Tokyo, Japan

The Freshmen Orientation class was a required course for all incoming freshmen and therefore had to be held in the largest lecture hall in the school. The group found enough empty seats so that they could all sit together. Exactly on time, the teacher of the class came in and everyone present was surprised to find that their teacher was the University Chancellor. "Welcome everyone," the Chancellor began. "I like to teach this course myself so that I can get an idea of what the new students at my University are like. From my experiences teaching this class, I have found that there is not enough time for everybody to introduce themselves in one class period, so I have decided that today all the guys will give a brief introduction of themselves, including their name and interests and next week, the girls will introduce themselves."

The introductions started at the front, and Heero, Syaoran and the others were sitting in the middle, so they had a while before it would be their turn to introduce themselves. Halfway through the class, the introductions reached the guys. Ranma was the first to introduce himself to the rest of the freshmen, saying his name and expressing his interest in the Anything Goes Martial Arts Style. Next was Duo, who stated that he enjoyed anything fun. Following Duo was Syaoran who also said he liked martial arts. Heero was next, but his introduction was a little different than everyone else's. While most of the guys in the class had given their name and a short speech about themselves, Heero said only three words; "Heero Yuy. Piloting," and then Heero sat down. Eriol was sitting next to Heero and had expected him to give such an introduction so he quickly stood up and introduced himself before the teacher could ask Heero any questions. During the five guys' introductions, the five girls sitting with them started feeling a little uncomfortable. They had each been spending a lot of time with one of the guys and each felt that their relationships might be going somewhere. However, when the five guys were giving their introductions, the five girls could hear the other girls in the room whispering to each other about how hot the five guys were. Until that moment, the girls hadn't anticipated that there would be any competition for each of their respective guys.

After class, Heero and Tomoyo left the rest of the group since they had class. They didn't have class together at that moment, Heero had Chemistry and Tomoyo had Economics, but they did have class in the same building so they were walking together. "So, Yuy-kun," began Tomoyo once they were out of earshot of the others. "I see you have been spending lots of time with Sakura-chan."

"We are partners for Modern Literature class," responded Heero in his usual monotone voice.

Tomoyo giggled at the fact that Heero wouldn't admit to spending time with Sakura. "He reminds me a lot of Li-kun," thought Tomoyo to herself. "You know, you are allowed to admit that you enjoy spending time with Sakura-chan. I know she has enjoyed spending time with you and I also know that despite the fact that you won't admit it, you have enjoyed spending time with her as well. It's certainly understandable. Sakura-chan has that special quality about her; it's impossible not to like spending time with her. She is just too cute, isn't she?" Heero answered Tomoyo with a strange look and a slight grunt sound, making Tomoyo giggle again as he was still refusing to directly answer her question. "Oh yeah. Before I forget," said Tomoyo, no longer in the joking voice she was using earlier. "The next time you and Sakura-chan go out and capture more new Clow Cards, you better call me! I have already missed two and I am not missing another one!" Heero looked at her with a very peculiar look on his face. But seeing that she was quite serious about not wanting to miss their next card capturing quest, Heero decided to be nice and nodded to her, indicating that he would find some way of informing her the next time a Clow Card appeared. When she saw Heero nod in agreement, Tomoyo became her normal happy self once again and decided at that moment that Heero was good enough for her Sakura-chan and that she was going to do whatever is necessary to make sure they ended up together.

An hour later, Tomoyo emerged from her class, which she had found very boring without any of her new friends present to keep her company, to find Heero waiting outside her classroom for her. Since Heero was a gentleman, despite his cold exterior, he had decided to wait for Tomoyo's class to finish and walk her back to her friends. "How was class, Daidouji-san?"

"Boring," replied Tomoyo with a pout. "I haven't had a class without either Sakura-chan or Meilin-chan in it for a long time and I had nobody to talk to. But, thank you for waiting for me, Yuy-kun." Heero nodded and the two started walking towards the restaurant they had agreed to meet the others at for lunch. After a couple minutes of walking, Heero suddenly stopped. They were still only about halfway to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet the others, so Tomoyo didn't understand why Heero had stopped so suddenly. "Is something wrong?"

"You know how you said you weren't going to miss the next Clow Card?" asked Heero. Tomoyo just nodded, still feeling a little confused. "Well, take out your camera. There is one nearby." Tomoyo's eyes lit up and she hurriedly searched through her bag for her camcorder. "You might not want to be too excited though," continued Heero. "It feels like it is a weak card."

"I'll call Sakura-chan and tell her that there is a card here," said Tomoyo as she started dialing Sakura's cell phone number.

"Don't bother," stated Heero before Tomoyo could finish dialing. "She's already on her way."

"How do you know that?" asked a very surprised Tomoyo as she put her phone back in her bag.

"I can feel her aura," stated Heero as if it was obvious.

