Tomoyo replied to the scared Izumi. Tomoyo stuck her tongue out at the next group of glaring girls.
Izumi stopped at a sign on the door leading outside. It said, 'Cheerleading Tryouts Thursday after school.'
'Today's Thursday,' Izumi thought.
"Hey Tomoyo," Izumi said, "where are the Cheerleading tryouts held?"
"Outside on the soccer field," Tomoyo answered, "why?"
"I just wanted to try," Izumi said.
"If you try, then I will too!" Tomoyo cheered and dragged Izumi over to the soccer field. They sat down on the grass along with about twenty other girls wanting to tryout.
The old captain of the cheerleading squad spoke first, "Today, we are accepting five new girls to the squad. Then we'll decide the captain," the old captain said. She didn't have a cheerleading uniform on like everyone else did. Instead she wore her junior high school uniform since she was now too old to be captain. She had long blonde hair and deep aquamarine eyes.
"My name, by the way, is Maggie Lawrence," the old captain said cheerfully.
Izumi then saw about twenty boys come out of the boys' locker room. The were all wearing soccer uniforms and carrying soccer balls.
"Is this squad for the soccer team?" Izumi asked Tomoyo in a whisper.
"Yea, we don't have a football team," Tomoyo answered in another whisper. "Soccer is the only thing we've got."
Maggie continued on, explaining how to do the move she the team was testing the girls on. Half of the girls got up and left halfway through the explanation, because they knew they couldn't do the move.
"All right," Maggie said, "I'll write down each of your names as you come up and demonstrate the move."
Izumi glanced over at the soccer team. She suddenly saw Tetsuya. 'He must have gotten on the team when they had tryouts a few minutes ago,' Izumi thought. She also noticed that all the soccer players were watching the girls as they did the move.
"They always watch the cheerleaders," Tomoyo explained in a whisper. "It's so the girls show that they can live up to pressure."
"I understand," Izumi replied in another whisper.
"You," Maggie said, pointing to Izumi, "name?"
"Izumi Hinako," Izumi said, standing up.
"Go ahead and do the move," Maggie said. "The fancier, the better."
Izumi had seen almost all of the girls fail at the move and was a bit nervous, but as soon as she got up in front of everyone, she rocketed. It was like she was a cherry blossom blooming for the first time.
She did and round-off back hand spring and then finished with a very nice flip that was landed perfectly.
All of the girls cheered, the soccer team just stared in awe, even Tetsuya was speechless, and Maggie wrote something down on her notepad and then said, "Nice work," and called Tomoyo up.
Tomoyo did the same exact thing, except without as much grace. She was still better than a lot of the others though.
"Our new members will be Kira Marie Lightly, Ashley Jakabovic, Lily Jumpluff, Tomoyo Daidouji, and Izumi Hinako," Maggie announced.
All the girls that just got picked jumped up from their spots and started jumping up and down, celebrating. The boys on the soccer team all cheered for them.
"Now since that's over, we can pick our captain," Maggie said. "It is tradition to pick a young captain out of our new arrivals when the old one is gone, so one of you five ladies is going to be the team's new captain!"
Izumi knew that the team was going to decide, but how, she didn't know.
"Tradition is that the soccer team gets to decide and if there is a tie, the old captain picks one," Maggie explained. She gave the boys a basket of paper and some pencils. All of them quickly wrote who they liked the most, preferably the "hottest" as you might call it and put in back in the basket.
Maggie took the basket and said, "I'm going inside to count these, so everyone behave and talk amongst yourselves."
Maggie left, swinging her hips as she went. She was one of those diluted guy lovers of junior high.
"I'll bet any money that you're captain, Izumi," Tomoyo stated. "You've got the right stuff to be."
"Kira is going to win," Izumi said flatly.
"Why is that? She wasn't even very good!" Tomoyo argued.
Izumi pointed to the guys and Kira flirting with most of them. Tomoyo replied with, "I guess you're right, but you deserve it more."
Izumi didn't reply to that. She just wanted to think for a while. 'Whenever I'm in front of the crowd, I just explode with happiness,' Izumi thought. 'Is this where I belong?'
"Hey guys," a voice said behind Tomoyo and Izumi.
Izumi turned around, looked up, and met amber eyes.
"Hey Tetsuya," Izumi replied and looked down again. Tetsuya sat down in front of her with Tomoyo beside both of them, in an almost complete circle.
"What's the matter with her?" Tetsuya asked Tomoyo.
"Her," Tomoyo answered, pointing to Kira, now flirting with Yamazaki which made Chiharu go over there and drag him away. She was here to watch Izumi and Tomoyo tryout.
"You guys think that she'll win?" Tetsuya asked, surprised.
"Just look at her," Tomoyo replied.
Tetsuya saw her flirting with every single boy on the soccer team and knew she was up to no good.
"She's not going to win," Tetsuya said.
"What makes you so sure?" Izumi asked with the saddest face ever on her face.
"Well-" Tetsuya started, but was interrupted by Maggie coming back.
"Everyone!" Maggie yelled, getting everyone attention. "We have a new Cheerleading Captain!"
Everyone was hanging on Maggie's every word and Kira was about to jump from her seat because she knew she was going to win.
"And the new captain is..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a/n: Another cliffhanger...uh oh! Don't hurt me b/c of it!!!!!!!! AAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
By: Snow Horse
I don't own CCS, the all powerful and mighty CLAMP does. *sighs* But I do own this computer!!!!!!! *grabs computer* MINE!!!!!!!!!! And the keyboard too!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sakura and Syaoran were killed...by a Clow Card. All the cards released themselves. And now two new Cardcaptors are coming into the picture...Will they be able to take their place or will they die with them?
Key: "talking"
'thinking'
~****scene change****~
(a/n: author's note)
Recap:
Tomoyo wiped her tears away and started talking normally, "Do you want to go online? We can both go on our screen names."
"Sure," Izumi replied, taking her arm off of Tomoyo and taking out her laptop.
'I wonder if Tetsuya e-mailed me to apologize,' Izumi wondered. 'He just doesn't understand, no one does.'
