A/n: Yikes… poor Sakura's gonna be sent home!? BAD KUROGANE!
Chapter 6
"Twin…" Kurogane mumbled. That made a hell of a lot of sense. This whole situation was beyond fucked up, and he took a second to wonder if Fay was really worth all this.
"Where is she?" Toya demanded.
"If I knew where she was would I be looking for her, numbskull!" Kurogane growled. He vaguely understood that the boy must be distressed, but right now so was he, he'd just walked headfirst into a drama he didn't want to be tangled up in.
"'Nii-san." Scolded Sequoia, struggling to her feet as she came round. "Be nice." She ordered in a gentle yet authoritative tone.
"You lost her?" Questioned the lighter haired boy curiously.
"Yes… no… sorta. Her guardian moved without tellin' me." Sequoia sighed in relief and looked ready to cry, Kurogane could see the compassion building behind her emerald green eyes. They really were identical, and if only for that smile: it was worth all the hassle.
"Guardian? She's safe then?" Kurogane nodded. "Thank goodness." She breathed placing one hand on her heart.
"We really do want Sakura-chan to come home, but her safety is more important… I'm Yukito, by the way." Yukito bowed. "Mister…"
"Kurogane." He said gruffly. "And I dunno if she wants to come home okay it's not my place to say." Because for all the agreement with her and Fay about 'staying' was meant to be temporary… she'd seemed happy there. "How old is she?" He added, remembering Fay saying about legally choosing to stay.
"Fifteen. Sixteen on April 1st." Sequoia chirped. She would be 16 very soon then.
"I'm her brother and I want her HOME." Toya stressed, clenching his fist. Kurogane sighed.
"I can't make any promises. Gimme your phone number." He ordered, addressing the calmer boy.
"See, normally Toya would object to Yukito-san giving his phone number to strange men." Sequoia giggled covering her mouth as Yukito wrote down Toya's number and home address.
"If I find her… I'll tell her." He muttered.
"If… if she doesn't want to come home." Sequoia whispered gently. "Please tell her something from me?" Damn kids! Why did they always want stupid things, and why did they always ask him. Did he have a sign saying 'DADDY' around his neck!? (If he did, Mokona probably put it there.)
"What?"
"Kero-chan and Spinel-san had kittens." She grinned. Kurogane blinked. Okay… weirdness. (A/n: Cats? I dunno, but now Spinel is female, deal with it) He nodded.
"I'll tell her." He walked off.
"We're not doing the right thing he won't call damnit!" Toya said behind his retreating back. "We should call the police."
"Call the police." He said coldly, not bothering to turn back to the speaker. "And I'll make sure she never comes home." If the police got involved, Fay, Syaoran, Syaoron, Mokona and Sakura could all be in a lot of trouble. He disappeared on his search once again.
However, finding one family in such a huge city was a tedious attempt, and so far failing, when night fell he had to accept that they were probably sleeping rough, and staying up all night would not help his cause, so he checked into a hotel suite. A poster on the wall read
"NADESHIKO FESTIVAL." He scanned his memory and remembered the guy at Fay's apartment saying Mokona mentioned it. The festival started tomorrow… seemed he had a fresh lead.
"Don't wander too far!" Fay scolded as Syaoran dragged Mokona back for the fifth time. "That goes for all of you." He smiled sweetly as his littlest girl climbed onto Syaoron's back so she could watch a parade running through the main road.
"Ne… Fay-san… is it okay if we go look at the ornaments?" Sakura asked shyly.
"I'll keep an eye on her." Syaoran commented, noting the sparkles in her eyes, if it was something she really wanted he wanted to go aswell.
"If you two think you're old enough to not get lost…" He chided, half teasing.
"We only did that like… two times." Syaoron grinned cheekily and raised his eyebrows.
"Three at the last count." Syaoran added, a slight smirk.
"Okay, but look after Sakura-chan." Fay said, letting them go. Sakura took Syaoran's hand and lead him over to a different street where stalls were set up.
"They're so pretty." She gasped, looking at the glass ornaments, the china Nadeshiko flowers and the innocent (yet slightly creepy) looking china dolls. Syaoran was too busy blushing at having his hand held. "Don't you think so?" She asked, her eyes glittering in pure ecstasy.
"Y…yeah…" He mumbled. She realised with a blush of her own that she was still holding his hand and dropped it like it had scalded her.
"Sorry!" She squeaked. It was hard to keep up with her, she seemed to be in her element here, and flitted from stall to stall, and unfortunately it wasn't long before the two got separated again. Syaoran groaned and hit his head with his palm, he would be in a lot of trouble if he lost her, so instead of returning to Fay, he wandered. Hoping to find her.
Sakura was a little worried, having lost Syaoran, but was easily distracted by the pleasant atmosphere of a town deep in the throws of a festival. Even though it was early afternoon the ambience was that of a cool summer evening, and the family sense was strong. In fact, she was so excited to be in the midst of this hubbub she didn't notice where she was going and crashed straight into someone. She fell backwards, landing on her butt painfully.
"Ouch… Sorry!" She squeaked, and stared up to see "Kurogane-san!" She gasped. Kurogane extended his hand and pulled her up a little roughly. He looked her up and down, she was wearing her day dress, though it looked clean, and she seemed a little thinner than her twin. Definitely Sakura. "Did… did you follow us?"
"No I'm in town for the festival. Of course I followed you." He snapped. "Where're the others?"
"Around…" Sakura said, brushing off the back of her skirt, not wanting to admit she was lost. "We're so sorry we didn't tell you Kurogane-san… Fay has a rule of not telling anyone when we leave… and we HAD to go real quick…" Kurogane nodded curtly, cutting her off before she began to rant, he didn't have to know her well to know she would.