A second later, Sakura turned the corner, running at full speed with Ranma right on her heels. Once they reached where Tomoyo and Heero were standing, Tomoyo asked where everyone else was. "Saotome-kun and I wanted to meet you two halfway, so everyone else is still at the restaurant. Then I felt the presence of a Clow Card and started running."

"We know," replied Tomoyo. "Yuy-kun felt it too. I was about to call you, but he also said he could feel your aura coming this way."

"The feeling is coming from this direction," interrupted Heero as he pointed in the direction of the art department building. The four turned and started running towards the art building, with Heero and Sakura in front and Tomoyo behind them videotaping their every move. Ranma was running next to Tomoyo to make sure nothing happened to her while she was filming Heero and Sakura.

When Heero and Sakura reached the art building and opened the door, a quiet "Hoe?" escaped from Sakura's mouth. The noise sounded so cute to Heero that he had to force himself not to laugh to maintain his serious demeanor. Sakura started to blush when she realized what had come out of her mouth. It had been a number of years since she had stopped using the word 'hoe' every time something surprised her and she felt a little embarrassed that he childish ways had come back. Heero couldn't blame Sakura for being surprised, for what he saw when he entered the building had surprised him as well, although he didn't show it. They had entered into what looked to be an art gallery in the main hall of the building, but instead of being a tasteful art gallery like it was supposed to be, the entire area was full of many different colors. Not only were the paintings hyper-colored, but the walls, the floor and the ceiling all looked like someone had thrown buckets of paint everywhere. Heero and Sakura stepped into the building and were surprised to find that when the entered the area, they too became multi-colored. Each one looked to each other with surprised looks on their faces and then turned to look at Tomoyo and Ranma as they reached the door.

"What happened, Sakura-chan?" asked Tomoyo when she saw her best friend was made up of about twenty different colors.

"I don't know, Tomoyo-chan," responded Sakura. "We just walked in here and all of a sudden we looked like a piece of abstract art."

"Is this the work of a Clow Card?" asked Ranma as he looked around the multi-colored building from the safety of the doorway. He had no intention of entering the room and looking like a piece of art if he could help it.

"I guess so," answered Sakura with a shrug. "I guess we just have to figure out where the card is centered and then capture it. At least this card feels weak and doesn't seem to be causing any real harm."

"But where could the card be?" asked Tomoyo as she took the opportunity to capture the colorful sight in front of her with her camera.

"It is right over there," stated Heero as he pointed. The other three turned to see where Heero was pointing and were surprised to see that he was pointing at a painting that was still black and white.

"Why didn't that one change color?" wondered Sakura. "Are you sure that is where the Clow Card is, Heero-kun?" Heero just nodded and motioned for her to try and seal it. "Key that Hides the Power of the Stars. Show Your True Self to Me. I, Sakura Command You Under Contract. Release!" Once Sakura's wand was released she walked over to the black and white painting. "I Sakura, Mistress of the Cards Command You. Return to Your True Form. Clow Card!" As Sakura brought her wand down onto the painting, everything in the room changed back to normal colors and in a flash of white light, a new Clow Card appeared in front of Sakura. As she reached her hand out to grab the card, it floated up and away from Sakura and into Heero's hand.

"Huh? Why did the card fly over to Yuy-kun?" asked Tomoyo from behind her camera.

Heero just shrugged and walked over to Sakura and gave her the card. "I guess the Clow Card thought Heero-kun deserved to be its master since he was the one who figured out where it was. By the way, how did you know the card was in that painting?" asked Sakura.

"I just concentrated my energy like you were teaching me. After I did that, it was pretty clear where the Clow Card was centered," answered Heero. "What card is it?" Sakura looked at the card in her hand, surprised that Heero hadn't bothered to look at it when it flew over to him. She couldn't understand why Heero gave her the card without even looking at it when he seemed to be the one that deserved it. "You deserve the card, Sakura-san. I only figured out where it was from the lessons you were giving me."

"How did you know that was what I was thinking?" asked Sakura with wide eyes.

To Sakura's surprise, Heero's usually emotionless face changed and took on one of confusion. "I don't know," answered Heero. "I just knew. I didn't even realize I knew until I answered you."

"You can read Sakura-chan's mind!?" questioned Tomoyo in an excited voice. "That is so cute! And I got it all on tape too!" Tomoyo was beaming with happiness while Heero and Sakura just looked at each other, unsure of what exactly had happened.

Heero shrugged. "Not really. I guess it was just some type of coincidence."

"Well, anyway, it says this is the Color Card. There aren't many places more colorful than an art gallery so I guess I understand why it would want to be here. It also looks like it was created from magic from the Snow Card," commented Sakura as she looked at the card. Similar to the other two new Clow Cards she had captured, the back of this one was black and the picture was the same as the Snow Card. After Sakura had looked at the card, she gave it to Heero so he could look at it more closely. Neither Heero nor Sakura noticed the well hidden aura floating above them as it finished surveying the situation and flew away.