Chapter 2
The First Day of School and A Capture
"Nothing," an auburn haired girl whispered under her breath.
"Nothing?" a violet haired girl asked, confused.
"Tetsuya didn't e-mail me," Izumi said sadly.
"Was he supposed to?" Tomoyo asked, looking concerned as she turned away from her computer.
"I just thought that maybe-" Izumi started but cut herself off. "I should have known better than to open myself up to him. He seemed like an okay guy, really he did. It's just-" Izumi started to get tears in her eyes.
"What happened?" Tomoyo asked as she sat down beside Izumi on the floor, her amethyst eyes full of concern for her new found friend.
"He made a rude comment to me and I will quote, 'Well, Miss Cheerleading Captain is afraid of going to a new school.'" Izumi said with her figure pointed in the air.
"He might have just been joking," Tomoyo suggested.
"Tetsuya was joking, but it's no joking matter," Izumi agreed with her head down. "I was Cheerleading Captain at my old school. I was the meanest one the school ever had before, but I turned later on."
"What do you mean?" Tomoyo asked.
"There was a time I was once the girlfriend of Kei Wong, aka Hothunk," Izumi started.
"WHAT!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?" Tomoyo yelled. "That bastard?"
Izumi nodded her head and continued. "My mom had died the year I came to that school. I officially made a name for myself, bad girl of the school. I was mean and horrid and impossible to be friends with. I found myself going out with Kei just because he was the most popular guy in the grade. I was hopeless then. I had made Cheerleading Captain and was evil and made the hardest routines for the girls. Kei loved every minute of it, of me being on his side. I had loved it at the time too. I didn't care about grades, I didn't care about anything. I would've gladly gotten arrested for all I care."
"You can't be serious?" Tomoyo asked, her amethyst eyes now filled with fear.
"I am," Izumi responded. "No matter how hard I want to forget it, I am. Until one summer, the best summer of my life. I was sent to camp for two whole months. It was a boy/girl camp and my bunkmate was Mika. I started to open up to Mika and then we met Ron. No back then, he was totally hot. Back then, both Mika and I had the hots for him. He, on the other hand, liked me for the nice, smart girl I was turning into thanks to Mika. And one night, he kissed me. I hated myself for it too. I had always liked him for his looks, but Mika had liked him for more than that. So the next day Ron and I confirmed that we wouldn't be boyfriend/girlfriend anymore. For the rest of the summer, I carried a weight around, the weight of turning on the only one who understood me."
"But you didn't-" Tomoyo started, but Izumi interrupted.
"I did hate myself for it," Izumi said. "I couldn't have been a worse friend. So before I left, I hooked Ron and Mika together. They were meant to be together and I'm meant to be alone."
"I'll say this," Tomoyo said. "You aren't making any sense."
"I know I'm not, but-" Izumi started but she was interrupted by Tomoyo's cell phone ringing.
Tomoyo walked over and picked it up. "Hello?" Tomoyo asked and then started listening intently.
Soon, her face went pale and she turned to Izumi. Tomoyo hung up the phone and started getting tears in her eyes.
"Y-your b-brother j-just got into a-an accident," Tomoyo stammered out, crying.
"W-what?" Izumi asked, crying. "Why didn't they call on my phone?"
"Your phone is dead that's why," Tomoyo answered.
"But how?" Izumi asked, tears flowing down her cheeks.
"We have to get to the hospital!" Tomoyo cried as they both ran out the door and had Tomoyo's Okaa-san drive them to the hospital.
"Will he be all right?" Izumi heard Otou-san ask the doctor.
"He can't die!" Izumi screamed out of the top of her lungs.
"Izumi," Hayao whispered softly, tears filling his eyes.
"He'll be all right, won't he? Won't he?!?!?!" Izumi cried again.
"He's unconscious right now," the doctor said solemnly.
Izumi burst into more tears as Tomoyo tried to comfort her but just burst into tears herself. It was Sakura and Syaoran all over again.
Izumi couldn't take it anymore. She ran out of the hospital with Tomoyo right behind her. She ran to the park and sat down on a bench.
"Izumi," Tomoyo whispered as she caught up with Izumi and sat next to her, "it'll be all right. Kero is still sleeping in my room, you know."
"No, I can't take it," Izumi replied softly. "I'm through with being the nice girl. I'm absolutely through with it. No one can tell me what to do anymore, no one."
"Izumi," Tomoyo whispered again, not sure of what to say.
"Tomoyo, we'll still be friends. We'll always be friends," Izumi said. "I will never open my heart to anyone ever again, no one except you and Otou-san. You both will be there for me no matter what I do."
"What about the Clow Cards?" Tomoyo asked.
"I'll still catch them," Izumi said. "It's my duty, but no card is going to push me around, no one will ever push me around."
~****The Airport****~
A chestnut haired boy with amber eyes walked off the plane and into the airport. Luckily, a plane was going to take off and he could get on it and come here.
'I have to apologize to Izumi personally and maybe find out why she was mad at me in the first place,' the boy thought. 'Off to Tomoeda.'
He walked out of the airport with his bags and called a cab. He got in and said, "Tomoeda, please."
The cab sped off and finally arrived at a place called Penguin Park. He got out and looked around. 'I'll just walk to my supposed-to-be apartment after I spend some time here,' the boy thought.
~****Izumi & Tomoyo****~
"Are you sure you want to stay here for a while?" Tomoyo asked with concern in her amethyst eyes.
"I want to think for a while without anybody here," Izumi replied. "I'll meet you back at your house later."
"Okay," Tomoyo said, walking out of the park.
Izumi was laying down on a bench with her hands behind her head, thinking.
"Everything always has to be so complicated," Izumi whispered to herself. She started singing 'Come Clean' by Hilary Duff.
Let's go back Back to the beginning Back to when the earth, the sun, the stars all aligned
'Cause perfect didn't feel so perfect Trying to fit a square into a circle Was no life I defy
"You're a good singer," a voice said from the right of Izumi. She sat straight up and looked at the person who talked to her. It was a chestnut haired boy with amber orbs.
