A/N: Half a year and no update... sorry :\ I just have problems. I know. But enjoy. ~SEi
- - - - - - - - - - - Ch4. dESTINATION
Where... Where am I?
Watanuki looked around but all he saw was darkness. He was not in the helicopter anymore, he noticed, since he was standing... on air. He sighed aloud, which caused an echo. He immediately clamped his mouth shut, just in case there was something lurking around... wherever he was.
Unfortunately, there was, and it had heard him. Just as Watanuki took his hand away to breathe in, he heard a noise from behind him. He turned around abruptly and squinted into the pitch-black place he was in, and tried to see/hear if it was still there.
There. Again, there was the noise. It sounded like a child whimpering. Watanuki hesitated before moving forward; he raised one leg and placed it on the ground, checking to see if the 'floor' was stable. It was, and he slowly walked towards the something.
As he progressed forward, he saw that he was right. It was a child. The child, like himself, was illuminated by some kind of light, and Watanuki noted his appearance; He had dark hair and was wearing some kind of robe. At first, Watanuki thought it was himself but then he remembered that the robe was for magic users - it was similar to one of Yuuko's - and he himself wasn't one. Probably. When he was close enough, he kneeled before the child and asked, "What's wrong?"
The child had his knees pulled to himself and his head buried in them. When Watanuki spoke, he lifted his head, of which Watanuki saw a set of blue eyes that were filled with sadness and a round pair of glasses that were close to falling off his little nose. The boy hiccuped before burying his face back into his knees, mumbling, "Nothing..."
Watanuki chuckled and said, "It's definitely something if you're that sad."
The boy hiccuped again and then looked up at Watanuki who was giving a reassuring smile which said that it was okay to tell him. The boy stared at him for a few seconds, sad blue eyes to confused blue eyes, and then he gave a little smile, his eyes glittering with a little happiness.
Watanuki raised his eyebrows questioningly. The boy smiled a little brighter this time and got up from his seating position. He reached over and patted Watanuki on the head. "Thank you."
"Huh?"
The boy grinned and then began skipping away and into the darkness. As the boy skipped away, Watanuki heard his voice: Love those close to you, be they friends or enemies. You're gonna need them.
o o o o
"Oi!"
The named one opened his eyes. "...Huh...?" Watanuki blinked a few times to clear the blurriness and then tried to sit up but there was a painful feeling in the back of his head that made him almost fall backward again. "Ow..." He rubbed it gently with his right hand but the pain didn't go away. However, he did feel a small bump.
"Watanuki-san?"
He turned his head to his right and saw two worried brunettes. "Are you alright?" they asked.
"Yeah," he replied. "I'm fine... I think." He rubbed it again and then noticed that there was something on his hands. He pulled his hand away from his head and observed it. It was bandaged... messily. He looked at his other hand; it was also bandaged in the same way.
"Who..?"
"Me, of course~"
Watanuki looked up at Fai. The blonde was grinning from where he sat, one leg over the other and his head propped up with an arm that stood up on one knee.
"Why..?"
"Ahaha ~ I knew you wouldn't remember." He got up from his position and leaned back in his seat. "Do you at least remember being on the roof?"
"Um... yeah..."
"Do you remember anything when you were up there?"
"Uh..." Watanuki tried to remember but the back of his head began to throb and he rubbed it again to soothe it.
"Anyway, when you came back down and landed on Doumeki, you seemed to be so preoccupied with fighting with him that you forgot your hands were bleeding." Fai folded his arms. "And since you were so stubborn on not speaking, I didn't have the chance to bandage them until you hit your head."
Watanuki blinked. Then, he immediately glared in Yuuko's direction.
Yuuko pouted. "It wasn't my driving that made you hit your head!"
"Hmph," Kurogane started. "It was your fault, witch, 'cause I also got some bruises."
"No, it was my fault."
Everyone's eyes turned to the figure at the doorway.
"Daisuke-san!"
The butler's hair and eyes had changed back to their 'regular' colors. It was also a little disheveled from the gusts of wind outside. He bowed to Watanuki and apologized. "I'm so terribly sorry, Watanuki-sama. My navigations were messed up a little since there were so many loop holes that wanted us to go to them... I'm incredibly sorry that you got hurt because of my carelessness..."
