The Heart's Hitsuzen

Chapter Ten: The Welcome to Kyoto

By: Eviltiger

Author's Nooooote: Nothing is mine! XD Oh wait! This AU's plot is mine! Goodies! Thank you so much for all your reviews! Really sorry haven't updated lately! And Astrid01, if you can update for nearly every chapter, that makes someone freaking awesome, not a fail! If anything is unlikable or confusing, please tell me so I can fix it up! Thank you! Justice333 THANK YOU! You review a loooooot!

YEAAAAAAAAAH!

Walking down the plank from the ship, Syaoran took a deep breath. Then, the Captain took his first step onto land in four years. Looking around at the surroundings, Syaoran noticed for the first time how noisy the port was. Men laughed, women tittered, barrels rolled on the wooden ground making loud sounds, merchants had little stalls, selling various items, and there was one small scuffle near one side of the port. The sights overwhelmed him, along with the accompanying sounds and smells. The Captain staggered back, and closed his eyes for a moment. Then, taking a deep breath, he began to walk forward.

When he opened his eyes he saw Sakura looking at him curiously, a little ways ahead. Nodding that he was fine, the man went to her, ignoring the throbbing in his head and the weakness in his legs. When he had reached the waiting Sakura, the jade-eyed woman spoke.

"What is our first step?" Sakura asked, waiting for Syaoran to respond. The amber-eyed man struggled to think intelligently and gather his thoughts. His head swimming, the man thought for a while, trying to sort everything out. After his head was somewhat cleared and the man could think more or less straight, it had been at least two minutes since Sakura had asked the question. Attempting to save face, the Captain replied in a deciding voice,

"Ask around if there is a person who has knowledge of magical items, or magic at all. In the evening we should find an inn to stay in." Sakura nodded in consent.

"How about heading to restaurants and bars? There are lots of people in such places normally, and drunken men talk." Upon hearing Sakura's comment, Syaoran raised an eyebrow, looking at Sakura curiously. Noticing, the maiden blushed and looked away.

"Is there a problem with my suggestion?" She said curtly. The man shook his head quickly.

"No, no! I was simply wondering where you learned to use such… ah… bluntness." As jade eyes stood out even more against a deep red face, Syaoran changed the direction of the conversation. "It's a good idea. Shall we get started?" Looking at Sakura, the woman nodded in confirmation, and the pair went off.

As it turned out, Kyoto, the city the Tsubasa had made port in, was perfect for gathering information. Being located in an optimal place for both ships of water and sky, there were many foreigners in the city. Being as there were many outsiders in the city, there were also many inns, restaurants, and places that sold liquor.

Walking down a crowded dusty street, Sakura observed the town with wide eyes, Syaoran close behind the woman and never letting the maiden stray too far away. As he watched the maiden in front of him, the man let his thoughts wander to said woman. Since the time they had rescued her to now, the man had pushed away all thoughts of the lady into the back of his head. Now, however, they began bubbling back up to the surface, and he allowed them to come.

She had definitely changed since he had last seen her. Sakura wasn't just a cute, bumbling, innocent teenager anymore with coordination problems- she was a lady, and a beautiful one at that. Every move she made emanated elegance. But she not only had changed physically. The woman had suffered many hardships, forcing her to grow up and face the cruelty of the world. They both had. Syaoran's hands curled into a fist, feeling imaginary lashes beat down on his back.

Raising his head that he had unconsciously lowered, the man looked at the woman who was currently looking at everything in sight with almost childlike curiosity. He could tell, however, that she was also carefully scanning the road for any signs of that would notify them of a place serving alcohol. A glimmer of a smile crept onto his face as he watched Sakura stumble for a second and then regain her former position of grace. Perhaps that girl she had once been hadn't entirely disappeared.

He could feel the hatred of four years for Sakura begin to slowly fade away, bit by bit, but was surprised to discover something else as well. He had always harbored a liking for Sakura, more than just as friends, but when he had been supposedly betrayed by her, the love had been crushed. When he had realized that everything had been a misunderstanding, the man couldn't believe it at first. The whole night he had thought she had been lying, and had silently ranted over it before coming to realize she couldn't act that well. But now, the amber-eyed man knew he had just been afraid to accept the truth, afraid that he would love her again, afraid that he might be crushed again.