"I don't need your compliments," Izumi replied and stood up, walking away from him.
"I didn't mean to offend you or anything," the boy said, walking up to Izumi and staying at her speed. "I just think you'd be a great singer."
Izumi stopped and turned toward him. Emerald orbs met amber as she looked at his eyes. Even though it was dark, she could still see them perfectly.
Izumi quickly turned away and said, "Thanks, I guess."
"My name is Tetsuya," the boys started. As soon as he said that, Izumi turned her head toward him and stared wide-eyed and then turned angry. Tetsuya saw this and immediately asked, "What's the matter?"
"I can't believe you even came here!" Izumi yelled at Tetsuya and then turned her back toward him and crossed her arms. "After what you did, you came anyway?"
"Izumi?" Tetsuya asked, astonished.
"Who did you think it was?" Izumi yelled as she twirled around.
"I had to come here to say that I was sorry!" Tetsuya yelled back.
"You're sorry?" Izumi asked, lowering her voice.
"Hai, gomen," Tetsuya said and bowed his head to make sure she knew he was sorry.
Tetsuya looked up at Izumi and their eyes met again. Izumi quickly turned away, not wanting to show any weakness to Tetsuya.
"I accept your apology," Izumi replied and smiled. Maybe she would start being her old self, tomorrow...
A sudden shock hit Izumi and Tetsuya at the same time. They both felt it.
"Let me out of here!" a voice shouted from Izumi's backpack. Tetsuya stepped back when he heard that. Izumi quickly took off her backpack and unzipped it. Kero came flying out of it like a rocket.
"I thought you were asleep at Tomoyo's, Kero!" Izumi yelled as she looked angrily at Kero.
"I went into your backpack when you guys left," Kero said. "I needed to come along in case a Clow Card showed up, which is happening right now! We have to find it!"
"I didn't know stuffed animals could talk!" Tetsuya said menacingly. Kero just realized that he was there.
"What did you call me, you gaki!?!?!" Kero shouted back.
"You heard me!" Tetsuya shouted.
"I am Ceroberus, Guardian Beast of the Seal, not someone's play toy!" Kero yelled at Tetsuya.
"Hold everything, you are the Guardian Beast of the Seal?" Tetsuya asked. "For the Clow Cards?"
"Yes, I am!" Kero shouted. "And you've already met my Mistress, Izumi Hinako."
Izumi was standing behind Kero, looking VERY confused. "Would someone please tell me what's going on?" she asked.
"I came here to capture the Clow Cards," Tetsuya announced.
"Izumi is the rightful Cardcaptor! Not some stupid gaki!" Kero shouted at Tetsuya.
"I am the only heir close enough to Syaoran Li to do this job!" Tetsuya screamed back.
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" Izumi shouted at the top of her lungs. "The Clow Cards are both of our responsibilities. We'll work together to capture them, just like Kinomoto-san and Li-san did before us."
"Work together?" Tetsuya asked.
"Hai, because the cards will be better this time around," Izumi answered, "so we'll have to be ready!"
"You've been spending way too much time around Tomoyo!" Kero said, sweatdropping.
"Did I hear my name?" a voice shouted from feet away. An amethyst eyed girl came up to their group.
"Tomoyo," Izumi said, sweatdropping, "what are you doing here?"
"I heard you yelling and I had to see what the problem was and tape it!" Tomoyo said, shiny eyed.
Everyone else sweatdropped. "Let's just get the Clow Card already!" Tetsuya said and pulled out his little green thingy (a/n: You know, to call upon his sword.) and turned it into a sword. Izumi got out her Key and stopped.
"Uh-what's the incantation for my Key, Kero?" Izumi asked. Kero sweatdropped.
"Repeat after me," Kero said and cleared his throat. "Oh, Key of Clow, power of magic, power of light, surrender the wand, the force ignite. Release!"
"Okay," Izumi said and the held out the key in front of her,
"Oh, Key of Clow,
Power of magic, power of light,
Surrender the wand,
The force ignite.
Release!"
Izumi's Key turned into a wand with a bird-like head. She grabbed it and then turned to Kero. "Where is it?" Izumi asked him without the slightest clue.
Tomoyo had out her camera and said, "Too bad I don't have a costume for you, Izumi!"
"Uh-" Izumi started.
"The card seems to be somewhere by that tree," Kero said, trying to focus, and pointing to a cherry blossom tree.
"I absolutely love cherry blossom trees!" Izumi cried, shiny-eyed.
Tomoyo giggled while Tetsuya and Kero sweatdropped. "Let's just go already," Tetsuya said.
"Right," Izumi said, losing her shiny eyes and ready to fight.
They ran over to the cherry blossom tree and had a look around. "There's nothing here," Tetsuya said.
"How can you tell?" Izumi asked. "It's so dark..." Izumi trailed off and closed her eyes, trying to get rid of the darkness. She felt everyone's presence, Kero's was yellow, Tomoyo's was purple, and Tetsuya's was green, but there was one other. One that was white, pure white.
'The Clow Card!' Izumi yelled in her head and opened her eyes to look at the spot where she sensed it. She held out her wand in front of her. "Clow Card, show us your true form! Release!" Izumi shouted with her wand pointed at the spot.
There was a bright light and then a small rabbit-like creature with wings came into focus. It jumped up to the top of the tree and everyone looked up at it.
"The Jump!" Kero cried as he saw it.
"The Jump, huh?" Izumi asked. "Then we have to run it down?"
"Yes," Kero answered, "and where did that saying come from?"
"Uh-I felt the card's presence when I closed my eyes and just said it," Izumi replied. "Was it wrong?"
"No, now how are we going to run that down?" Kero asked, pointing up to The Jump.
"We'll surround it and then maybe we can capture it," Izumi suggested.
"Right," Tetsuya agreed and then dropped his voice to a whisper. "Lead it over to the maple tree and I'll hit it."
"Okay," Izumi whispered back and they all separated. Tetsuya ran over to get into position to hit The Jump. Tomoyo and Kero ran over to the bushes to take cover and so Tomoyo could film it all. Izumi ran right in front of the cherry blossom tree so The Jump could see her.