"No no! It's not your fault. Everyone is careless at times..."
Daisuke smiled a little and then said, "Thank you, Watanuki-sama. And thank you Doumeki-sama, for supporting him while he was out."
"Huh?"
But the butler had already gone to where Yuuko was in the front of the helicopter and took the co-pilot's seat, putting on the same 'helmet' plus headphones that Yuuko-san had on.
Watanuki looked at the Tsubasa group for some information but they either just looked away or giggled. He then glanced at Doumeki, who was also looking away and had his arms folded. The teenager rubbed the back of his head and then remembered that he was laying down... On what? He touched his bump. "Ouch..."
At the front of the helicopter, the magicians were talking to each other.
"He noticed, didn't he?" said the co-pilot slash butler.
"Of course," replied the lady. "That's what he does after all: notice things that go unnoticed for normal human beings."
"He was like that in the past too," chuckled Daisuke. But the chuckle faded and a sad expression appeared on his face.
Yuuko just smiled sadly back at him and concentrated on driving the helicopter.
x x x x
"Oh look~ We're here!"
Everyone clambered about, trying to look out the windows. For a few minutes, all they saw was the clear blue sea and then they began seeing the coast where fierce waves splashed on the golden beach, forming white foams that disappeared as the wave retreated.
As the helicopter flew further into the center of the island, the group began seeing palm trees and coconut trees and more different kinds of vegetation. Sakura marveled at the many tropical birds that flew out of the trees when the helicopter passed by. Syaoran was amazed at the vast amount of many-colored vegetations that grew on the island. Fai loved how everything looked so peaceful and calm. Kurogane... Kurogane the strong warrior... he didn't really like how big everything was.
It was true. When the helicopter landed on a clearing by the beach, and everyone got out to stare at everything again, they noticed how irregular the size of everything was. The trees were taller and wider than normal trees and the birds.. the birds were about the size of themselves! When they flew high above, they cast a large heavy shadow for at least a whole full minute before it continued on its flight and the sun beat on the travelers once more.
"D-Did you see that...?" asked Watanuki. He was talking about the bird.
"Y-Yeah..." replied the Tsubasa group.
"That was.. a tetsudai tori (1)."
"Huh?"
"Ohh you're so smart Doumeki-kun!~ How'd you know that?" The dark-haired lady grinned.
"There was a book about them in the temple library. It said that they were extinct though..."
Yuuko gave a smile. "...That's true."
Everyone, except Doumeki and Daisuke, gave her a weird look. What does that mean? they wondered. The bird they saw couldn't possibly be... a spirit or something, right? Watanuki shivered at the thought, despite having seen plenty of spirits in his life. But no. Watanuki remembered that the bird had a shadow. That meant it was alive! Such a beautiful bird... it was kinda sad that it was 'extinct' in books.
He looked at Yuuko, who was telling Daisuke to get Doumeki and Watanuki's luggage out of the helicopter. Something's really fishy about this place...
Yuuko noticed his gaze and smirked, knowing exactly what he was thinking. He coughed, causing an "Are you okay?" from Sakura. He coughed again and said, "I'm fine. It's just that... it's getting cold, isn't it?" Saying that, he felt a cold wind brush by him. He shivered and hugged himself.
"It sure is..." Fai said, wrapping his own arms around himself. He looked up at the sky. The sun was setting and bursts of fire color slowly began turning into a dark cave color.
"Oh. I forgot to mention this: time is slower here, so what seems like an hour back at the store is about three hours here." (2)
The group looked at Yuuko. She was wearing her regular dress... but even as the wind blew quietly and coldly, her dress didn't sway at all. Just like that time in the rain... Watanuki remembered. There really is something weird about this place...
"We were supposed to have arrived here around half-evening but it seems like we were a bit late. It must have been because of that, right, Daisuke-kun?"
The butler nodded, putting on a grim face. But when he noticed Watanuki staring blankly at him, he gave a smile as if nothing was wrong. He seems a bit like Fai-san...