However, looking at the women before him, his hate fading away, and everything else slowly coming to light Syaoran realized that he felt affection for the woman, as one might with a close friend, and he was happy to have gained a friend back, but that was it. There was no love, no deep emotions running through him. She was a friend. That's all.

Upon having this revelation, a rush of emotions flooded through the man. While a pang of sadness hit him, satisfaction smacked satisfyingly. Elation flooded through him, while guilt and self-loathing came after all the other feelings had been realized. Shaking his head, as if trying to shake the thoughts and emotions out as well, Syaoran saw Sakura stop abruptly just in time for him to backpedal so he would not collide with the maiden.

Sakura turned to face Syaoran, looking at the man while pointing to a sign a little ways from them on the right side of the street. Then the jade-eyed woman spoke.

"There's a place over there." Syaoran nodded uneasily, looking at the sign. It read Hell's Bells1 - Drinks of the devil. What told the man here wouldn't be where they found information wasn't the name or slogan, however: it was the way the sign looked old and worn, dusty ancient windows were cracked and rusted from disuse, and how at such a close proximity, there wasn't any noise coming from the pub. Nevertheless, the man nodded.

"We can take a look inside." Whether he was going to let them stay inside was a different story. Walking out towards the side of the road, the Captain kept looking at the bar. Up close, he found, the place looked even more decrepit, if possible.

Sighing inwardly, the man picked up his pace slightly so that he was next to Sakura instead of behind her. Then, opening the squeaky door and holding it out like the good gentleman he was, Syaoran took a look inside as Sakura walked in.

Inside the hole, as the Captain would refuse to ever call it a pub again, the place was dark and nearly empty. It reeked of mothballs and beer, while everything looked covered in about an inch of dust, including the occasional person in the room. None of this, however, was quite as horrid as the bartender. The man, if you could call it a man, was crouched behind the rotting wooden bar, oily hair overgrown and everywhere, flies circling him, and clothes so tattered and full of holes it wasn't certain if he was wearing any, or simply caked in his own filth. Long fingernails green with mold scratched where the thing had supposedly a nose, before taking sight of the two who had just walked in.

Syaoran could feel Sakura freeze next to him as the thing turned its head with several pops and cracks to look at the two. Not that the Captain could blame her. Suppressing a shiver, the man stared as the thing looked at the pair with bloodshot eyes, before it smiled, but not in a friendly way. The smile did it. Before the man knew what he was doing, Syaoran grabbed the horror-struck Sakura who was fixated to the ground, and practically sprung towards the door, slamming behind him with a bang.

Even outside the man didn't stop, running away from the ditch as fast as he could, Sakura in tow. It wasn't until he couldn't even see that accursed place did the Captain cease sprinting, and checked to make sure Sakura was all right. After much panting and coughing from the duo, Syaoran was surprised to hear Sakura start laughing. On closer inspection, however, the man found the girl laughing hysterically, her eyes wide.

"Oh Heavens above! He had green fingernails! Green!" The woman gasped out, before resuming her hysterical laughter, her eyes growing wider by the minute. Thoroughly alarmed, Syaoran grabbed Sakura's wrists, and forced her to stare into his eyes.

"Sakura. Look at me. You're all right. We're out of there, and never going back." The maiden thrashed wildly for a little bit, before the Captain's words slowly started to sink in. Calming down, the woman realized what she had been doing and immediately composed herself; face heating up with embarrassment from such a display. Her hands, however, were still trembling ever so slightly.

"I-I apologize, I don't know what came over me. Shall we search for the next one?" Sakura said, her eyes not meeting Syaoran's. Studying the woman for a little while, the man replied.

"We don't have to search in bars. We can go to other places, safer ones. And if we absolutely need to, you wouldn't have to go inside; you could stay in an inn." Immediately, Sakura stiffened and looked at the Captain with determined emerald eyes.

"I am capable enough to go into a bar. Are we searching for the next one?" Her voice sounded indignant, yet rock firm. Syaoran knew this was a battle he wouldn't win. Sighing, the man nodded reluctantly.

"All right, let's go."

Their hunt for information in the bars was interesting if not mind-scarring. Once when they had questioned the sane looking bartender about a person who had knowledge of magical items, the man began to rant and rave about how magic was heretics and all practitioners should be burned at the stake. Then, turning on the two and accusing the duo of being witches, empty glass bottles were thrown at their heads as they ran out of the bar.