"Jump!" Izumi yelled, getting Jump's attention. "I'm going to catch you if you don't catch me first!" Izumi yelled and started running towards the maple tree. Jump followed with huge jumps so that Izumi would have to run her hardest not to get caught.
She was right around the bend and yelled, "NOW!"
"Raiden Shorai!" Tetsuya called, sounding exactly like Syaoran. He conjured up a bolt of lightning and it had hit The Jump right on.
"Clow Card, return to your power confined! JUMP!" Izumi yelled as she struck her wand in midair. A card was formed in front of it before it stopped glowing.
The card flew over to Izumi and she caught it with her left hand. The card had the picture of the small rabbit-like creature on it with wings and underneath, it had the words, 'The Jump.'
"I caught my first Clow Card!" Izumi yelled with joy as she raised the card over her head with joy. She started jumping around and yelling and screaming while Tomoyo, Kero, and Tetsuya sweatdropped.
"I'm glad she forgot about Jonouchi," Tomoyo said in a whisper.
"Who?" Tetsuya asked, turning towards Tomoyo.
"Her brother, Jonouchi, was in a car accident tonight and is still in the hospital," Tomoyo said sadly. "She said that she wasn't going to open up to anyone ever again except for me and her father, but I guess she forgot about that too."
"What makes you say that?" Tetsuya asked.
"She did accept your apology, right?" Tomoyo asked. "That sounds like opening up, doesn't it?"
Tetsuya blushed. "I guess that qualifies," he replied.
"You can't hide behind your computer anymore," Tomoyo said. "I can see it when you blush and I can see Izumi, in all her sweetness. She is just so much like Sakura."
Izumi was still prancing around the park like she'd just won the lottery and was still holding onto The Jump Card with her left hand.
"Sakura didn't prance around when she caught her first card," Kero stated, "but I have to admit, it is funny to watch." Kero started laughing and then got Tetsuya and Tomoyo laughing which made Izumi stop prancing.
She walked over to the others. "What's so funny?" Izumi asked, confused.
"Nothing at all, Izumi," Tomoyo said. "Now, let's go back to my house and figure out how I'm going to do your hair for the first day of school!" She had her shiny eyes in place.
Izumi sweatdropped and replied, "Okay." She turned to Tetsuya. "We'll see you tomorrow at school."
"Right," Tetsuya replied. Tomoyo put her camera up to her eye, waiting. Izumi took Tomoyo's arm and dragged her to the front gate of the park.
"Oyasumi Tetsuya!" Izumi yelled as she stopped at the gate.
"Oyasumi!" Tetsuya yelled back just as Izumi and Tomoyo disappeared into the darkness.
'Good thing I did walk in the park,' Tetsuya thought.
Tetsuya gathered his things and walked out of the park and into the night.
~****Next Day, Tomoyo's Room****~
"WAKE UP, IZUMI!" an amethyst eyed girl yelled as she shook her friend to get her up for her first day at Tomoeda Elementary.
An emerald eyed girl sat up in bed when her friend seized shaking her. "Gomen nasai!" Izumi said to her amethyst eyed friend.
"That's all right!" Tomoyo replied. "Now go get dressed and comb your hair!" Tomoyo threw Izumi's uniform at her and pointed to the bathroom.
Izumi got up and walked into the bathroom. She took off the pajamas she borrowed from Tomoyo and put on her uniform. The blue skirt fit her perfectly and so did the blue top with the white bow.
She picked up a comb and brushed out her short auburn hair. She set the comb down when she was done and looked at herself in the mirror.
Izumi loved her hair and the way it looked bordering her face and her emerald eyes that made anyone blush. 'Except for one person,' Izumi thought. 'Tetsuya didn't blush when he saw my emerald eyes or maybe I just didn't see it. I think that's it. It was so dark out there last night that I couldn't see him blush.'
"Are you done yet, Izumi?" Tomoyo yelled from her bedroom. "I would like to get your hair done before school starts!"
Izumi opened the door and saw Tomoyo sitting on the floor, waiting for her.
"About time!" Kero yelled. "Tomoyo had to get me breakfast because you are so slow at waking up!"
"Gomen nasai, Kero," Izumi replied as she walked over to the bed, picked up her socks laying there, and sat down in front of Tomoyo so she could do her hair.
Tomoyo had a brush and started brushing Izumi's hair. She put two blue ribbons in her hair with two little ponytails.
"You know I could've done that," Izumi said, putting on her socks.
"But me doing it makes it special!" Tomoyo said, shiny eyed.
Izumi sweatdropped. "Uh-let's just get to school," she said.
"Yes, and we're not late today because of me waking you up!" Tomoyo said as she stood up.
Izumi stood up also and grabbed her backpack. Tomoyo walked out the door and down the steps with Izumi right behind her. They walked outside after getting their shoes on and started their walk to school.
"I can't wait till we get there!" Izumi shouted, gleefully.
"Well, you're happy today!" Tomoyo replied, smiling at Izumi.
"Of course!" Izumi replied. "I caught my first Clow Card and made up with Tetsuya! What could be better?"
"Nothing, I suppose," Tomoyo said, smiling even wider.
"Hey Tomoyo!" a voice yelled from behind Izumi and Tomoyo.
They both turned around. "Hey Chiharu-chan, where's Yamazaki-kun?" Tomoyo asked, looking around.
"He already went to school and didn't wait for me," Chiharu replied and sighed. She turned to Izumi. "So who are you?"
"I'm Izumi Hinako," Izumi said.
"I'm Chiharu Mihara," Chiharu replied. She had two long ponytails in her golden brown hair.
"Chiharu is the girlfriend of Takashi Yamazaki," Tomoyo explained. "You can meet him when we get to school."
"Sounds great!" Izumi replied.
The three girls walked on, so they would get to school on time. They soon came to the school, surrounded by trees of all sorts. It was beautiful!
Tomoyo, Izumi, and Chiharu ran inside to catch the bell before they were late. They ran up the steps and into their classroom right before the bell rung.