"'That'?" asked Kurogane. "What's 'that'?"
"Oh it's nothing, Kuro-pii~ You don't have to be so scared that you'll pee in your pants," W. Mokona said.
"WHO WOULD DO THAT!?" He growled, and stretched the manjuu-like's mouth in all directions.
"But really, Yuuko-san. Is it really something that we can know but not worry about?" Syaoran asked, keeping the princess close to him.
The witch gave a smile. "Yes."
Only one person saw through that smile, since he was the master of smiles himself. One other than Daisuke.
x x x x
"So! We are now departing!"
"WHAT? Already?" exclaimed Watanuki. "You haven't even told us the basics of surviving on this island!"
"Whaaat? Are you that stupid that you can't even make a fire on your own or hunt for food?" teased Yuuko.
"I-I know how to do that!" The teenager blushed. "I-It's this idiot that I'm worried about!" He pointed at Doumeki.
"Oh? Worried?" The other teenager smirked. "I don't need an idiot like you worrying about me."
"Y-Y-YOU- WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT, IDIOT!"
"Ah~ah~ The lover's spat has started again~" sighed Fai, placing his hands on his hips. He grinned when Watanuki turned red and started rambling "We're not lovers!" and "We're not even friends!" and pointing furiously at Doumeki, etc. to Fai, who was then trying to calm him down, and yelling "This is not funny!" to everyone else who was laughing.
Doumeki just watched them silently with his index fingers plugged into his ears. He took them out when he saw the witch clap her hands.
"Alright alright. We need to get going now. It'd be bad if we miss the last episode of M. T. N. Neuro! (3) So goodbye, you all!" She stepped into the helicopter gracefully. Everyone thought that action was strange, but they still waved.
"Watanuki...-san."
"Yes?" Said person looked up at Daisuke, who was searching for something in his pocket.
"This..." The butler took out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Watanuki. "Yuuko-sama said to give this to you. It's a map to the villa."
Watanuki's eyebrows went up. "Villa?"
"Yes," Daisuke smiled.
"Daisuke-kuun~ Come on! I don't want to miss M. T. N. Neuro!" Yuuko called from the helicopter.
"Coming!" He called back. Facing Watanuki again, he said, "Well, I have to go now."
"Why can't she just drive herself back? She drove us here after all."
"I don't think you would believe me, Watanuki...-san, but she's tired."
Watanuki was surprised. Tired? Her? "Why?"
"Well, she was using her magic this whole time..."
"Why?" It seemed as if he wanted to know everything.
"That..." Daisuke glanced at the helicopter. "That is a secret." He smiled.
Watanuki blinked. Why is 'everything' a secret here? he wondered. He sighed, erasing those confusing thoughts and putting out a hand. Daisuke looked at it like it was a rare animal.
"Let's meet again someday, Daisuke-san," Watanuki smiled.
Daisuke smiled back. "Very well, Watanuki-san." He took the hand and shook it. Then, he began walking towards the helicopter.
But he was stopped by Fai. There was silence before the blonde spoke up.
"You're not normal."
"You're not normal either."
"..."
"..."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Daisuke," he smiled.
Fai frowned. "Not your fake name."
"Then what's your real name?"
That surprised Fai. "You..."
Daisuke smiled briefly before putting on a serious face. "If you smile too much, the people you cherish will be hurt by those fake feelings."
"As long as they don't know, I don't care."
The butler sighed and put on a sad smile. "Yuui-sama... you've changed." (4)
Fai froze. No one, except that man, knew of this name. (5) How does he-? He looked carefully at the butler, trying to see the man's aura to identify his power. He couldn't see anything. It seemed like he was hiding it intentionally. He was.
"I can't show you my aura or else you'll kill me."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because I know how you think."
This man is dangerous... Despite that thought, Fai wanted to test the man out. He began drawing magic into a ball.
"DAAISSUKEE! NEURO!"
The ball dissolved.
Daisuke smiled at the ground and then looked up at Fai. "I have to go now."
