Chapter 4.
There was a faint knock on the door, and Nazaiya's eyes shot open.
"Nazaiya-san? This is Arashi. Are you awake?" a voice came from outside.
"Yeah, I just woke up." She answered groggily, wondering how she fell asleep.
"Then come join us, we're just about to have breakfast." Arashi said. "And the other guys are going out again today.
"…I'll be down in a bit. Thanks." Hearing Nazaiya's words, Arashi began to walk away from the room as her faint footsteps were heard.
Nazaiya sat up and tried to adjust her sight, realizing that morning has come. She didn't remember how she fell asleep though. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and began to get ready for the day.
Downstairs, the atmosphere was lively as usual. Mokona was trying to steal Kurogane's meal and the ninja would be angry at the fluffy ball, as always. Fai would be laughing in the corner, and Syaoran would eat his meal silently.
At the sight of the her, Mokona hopped off Kurogane with food in its mouth. Kurogane failed to catch him however, losing his pancake that morning. Mokona went near Nazaiya as she sat down, preparing to tell a lot of stories to her.
"Good morning!" it greeted.
"Oh, 'morning Mokona." She smiled.
"Nazaiya-chan! Do you know something? Yesterday after you went away, a guy named Masayoshi who Syaoran saved brought us to a restaurant. Syaoran met two people who resembled the king and priest in his country!" Mokona exclaimed happily.
Nazaiya looked at Syaoran. "Really?" she asked in surprise.
"Ah, yes." The boy nodded.
They then talked some more, but she was beginning to get lost in thought. Does meeting people resembling the ones in a former country is different from finding the person itself? What if she found Ryuu but he was just a person from that world? What if...
"Nazaiya-chan?" Fai's worried voice brought her back to reality.
"Eh, y-yes?" she answered, clumsily dropping her spoon on her plate with a clatter.
"Are you alright? We were asking where you went to earlier." he said with a smile.
She stuttered, "I'm fine. I met... Someone that looked like a person in my world as well, so, haha..."
As she trailed off, she could feel the suspicious gazes around her, but she ignored it and continued eating after picking up her spoon again. She just told a lie. Well, couldn't be helped, eh.
"Oh, and we discovered that maybe the feather is in a kudan." Fai then said, making Nazaiya look at him.
"I see…" she mumbled. "Then we're going to search for someone who has a strong kudan?"
And the wizard nodded happily.
The sky was clear that day, as they all went out to search for the feather.
"As I thought, nobody would walk with their kudans out…" Fai said, looking at the crowd of people walking around.
"And it's not like anyone would just give up the feather if we ask for it, either." Kurogane added.
Suddenly, a boy appeared from the walls, literally. It stuck his head out and smiled, as another boy that resembled him came.
"Syaoran-kun!" he called out, and everyone looked at him.
"Ah, Masayoshi-kun." Syaoran let out a relieved sigh.
"Have you found what you were searching for?" he asked. "If not, then I can help you! It's Sunday today, so I have the day off."
Nazaiya looked at the kudan that was now making its way inside the boy's body. "Hey," she spoke, "was that your kudan? It could track people, right?"
"Oh, yes." Masayoshi nodded, "but that's all it can do… Pretty useless I guess."
"That's not true. That power is really amazing." Syaoran praised him.
All of a sudden, something flew down from the sky at a fast speed. Fai and Kurogane who were aware of it managed to dodge it, but in a flash, it took Masayoshi and Mokona away with its beak, leaving the four people in a shock. A paper was left on the ground, and Syaoran quickly took it.
"I'll be waiting at the Hanshin Palace." he read it out loud, before calling for the others. "Guys, look at this!"
Realizing that Syaoran was talking in a weird language, they all began to speak something which also came out as another language. None of them understand each other now. Nazaiya felt overwhelmed, hearing all sort of languages in her ears.
But then it clicked in their heads; "Mokona!" they voiced out, knowing well that this was all caused by Mokona's absence. Though they weren't sure of who said what, they came to an agreement to go to the said palace. Fai then reached for Nazaiya's hand, before he dragged her along as they all ran to the palace. The girl was surprised, but she couldn't just pull away, not when the hand that held her was actually cold.
Arriving at the entrance of the palace, they saw Mokona and Masayoshi, being hung up high at the highest roof.
"There they are!" Fai waved at the two.
"They seem fine to me." Kurogane added.
Upon realization, Nazaiya spoke. "We finally can understand each other!"
"So it was because of Mokona after all…" said Syaoran.
They then began to run, heading inside. Poor Nazaiya was still dragged along, because Fai didn't let go of her hand. She was struggling to keep pace with the wizard, since he had such long legs.
Reaching someplace high where they could get near the huge palace, they stopped and looked around. There was a huge crowd around, praising some sort of an idol.
Syaoran held up the letter he got earlier and asked in a loud voice, "Excuse me! Can anyone tell me who wrote this letter?"
"I did!" a female voice answered, coming from the palace. They all looked up as the crowd began to talk loudly.