Izumi walked up to the teacher, and said, "I'm new here. My name is Izumi Hinako." Izumi was still panting from the run.
The teacher had hip-length auburn hair and hazel-nut eyes that went perfectly with her hair. She was wearing what looked like a large school uniform except the skirt didn't have ruffles and the top didn't have a bow but instead was a tie.
"Hello Miss Hinako and welcome to Tomoeda Elementary," the teacher said kindly. "I'm Miss Perna and I will be your reading teacher for the year. You can have a seat beside Miss Daidouji." Miss Perna pointed to Tomoyo who smiled wide.
Izumi walked over to her seat and sat down. Miss Perna stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the class.
"Class we have two new students coming today, but I'm afraid only one is here right now," Miss Perna explained. "The other one will be here momentarily. Now then, how about you introduce yourself, Miss Hinako?"
Izumi stood up and walked to the front of the class. "My name is Izumi Hinako. I just moved here from Tokyo. It's nice to meet you all," Izumi said politely and bowed. She didn't really know what to say so she said it all slowly and hesitantly. She was super nervous, but she didn't let it show.
"Arigatou, Miss Hinako," Miss Perna said when Izumi was finished. "You may sit down."
Izumi walked back to her seat and the minute she sat down, the door opened. A boy with chestnut brown hair and amber eyes stood there confidently.
'How can he be so confident when I'm so shy?' Izumi wondered.
"You must be Tetsuya Li," Miss Perna said. "Welcome to Tomoeda! My name is Miss Perna. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"
Tetsuya started walking, took a quick glance and smile at Izumi, making her turn beat red, and stopped in front of the class.
"I'm Tetsuya Li," Tetsuya said calmly. "I moved here from China yesterday, but I know I'll like it here more." He said the last bit as he smirked at Izumi, making her turn redder, if that is possible. She quickly moved her eyes down to her desk, making it seem so interesting.
"Okay, Mr. Li," Miss Perna said, "you make take your seat which will be behind Miss Hinako." And if it was possible, Miss Perna just made Izumi turn even redder. "Miss Hinako, will you please raise your hand?"
Izumi slowly put her hand up still looking down, but didn't know why Tetsuya didn't just tell the teacher that he knew her. 'He just wants me to suffer,' Izumi thought in her head.
Tetsuya walked over to his desk, still smirking and sat down. Tomoyo followed him with her eyes and then saw Izumi blushing and smiled wide.
The ruby eyed girl with two long black ponytails behind Tomoyo looked very confused at Tomoyo. She looked over at Izumi and saw her blushing. Then she looked over at Tetsuya who was sitting beside her who was smirking.
'I'm VERY confused right now,' Meiling thought in her head. Then an idea hit her. She got a piece of paper from her notebook and started writing something.
Izumi continued looking down, even when the teacher started talking. She started fiddling with her hands, but was still as red as a tomato.
Tetsuya was very proud of himself, having embarrassed Izumi in front of the class. Well, he had least made her turn bright red. He leaned back on his chair with his hands behind his head.
Meiling had finished writing her note and passed it up to Tomoyo. Tomoyo quickly opened it up and read it:
What is going on, Tomoyo? Why is Tetsuya here? He is my cousin after all. And why is Izumi blushing? What happened last night?
Meiling
Tomoyo finished reading it and quickly wrote back:
Meiling, Tetsuya is here to capture the Clow Cards. Izumi is the new Card Mistress. Last night, they captured The Jump Card. Now, are you going to be all over Tetsuya like you were with Li-kun?
Tomoyo
Then, Tomoyo speedily slipped the note onto Meiling's desk. She quickly read it and replied:
No, Syaoran was the only one for me. Tetsuya isn't mine, I know that. So Izumi is the new Card Mistress? Wow, how awesome!
Meiling
Then, Meiling quickly passed the note to Tomoyo who read it, but decided not to reply because the teacher was calling on people to read where she left off at so you had to pay attention. The class was reading Flipped By: Wendelin Van Draanen.
Izumi was following along with the reading when she noticed a note lying on her desk. She picked it up and opened it:
So, Izumi, guess we're in the same class, huh? Who would've thought? And Tomoyo and Meiling too. Oh, btw Meiling is my cousin, the one sitting behind Tomoyo with the ruby eyes. She had a crush on Syaoran, but he hated her. It was a bad relationship...
Tetsuya
Izumi finished reading it and was about to write back when Miss Perna said, "Miss Hinako, please read from where I left off!"
Izumi froze, she knew if she didn't start in the right place that she could get detention for not paying attention, but she didn't know where the class had stopped.
Izumi looked at the book and saw the place she had stopped when Tetsuya had given her the note. So if she could just calculate how fast Miss Perna reads-
"Miss Hinako, we're waiting," Miss Perna said impatiently.
"O-okay," Izumi replied and picked the beginning of a paragraph and started reading. "A few minutes later I saw Bryce coming down the sidewalk toward his house..." No one said anything until she had finished the page.
"Good," Miss Perna replied, clearly disappointed at not catching Izumi not paying attention. "Miss Daidouji, please continue from where Miss Hinako left off."
Izumi sighed and thanked God she didn't mess up. That was probably the most embarrassing moment she has ever had! I mean risking detention for a note! Was she out of her mind?
Tetsuya saw what happened and only widened his smirk. 'This is way too much fun!' he thought as he followed along with the class in Flipped.
~****Lunchtime****~
"Oh good God!" Izumi yelled when she got out of reading class. "I thought I was going to die in there!" She pointed to the door of the class. She was breathing hard and people were staring at her.
"It's lunchtime," Tomoyo said, trying to calm Izumi down. "Maybe eating will take your mind off reading class."
"Boy, I hope so," Izumi said as her and Tomoyo walked into the lunch line and waited for their lunches.
Izumi started walking forward when the line was moving, but accidentally bumped into someone because she wasn't paying attention.
"Gomen nasai," Izumi said quickly without looking up.
"Well, I've never seen a beauty like you here before," a male's voice sounded from in front of Izumi.