The blonde watched as the butler went to pick up B. Mokona who was saying his goodbyes to W. Mokona and "See you again soon!" to Watanuki and Doumeki.
Take care. In the brief moment that he heard those two words in his head, Fai saw a brief flicker of color on Daisuke. His eyes had turned blue and his hair had turned blond. He had not seen this appearance when the butler was up on the roof of the helicopter. Fai had only felt his presence and the magic. But this was too much.
He stepped forward but tripped on a rock. Kurogane caught him with an arm. "You okay? Your eyes are huge and your mouth is open."
Fai looked at him, his mouth still hanging open.
"What?" asked the warrior, regretting his previous action a little.
The blonde turned his head to the dirt on the ground. "No... it's nothing..."
"Hn."
They then heard the helicopter coming to life, the propellers slicing through the air furiously. Yuuko and Mokona appeared at the door as the helicopter began lifting higher and higher. "Have fun!~"
The wind was too strong and everyone was unable to wave or call back, having huddled into themselves to avoid 'anything' that could possibly hurt them (like dirt in their eyes, for example). When the helicopter disappeared into the night sky with a twinkle like a star, everyone patted themselves off of the dust that had drifted onto them.
Watanuki then unfolded the paper Daisuke had given him and looked at it. He couldn't see anything. It was becoming too dark to clearly see anything, other than the outlines of the figures of the island organisms nearby, and the traveling group. He held it up to the moonlight and let it eyes adjust for a few seconds. Then, he noticed something on the paper. It was an arrow pointing in some direction.
And that was all that was on the paper.
"What the heck?"
"What is it?" asked Doumeki, coming over to him with both his and the other's luggage in his hands. He observed the paper. "It's an arrow."
"I can see that, thank you very much," Watanuki said in an annoyed tone.
"Then let's follow it."
"It's no good! I turned so I could see it better so I don't think-" When he turned to face Doumeki, he saw something extraordinary. The arrow turned on the paper. "Wh-.."
"A paper compass I guess?" (6)
"..." Watanuki turned again to test to see if his eyes had deceived him in the darkness of the night. The arrow turned again.
"A compass always points north. The villa must be up north."
The bespectacled teenager looked suspiciously at Doumeki. "How do you know about the villa?"
"Well someone was talking really loudly that I couldn't help but hear."
Watanuki felt his cheeks burn. "B-But I was really surprised! I can't help it! My voice gets loud when I'm surprised!"
"...Really?" Doumeki smirked. He was standing under a tree and Watanuki could only see the smirk on his face. He somehow knew that there was an evil look in those golden eyes...
"Wh-What are you going to do about it?" Watanuki began backing up.
Doumeki smirked again and stepped out of the tree's shadow. There really was an evil look in his eyes. And the owner of those eyes were coming closer.
"D-Doumeki...?"
"Heh."
A branch crackled under his foot as he drew closer to the seer.
"N-N-N-No, stop, stop, stop.. HYAA!"
A bunch of night birds flew out of their nests out of surprise.
A/N: Lol. I'm leaving you with so many questions :P
What happened to Watanuki? Who is Daisuke really? Who was that kid in the beginning? What are those 'secrets' that Daisuke and Yuuko are hiding? (No, they are not dating or anything, just in case you've got a perverted mind or something...) Want to guess the answers? Feel free to ^-^
(1) Tetsudai tori - Lol it's really just two words together. "Helper" and "bird". Get it? Helper bird. They're important in this story. I mean, they're going to be.
(2) The time difference on the island - It should be normal, since they're in the middle of nowhere and on some kind of magical island with huge birds and huge trees and unicorns... (I wish). Well, anyway. Why three hours? I don't know. I guess it's because it took me at least three hours to write this chapter.
(3) M. T. N. Neuro - You should know by the last word! It's Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro! Yes, that awesome weird anime/manga. I was gonna put Detective Conan you know. But it's too popular. So you better check out MTNN now. Have fun :P
(4) Yuui-sama... - If you're a Tsubasa REservoir Chronicles manga reader, you should know by now :P
(5) That man... - (Read above)
(6) Paper compass - It's magic. Do you believe in magic? You should. For this story at least :S