"PRIMERA-CHAN!" they shouted, looking at the female.
"Who the heck is this female?!" Kurogane frowned in anger.
"How dare you say such things!" the crowd answered him. "She can sing, dance and has sexy legs! She's a cutie, and she's an amazing idol! She's the best!"
Ignoring the noisy crowd, Syaoran shouted. "Please let Mokona and Masayoshi go!"
"Eh?" Primera was surprised. "This is not Syaoran?"
"No! I am Syaoran!" he said.
As the idol was getting mad at her followers, Nazaiya slowly tried pulling her hand away from the wizard's strong grip.
"Fai-san…" she called out.
"Hm? What is it, Nazaiya-chan?" he asked with a smile.
"Can you let go of my hand?" she asked, trying to reply with a smile as well.
"Ah… I'm sorry~" he apologized, finally letting go.
Fai then turned his attention away, and towards the idol.
"If you want them back, you have to fight me first!" Primera challenged them.
"Well, I'll go!" Fai volunteered.
"How are you going to go up there?" Kurogane asked.
"By using my kudan." Fai answered, almost proudly.
He closed his eyes for a few moments, and a huge kudan appeared before him. A very huge phoenix, proudly spreading its wings. Like a person who has mastered the art of flying, he slowly rose to the sky and made his way high up, to where Primera was.
"Wow, he could fly!" Syaoran exclaimed, sounding excited.
"His kudan is really something." Kurogane added.
Nazaiya looked at the wizard, before smiling. For some reason, he looked very…. charming.
Primera then took out a microphone after complaining that she couldn't even fly with her kudan, before letting out a loud welcoming phrase which sends out a large bulk of letters out. The letters went to Fai, hitting him as an explosion formed and a loud noise was heard.
Gasping, Syaoran shouted. "Fai-san!"
It didn't take long before the wizard appeared again after the smoke subsided, smiling as he was being protected by his kudan. Though Fai was praising how amazing the country was, Primera attacked him continuously, without mercy. She was pissed at how fast Fai moved, and how easily he dodged.
Kurogane eyed him suspiciously. "He's dodging without using his kudan…"
"I can see that. He's used to fighting, as well…" Syaoran said. "You can see how powerful he is, just by looking into his eyes."
"Hmph, guess you're not as dumb as you look." Kurogane smirked.
There were a lot of explosions in the air, Fai wasn't attacking at all and the loud noises were really disturbing. Nazaiya knew she had to do something. Being unnoticed, she jumped off the place where they were standing.
Still angry, Primera let out another huge, strong blow over Fai. This time, he couldn't dodge it and it really hit him hard, sending him flying.
As Fai was falling down, he was caught in mid-air by an animal, making him sit on it. To be exact, a kudan. He looked up and saw Nazaiya, standing on top of one of the roofs of the castle as she controlled the kudan with the tip of a finger. The kudan is a Pegasus. A fierce, black one that has large wings and flames in his eyes, ready to kill anyone. Nazaiya then ordered the kudan to put the wizard down, but Fai quickly called for his kudan again and jumped off the Pegasus.
"If you don't mind Nazaiya-chan," he smiled at her, "I would like to finish this myself."
Nazaiya jumped off the roof and flew beside the flying Fai, her kudan obediently flying before her.
"I'm sorry, but I would mind." She said, eyeing Primera, sending shivers down the idol's spine. "But I can't bother a man's fight, can I? So… do as you wish. But make it quick."
For some reason, Primera annoyed the hell out of her.
Fai chuckled. "Are you jealous, Nazaiya-chan?" he asked playfully.
"What? Of course not!" she argued back with a very, very slight blush upon her cheeks.
"Naww, Nazaiya-chan is blushing!" he teased, and she almost attacked him playfully with her kudan.
Primera was starting to get annoyed. "Hey! Are you guys going to just chat over there?! Fine then!" she shouted angrily, before aiming her weapon towards the two.
"Ahh, I guess I really should stop her now." Fai said, ready to go.
Without a word, Nazaiya sighed before fleeing away, leaving the wizard chuckling to himself again.
"Aww, she has a cute side too." He muttered, before flying quickly towards Primera.
Primera let out yet another blow, and Fai didn't dodge it this time. Instead, he jumped on the kanji letters and ran towards the idol, making everyone surprised.
In seconds, Fai was hovering over her, inches away from her face.
"I don't want to hurt such a cute girl." He winked, "So can you please stop now?"
Primera's eyes became teary of embarrassment. "I won't lose!" she shouted, resulting in another explosion.
This time, her attack went to the roof where Masayoshi and Mokona were hanging from. As a result, the two flew in the air, before being caught by Masayoshi's kudan.
Just then, another commotion was heard. And there, standing at one of the gates, was Shougo.
"What do you think you're doing, Primera?" he asked with a frown.
"Shougo-kun!" Primera gasped.
And Mokona mekyo-ed.
To be continued…