Izumi looked up and met dreamy blue eyes. The boy had chocolate brown hair. 'He's like a mix of Kei and Tetsuya,' Izumi thought as she looked at him. 'I wonder if he's bad or good?'
"I'm Chris Hall, but you can call me Chris," the boy said, putting out his hand.
"I'm Izumi Hinako, but you can call me Izumi," Izumi replied, shaking his hand and smiling with her eyes closed.
'It's my eyes,' Izumi thought. 'Every guy I've went out with only liked me for my piercing emerald eyes. Why did I have to have these things?' She opened her eyes again when she stopped smiling.
"Kawaii!" Tomoyo yelled, interrupting Izumi's thoughts.
"Tomoyo," Izumi said menacingly and then changed her mood to cheerful. "This is my friend, Tomoyo Daidouji."
Tomoyo and Chris shook hands. "So where did you move here from?" Chris asked Izumi as the line moved up.
"I used to live in Tokyo," Izumi answered as she looked around the courtyard where the school always had lunch. Soon, she spotted Tetsuya eating with a boy with blue spiked hair.
"That's Yamazaki eating lunch with Tetsuya," Tomoyo said when she saw Izumi looking over that way.
"Oh, so that's Yamazaki!" Izumi replied. "And there goes Chiharu." Chiharu was walking over to Yamazaki. "She looks like she's going to kill him!"
"Don't worry!" Tomoyo replied. "That's how she always looks at him!"
Izumi let out a sigh and turned to Chris, but he was gone. "Where'd Chris go?" Izumi asked Tomoyo, looking confused.
"Maybe he went to get something," Tomoyo replied and smiled. "I'm sure he'll be back. He has a thing for you."
"He does not have a thing for me," Izumi replied. They both got their lunches which consisted of popcorn chicken, French fries, brownies, and chocolate milk.
They walked out onto the courtyard and headed towards the table Tetsuya and Yamazaki were sitting at. Izumi sat next to Tetsuya while Tomoyo sat across from her and beside Yamazaki. On the other side of Yamazaki was Chiharu. Next to Chiharu was a girl with short brown hair and glasses. Next to Tetsuya, on the other side, was a girl with lighter brown hair that sort of curled or waved.
"Izumi, this is Rika Sazaki," Tomoyo said as she pointed to the girl sitting next to Tetsuya, "and Naoko Yanagisawa." Tomoyo pointed to the girl sitting beside Chiharu. "They're in our morning class, too."
"And this is Yamazaki," Chiharu stated, nudging the blue haired boy beside her, "my boyfriend."
"Did you know that the word boyfriend comes from-" Yamazaki started.
"Stop right there!" Chiharu interrupted. "He gets into boring explanations about everything. Sometimes you just have to ignore him."
Izumi giggled. "Well, it's nice to meet all of you," Izumi said with a smile.
"Wow, you're right Tomoyo," a voice said from the side of the table beside Izumi. They all turned to face a ruby eyed girl with long raven hair. "She really does look like Sakura-chan."
"Izumi, this is Meiling Li," Tomoyo stated, "Tetsuya-kun's cousin."
"Whom didn't know about all of this business with 'the cards!'" Meiling shouted.
"'The cards?'" Chiharu, Naoko, Rika, and Yamazaki asked together.
"Uh-will you please excuse us for a moment please?" Izumi asked as she stood up. Her and Tetsuya dragged Meiling over to the cherry blossom tree in the courtyard with Tomoyo right behind them.
"Meiling!" Tomoyo whispered loudly. "You can't say anything about 'the cards' to them!"
"Gomen," Meiling said as she put her head down in shame. "I didn't mean to."
"So, Meiling knows about 'the cards?'" Izumi asked, confused by all this.
"Hai, she was the cousin of Syaoran Li too," Tomoyo stated. "So she came here wanting to help him but couldn't because she didn't have any magic. She was forced to watch as Li-kun and Sakura-chan fought the battles."
"And you should've called me last night!" Meiling almost shouted.
"It was Izumi's first capture," Tetsuya said. "And we didn't know where to contact you."
"She did!" Meiling practically screamed as she pointed to Tomoyo.
"I'm sorry!" Tomoyo said and bowed her head. "I'll call you next time."
"You better," Meiling stated and turned to Izumi. "I really can't believe it, but the team is back together again! This is so radical!"
"Of course!" Tomoyo agreed, shiny eyed. "More outfits for me to make!"
Tetsuya and Izumi sweatdropped. "Uh-Do you know what to say to that?" Izumi asked Tetsuya.
"I can't say I do," Tetsuya replied. Izumi and Tetsuya started laughing hysterically about nothing in particular. Tomoyo and Meiling looked at them, confused.
"Why are they laughing?" Tomoyo asked Meiling.
"That's easy," Meiling stated, "I don't know!"
Tomoyo fell over anime style! "Meiling!" Tomoyo yelled as Meiling started laughing just when Tetsuya and Izumi stopped laughing.
"What's with her?" Izumi asked, confused.
"It's a LONG story," Tomoyo said as she lead Izumi and Tetsuya back to their table.
Meiling stopped laughing and looked around. "Guys? Guys?" Meiling asked. She turned angry and walked over to the table.
"GUYS!" Meiling said menacingly when she got to the table.
"It's okay, Meiling," Tomoyo said.
"Yea," Izumi added, "we're sorry."
"That's okay, guys," Meiling replied with joy in her face.
"Well, now that that's settled, how about we talk about our new project for Social Studies?" Chiharu asked.
"Huh?" Izumi asked.
"In Social Studies today, we will be-uh-married to a guy in class and we get jobs," Tomoyo explained. "We'll be working on it for 8 months and the we have to give a report on the difficulties we had throughout our marriage."
"How many difficulties can a couple have at ten years old?" Tetsuya asked sarcastically.
"The teacher will make us pick difficulties from a hat," Rika explained. "We could win the lottery or lose money in the stock market. You see, today, we all get $1,000 for starting money and our job has money, too, so we get that everyday also."
"Exactly!" Tomoyo said cheerfully. "And every week you have to buy groceries. We also get grades for the things we did on Fridays."