As Heero studied the card, a thought occurred to him. "Since this card doesn't seem to be able to cause much damage and it was so easy to capture, why don't you see if you can control it? You said before that you wanted to know if you could use these new cards but were afraid to call upon the Drain or Magma cards since they were too dangerous."

Sakura took a moment to think about what Heero had suggested. "I guess you're right, Heero-kun. I'll try." Sakura took the Color Card back from Heero and threw it up into the air. "Color!" yelled Sakura as she brought her wand down on the card. However, when Sakura struck the card with her wand, nothing happened. "Huh? It doesn't work," said a surprised Sakura as she picked up the card. "I can't release it."

"It's ok, Sakura-chan. You still looked cute trying," said a smiling Tomoyo.

"T-Tomoyo-chan…" whined Sakura as her face reddened from her best friend's obsession with her cuteness.

"Maybe you have to make it a Sakura Card," suggested Tomoyo.

"Good idea. I'll try that." Sakura raised her wand and once again threw the Color Card into the air. "Card Created by the Magic of Clow. Discard Your Old Form and be Reborn, Under the Name Sakura; Your New Mistress." A bright light came from Sakura's wand as she finished chanting, but the card didn't change. It just continued to float down to Sakura's feet.

"Don't worry about it Kinomoto-san," consoled Ranma when he saw Sakura's face turn into a frown of defeat. "You tried and that's all that matters. We'll figure something out eventually. For now, we should go meet up with everyone else before they start worrying and think we ditched them."

"You're right, Saotome-kun," said Sakura. Sakura then recalled her wand and picked up the Color Card as the four left the building and went to meet up with their friends. Ten minutes later the group met up with the rest of their friends at the restaurant. When they arrived, Eriol was the first to ask what had taken them so long.

"Sakura-chan and Yuy-kun captured another card!" exclaimed Tomoyo happily. "It was so cute! They worked together and caught the Color Card. And I got it all on tape!"

"The Color Card?" asked Duo, who thought it sounded like a silly card.

"Hai," answered Sakura as she sat down. "It didn't do much though and was a pretty easy card to capture. Heero figured out where the card was and then we captured it." Sakura gave the card to Syaoran, since she figured he would want to see it.

"Made from the Snow Card it looks like," commented Syaoran.

"Kinomoto-san also tried to release the card after it was captured," added Ranma, who thought it was an important point and was wondering why nobody had mentioned it yet.

"And what happened?" asked Ami while she looked at the Color Card over Syaoran's shoulder.

"It didn't work," answered Sakura a little sadly. "I couldn't release it."

"Did you try changing it?" asked Eriol. "It looks like these cards have no master yet since there is no magic circle on the back."

"I tried that too," answered Sakura. "But that didn't work either." Sakura dropped her head in sadness, feeling a little disappointed in herself. She soon perked up when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see Heero's cobalt blue eyes staring into hers and his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself," said Heero quite sincerely. "Nobody expects you to do more than you are capable. From what I can tell you worked really hard at capturing and changing all the cards you have now, so there is no reason to beat yourself up over this. We'll find some way to use these cards. It will just take a little more time." Sakura placed a hand on top of Heero's, and he responded with a smile which succeeded in cheering her up.

Duo just watched in amazement at Heero and Sakura. He had never thought anyone would be able to make Heero act compassionate, gentle, caring – basically human. But somehow, in these past few days, whenever Heero was around Sakura, he turned into a normal person, almost. At times Duo still enjoyed annoying Heero about no longer being the emotionless perfect soldier, but at the moment, he thought it was best not to say anything since Heero's kindness had worked to cheer up Sakura and he didn't want to do anything to make Sakura depressed again. "Well, now that you are finally here," Duo said in a fun and carefree tone of voice, "can we order? Some of us have class soon and want to get some food in our stomachs before we go and learn." Everyone looked up when Duo spoke and with the exception of Heero and Syaoran, they all laughed at the joking Gundam pilot.

"By the way, Yuy," interrupted Syaoran. "The four of us were planning on trying out for the school soccer team. You want to try too? Maxwell says you are good at sports and from what I can tell from our sparring matches you are competitive and very athletic as well." Heero shrugged and said sure and then the ten teens ordered their food.

The rest of the day went by without incident. Each person had scattered classes and breaks together, except for Biology which everyone was enrolled in except for Heero and Sakura. The biology teacher announced in class that there would be a three day weekend trip to the natural wildlife preserve where the class would be studying the behaviors of certain animals and plants. That meant in a few weeks, the only ones that would be left on campus would be Heero and Sakura.

Author's Notes:

The Color Card? Sounds dumb doesn't it? Well, I guess I wasn't feeling very creative when I wrote this chapter. I know this chapter was shorter than the second and definitely shorter than the first, but hey, I can't write them all the same length.