"I understand but like hell am I letting you guys just wander off, and you shouldn't be on your own."
"Ano… I WAS with Syaoran." She looked around trying to spot her adopted brother through the heavy crowds, but could not.
Kurogane put his arms behind his head.
"Where you guys staying?" He questioned as the two wandered somewhat aimlessly, Sakura feeling a bit safer in his presence.
"Well…" She turned scarlet and looked down, she found it very hard to lie to people.
"Fay told me everything… so that means you're living rough?"
"Just until Fay-san gets a job in this town!" She added hurriedly as though this made it okay. "And he's really good at cooking and there are a lot of restaurants in Tomoeda so it won't be too long." She smiled and pushed her hair behind her ears as a nervous habit. Kurogane sighed, for a fifteen year old to be so used to sleeping on the streets was somewhat disheartening, and he had to wonder how many others were in similar situations.
"I've booked a hotel room here… you guys can come stay there with me for a while til I sort something out with Fay." She made a vague 'mm' noise as though it sounded nice but she knew Fay would not agree to something like that. Kurogane turned to her. "Oi… if your family wanted to contact you… would you let them?"
"My… my family?" She asked curiously. He nodded and produced the piece of paper Yukito had written on,
"I don't wanna mention this in front of the rest so I'm kinda glad I got you on your own, but I met your twin sister yesterday… right here. In Tomoeda." Sakura's eyes widened and she looked a little confused. "I took the number but… if you don't want to go through with it, I'll tear it up and we can forget it ever happened." He promised her. "Fay doesn't have to know." He added as she raised her hand to her mouth, seemingly shocked.
He put the paper back in his pocket and sighed.
"I have a twin?" She asked.
"Yeah, identical… and an older brother. There was a kid with glasses too."
"Why… why can't I remember?" She whispered sadly. "I'm being told this… and I can't remember." She rubbed her forehead as though trying to force memories back.
"You can contact them… without Fay and the others knowing… til you've made your mind up. I'll supervise." He added the last part on hastily, knowing it wasn't at all clever for the amnesiac wanderer to be doing such things on her own.
"Is… is it right to keep it from them?" She questioned, a pained look dancing across her eyes. "They've been so good to me… and I'd be lying."
"You wouldn't be lying…" Kurogane reasoned with her. "But you're bound to be curious right. Talking to them might bring back memories, I know you like where you are now and if you talk to them and still wanna stay nobody's gonna hold it against you…" Sakura gave an odd whimpering sound, nodding slowly. She looked torn.
"Kurogane-san… I think I'd like to…"
"Sakura!" Mokona screamed happily, jumping onto her shoulders as Fay and the twins followed behind her. "Syaoran said he lost you."
"Sorry!" He apologised, bowing. "I tried to find you… but when I couldn't I panicked and told… I should've looked harder." he mumbled, trailing off embarrassedly.
"It's okay." Sakura said, cuddling Mokona close to her chest. "I was safe… I was with Kurogane-san." She nodded beside her, to where Kurogane stood, arms folded glaring at Fay who rather determined avoided his eye.
"Kurogane-san." Syaoron said, looking a little impressed.
"Kurogane-san." Syaoran nodded in greeting.
"KURO-CHU!" Mokona squealed excitedly and climbed off of Sakura to hug Kurogane around his neck, he put his arms around her to hold her still, half returning the hug. She wrapped her thin legs around his chest to support herself.
"You shouldn't have come here Kurogane." Fay said coldly, having dropped the cute nicknames as punishment for his stupidity.
"Yeah well… I did." He muttered. For a moment there was a treacherous silence, it seemed that whichever one of the Fluorite clan broke it would be frowned upon, so Kurogane spoke.
"You guys are coming with me… all of you." He said firmly. "Hotel just on the edge of town."
"No." Fay whispered quietly but determinedly.
"Look, you guys need a roof over your head I'm offering one. You don't have to stay long since she thinks you'll get a job soon." Kurogane's voice was strong, there was no doubt. "But I'm no pushover and I do want you to."
"Kurogane I have it under control." Fay hissed
"Control is this one looking like she's not eaten in a month? Control is this one with a… how the hell did you do that?" Kurogane turned his attention to Mokona, for the first time aware of the nasty cut on her cheek and the poor attempt at bandaging it. "You okay kid?" He stared at the wound, curious as to how she managed to get injured.
"YEP." She sang, nuzzling closer into him. "Mokona's a pirate now." She waved an imaginary sword around his head endearingly.
"Kurogane we don't DO dependency. I told you we've been through rough times before and…"
"I want to stay." Sakura whispered suddenly, surprising them all. She avoided their gaze. "Fay-san… I want us to stay with Kurogane-san… even if only for a little." She took a hold of Kurogane's hand.
"If Sakura's staying… I am." Syaoran said, going and standing behind his love.
"Ditto." Mokona said happily, kissing Kurogane's cheek.
"Me too." Syaoron nodded and crossed to his siblings. Kurogane locked eyes with a distraught looking Fay.
"You're outvoted Fluorite." He said softly. Fay clenched his fist, nails digging into his palm.
"Democracy… is not my friend." He said with a sigh. "Fine, I'll come but ONLY temporary. And I'm not grateful because I'm being blackmailed into this. It's not right to turn the kids on me like that."
"Might not be right." Kurogane shrugged, jostling Mokona who was pirating the falling petals from nearby trees. "But it works."
A/n: I get carried away with my plotlines sometimes.