"So, we have to-uh-practice for our marriage later in life?" Izumi asked.
"Yes, that's exactly what Mr. Kreminess said," Naoko replied, "practice for marriage."
"That's stupid," Tetsuya said, "like we're going to get married at ten years old."
"Mr. Kreminess is an odd teacher, I guess," Yamazaki replied. "And another thing is that you have to spend at least 4 hours a week with your 'husband/wife.' It's really the only assignment this year, really, which is a good thing."
"You guys did this yesterday?" Izumi asked.
"Well, Mr. Kreminess explained it yesterday, but today we're getting our partners, jobs, and our first problem to solve," Tomoyo answered.
"Okay-" Izumi replied just before the bell rang. They all got up and Tomoyo lead the way to Social Studies class. She walked in with a smile, followed by Izumi with another smile, and then came the others, all with huge frowns on.
The bell starting class rang so everyone got seated. In this class, Izumi was behind Tomoyo and to the right of Tetsuya. In front of him was Yamazaki and then Chiharu sat to the left of him. Meiling sat on the other side of Tomoyo and no one sat behind her.
They were all in the back on the classroom. Rika and Naoko sat in the front of the room along with Chris.
'I didn't know he was in this class!' Izumi thought. 'That's cool. Maybe I'll be with him for our project.'
"Okay, class," Mr. Kreminess said. He was tall, about 6 ft, with black hair and jade eyes. He was wearing a blue suit that matched the uniforms the students had to wear. "Today we're going to see who will be marrying who! You will also get jobs and your first problems to solve."
Izumi wasn't listening to the teacher one bit. Instead she was focusing on Chris and how it would be being partnered with him. She was kind of using the "love" stare which of course, Tetsuya saw.
He looked where Izumi was staring and saw Chris. 'How can she like him?' Tetsuya thought. 'He's such a wannabe. At least that's what Yamazaki told me at lunch.'
"Now we will pick the pairs," Mr. Kreminess said, interrupting Tetsuya's thoughts. "I have two boxes here. One has all of the boys names in it and the other has all the girls names. I will pick one from each and those two will be partnered together. They will then pick from the job jar. Any questions?"
Not a hand in the room rose. Half the class was excited about being married, (hence the girls) and half the class was terrified, (hence the boys.)
"First up," Mr. Kreminess said as he put his hand in the girls' box, "Rika Sazaki, and," he stuck his hand in the boys' box, "Justin Hempfield." They both walked up to the front of the room.
Rika made the most disgusted face in the world. And everyone knew why, Justin was the ugliest boy in the class. Izumi saw when he had walked up. She was super glad that she wasn't stuck with him.
Rika stuck her hand in the job jar and pulled one out. "Assistant manager for the Mighty Ducks?" Rika asked, confused. "They're a hockey team, right?" She looked toward Mr. Kreminess who sweatdropped.
"Yes, they're a hockey team," Mr. Kreminess replied.
Justin put his hand in the job jar and pulled his out. "Gymnastics Instructor?" Justin asked, like he got the worst job in the world.
Izumi gave a giggle, but quickly covered it with a cough. "Well, okay then," Mr. Kreminess said. "Will you two please sit down so we can pick the next two people?"
"Sorry," Rika and Justin said at the same time and then quietly took their seats.
"Now, let's see who's next for the girls," Mr. Kreminess said and reached his hand in the girls box and pulled one out. Izumi had her fingers crossed that she wouldn't get picked anytime soon.
"Tomoyo Daidouji," Mr. Kreminess said and reached his hand in the boys box while Tomoyo walked up to the front of the room. Izumi let out a huge sigh and uncrossed her fingers. "And Chris Hall."
Chris walked up to the front of the room too. Izumi sighed and put her chin in her hand with her elbow on her desk. 'I guess it was never meant to be,' Izumi thought. She didn't even notice that Chris got garbage man for a job and Tomoyo got owner of KiNkS Industry, a huge company that owns most of the town.
The next few people got picked, which Izumi didn't notice either, but when she looked to the front of the room, Chiharu and Yamazaki were paired together and were picking their jobs.
"Right," Mr. Kreminess said, "now we'll need," Mr. Kreminess stuck his hand in the girls' box after Chiharu and Yamazaki had their jobs, "Izumi Hinako, our new student."
Izumi needed a shove from Tomoyo to notice that her name was called. She walked up to the front of the room and looked around at the class. Some of the boys looked really mad, but others were crossing their fingers tightly.
'None of them want to have me as a partner,' Izumi figured in her head. Then she noticed Tetsuya. He was just sitting back on his chair and looked really comfortable. He was looking out the window and didn't really notice that Izumi was at the front of the room.
"And the boy paired with Izumi is," Mr. Kreminess said as he stuck his hand in the boys' box, "Tetsuya Li, our other new student."
Tetsuya heard his name called and quickly put his chair down. He looked up at the front of the room and saw Izumi standing there watching him with a smile on her face. He blushed as he stood up and walked to the front of the room.
Izumi picked her job first and looked at the slip. Her face lit up as she read out loud, "Horse instructor/trainer!" She was super happy that her smile reached her ears almost.
Tetsuya stuck his hand in and pulled out executive officer for KiNkS Industry. He worked for Tomoyo.
Tetsuya and Izumi sat down and the next two people were called. It continued like that for the rest of the class. Everyone got paired up with someone.
The bell rang, signifying that class was over. Tomoyo ran over to Izumi. "I'm sorry for taking Chris, Izumi!" she said with panic in her voice.
"It's okay," Izumi replied with a smile. "I'm with Tetsuya so it's fine with me."
"You like Tetsuya?" Tomoyo said really loud. Izumi quickly covered her mouth before she could say anymore.
Izumi slowly took her hand off Tomoyo's mouth and said, "I don't like Tetsuya in that kind of way! I'm glad I got him because he's someone I could work well with."
"Oh, okay," Tomoyo said sneakily, "I understand."
"Sure you do," Izumi replied.
"Oh come on!" Tomoyo said, a little angry. "Let's just drop it. So, what are you and Tetsuya doing for your four hours this week?"
"Since we have to write down what we do, we can't include captures, so, I don't know," Izumi answered, "but we'll think of something. We always do!"
"Everyone is jealous of you," Tomoyo giggled as they walked by a group of girls glaring at Izumi, "because you're partnered with Tetsuya who in fact, got VERY popular with the girls in one day."
"I don't see why they are," Izumi said, being dense again. "Tetsuya and I are just friends and besides, he is not in any possible way, cute." She shuddered at the thought.
"Okay, I get it, jeez," Tomoyo replied and they both started laughing. Every girl in the hallway glared at Izumi as they went past.
"Uh-Tomoyo," Izumi whispered quietly, looking at the glaring girls, "I can see why you think that."
"Just ignore them," Tomoyo replied to the scared Izumi. Tomoyo stuck her tongue out at the next group of glaring girls.
Izumi stopped at a sign on the door leading outside. It said, 'Cheerleading Tryouts Thursday after school.'
'Today's Thursday,' Izumi thought.
"Hey Tomoyo," Izumi said, "where are the Cheerleading tryouts held?"
"Outside on the soccer field," Tomoyo answered, "why?"
"I just wanted to try," Izumi said.
"If you try, then I will too!" Tomoyo cheered and dragged Izumi over to the soccer field. They sat down on the grass along with about twenty other girls wanting to tryout.
The old captain of the cheerleading squad spoke first, "Today, we are accepting five new girls to the squad. Then we'll decide the captain," the old captain said. She didn't have a cheerleading uniform on like everyone else did. Instead she wore her junior high school uniform since she was now too old to be captain. She had long blonde hair and deep aquamarine eyes.
"My name, by the way, is Maggie Lawrence," the old captain said cheerfully.
Izumi then saw about twenty boys come out of the boys' locker room. The were all wearing soccer uniforms and carrying soccer balls.
"Is this squad for the soccer team?" Izumi asked Tomoyo in a whisper.
"Yea, we don't have a football team," Tomoyo answered in another whisper. "Soccer is the only thing we've got."
Maggie continued on, explaining how to do the move she the team was testing the girls on. Half of the girls got up and left halfway through the explanation, because they knew they couldn't do the move.
"All right," Maggie said, "I'll write down each of your names as you come up and demonstrate the move."
Izumi glanced over at the soccer team. She suddenly saw Tetsuya. 'He must have gotten on the team when they had tryouts a few minutes ago,' Izumi thought. She also noticed that all the soccer players were watching the girls as they did the move.
"They always watch the cheerleaders," Tomoyo explained in a whisper. "It's so the girls show that they can live up to pressure."
"I understand," Izumi replied in another whisper.
"You," Maggie said, pointing to Izumi, "name?"
"Izumi Hinako," Izumi said, standing up.
"Go ahead and do the move," Maggie said. "The fancier, the better."
Izumi had seen almost all of the girls fail at the move and was a bit nervous, but as soon as she got up in front of everyone, she rocketed. It was like she was a cherry blossom blooming for the first time.
She did and round-off back hand spring and then finished with a very nice flip that was landed perfectly.
All of the girls cheered, the soccer team just stared in awe, even Tetsuya was speechless, and Maggie wrote something down on her notepad and then said, "Nice work," and called Tomoyo up.
Tomoyo did the same exact thing, except without as much grace. She was still better than a lot of the others though.
"Our new members will be Kira Marie Lightly, Ashley Jakabovic, Lily Jumpluff, Tomoyo Daidouji, and Izumi Hinako," Maggie announced.
All the girls that just got picked jumped up from their spots and started jumping up and down, celebrating. The boys on the soccer team all cheered for them.
"Now since that's over, we can pick our captain," Maggie said. "It is tradition to pick a young captain out of our new arrivals when the old one is gone, so one of you five ladies is going to be the team's new captain!"
Izumi knew that the team was going to decide, but how, she didn't know.
"Tradition is that the soccer team gets to decide and if there is a tie, the old captain picks one," Maggie explained. She gave the boys a basket of paper and some pencils. All of them quickly wrote who they liked the most, preferably the "hottest" as you might call it and put in back in the basket.
Maggie took the basket and said, "I'm going inside to count these, so everyone behave and talk amongst yourselves."
Maggie left, swinging her hips as she went. She was one of those diluted guy lovers of junior high.
"I'll bet any money that you're captain, Izumi," Tomoyo stated. "You've got the right stuff to be."
"Kira is going to win," Izumi said flatly.
"Why is that? She wasn't even very good!" Tomoyo argued.
Izumi pointed to the guys and Kira flirting with most of them. Tomoyo replied with, "I guess you're right, but you deserve it more."
Izumi didn't reply to that. She just wanted to think for a while. 'Whenever I'm in front of the crowd, I just explode with happiness,' Izumi thought. 'Is this where I belong?'
"Hey guys," a voice said behind Tomoyo and Izumi.
Izumi turned around, looked up, and met amber eyes.
"Hey Tetsuya," Izumi replied and looked down again. Tetsuya sat down in front of her with Tomoyo beside both of them, in an almost complete circle.
"What's the matter with her?" Tetsuya asked Tomoyo.
"Her," Tomoyo answered, pointing to Kira, now flirting with Yamazaki which made Chiharu go over there and drag him away. She was here to watch Izumi and Tomoyo tryout.
"You guys think that she'll win?" Tetsuya asked, surprised.
"Just look at her," Tomoyo replied.
Tetsuya saw her flirting with every single boy on the soccer team and knew she was up to no good.
"She's not going to win," Tetsuya said.
"What makes you so sure?" Izumi asked with the saddest face ever on her face.
"Well-" Tetsuya started, but was interrupted by Maggie coming back.
"Everyone!" Maggie yelled, getting everyone attention. "We have a new Cheerleading Captain!"
Everyone was hanging on Maggie's every word and Kira was about to jump from her seat because she knew she was going to win.
"And the new captain is..."
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a/n: Another cliffhanger...uh oh! Don't hurt me b/c of it!!!!!!!! AAHHHHHH!!!!!!!