Another one was actually a stripper club that the pair had mistaken for being a harmless (more or less) place serving alcohol and Syaoran had ran out of the place covering Sakura's eyes, both of their faces a deep shade of tomato. Such went on so forth, and every place they went to they kept receiving a general answer of zip, nada, goose eggs, or simply put, no. Tired and exhausted, the sun almost ready to set and still no information to get them anywhere, Sakura pointed out yet another bar, although much more reluctant and drained than she had originally been.

"So… How about this one?" The woman said wearily. Groaning, Syaoran turned to look at the sun, and then back at the bar. Sighing, the man said tiredly,

"We're finding an inn as soon as we're done." Nodding, Sakura closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them quickly, renewed energy coming from a place Syaoran had yet to begin to fathom.

Before Sakura could open the doors to the bar, the Captain reached out and lightly tapped her wrist. As Sakura turned questioningly to look at the man, letting go of the door, Syaoran said,

"Don't stray too far away." Then he opened the door to let her inside. Rolling her eyes in mock annoyance, Sakura smiled briefly before walking inside, Syaoran following her closely.

The bar had a reasonable amount of people, but not enough to make Syaoran unable to see the other side of the room. Walking in, the man headed towards the most harmless looking person in the room, a man barely out of his teens looking completely wasted. Sitting down in the seat next to the boy, the man watched as Sakura looked around the room innocently, although he knew she was trying to discern the next easiest person to get information out of. Turning back to face the boy, who was now regarding him suspiciously, Syaoran gave a friendly smile, and began his assault.

"What's your name kid?" The boy thought for a second, collecting his mind, before replying,

"Masayoshi. You?" Syaoran waved off his question, dodging it subtly and doing so without the young man realizing so.

"Just a random passerby. Do you know of anyone who would be able to tell a small time magician like me about magical artifacts? I would like to learn more." Masayoshi snorted and shrugged.

"You think I know of anyone like that? If I did, I would have a woman on each arm because of a magical charm!" As the boy continued to lament over his less than desirable love life Syaoran sighed inwardly while pretending to listen and nodded every now and then. While Masayoshi continued to ramble on, Syaoran began to survey the room, looking for Sakura. Was she having any more luck than him? Apparently not.

Catching sight of the maiden, his eyes widened in alarm as he saw her being cornered by three men, all looking completely drunk and dangerous. While the men drew closer and closer, invading Sakura's space, Syaoran could feel his blood boil. Then, when one man, possibly the ringleader, stepped closer to her than the other two and reached out to stroke her cheek, the Captain stood up.

Walking away from Masayoshi, Syaoran began walking at a quick pace towards the three men, who had currently grabbed Sakura's arms while the head man was bending down to kiss the woman, his hands straying dangerously close to her body.

Just before the man's filthy lips touched Sakura's a tap on his shoulder made him grunt in annoyance. Turning around while preparing his best pissed off face in the world, the man was never able to show it as a fist came crashing to meet his face. Falling backwards onto the floor, the last thing that the man remembered was a cold, dead of emotion face with scarlet flames surrounding the attacker before a kick to the groin left him seeing stars, and then black.

Turning to look at the other two thugs, Syaoran walked towards them slowly, ripped Sakura from their hands, and walked in between the two. Then, Syaoran elbowed each man in the ribs, and while they were falling, punched them in the face. Turning to face a frightened Sakura, the Captain grabbed her hand before opening the door and calmly leaving, his stone-faced.

Syaoran was walking down the street with such a calm expression yet his aura was dancing all around him. Sakura, worried, tried to speak up, but failed. When they were a good ways away from the bar and Sakura's hand was beginning to throb, the maiden finally spoke, tentative,

"I'm sorry; I should have been more caref-"

"You're damn right you should have been more careful!" Syaoran exploded, turning to face Sakura. The woman was beyond shocked, looking at Syaoran. The man was angry. Very angry.

"What were you thinking?! How could you let yourself be cornered! If I wasn't there then it would have been the end for you! Dammit!" Letting go of her hand, Sakura watched dumbstruck as Syaoran did a spinning back kick to a near-by trash can, sending it flying. Breathing heavily, Syaoran turned to face the opposite direction Sakura was in. Getting the nerve to speak again, Sakura walked slowly up to Syaoran and pressed her hand lightly on his arm.

"I'm sorry. Thank you." The Captain slowly willed himself to relax, breathing slower. Calming down, the man turned to look at the maiden behind him, her jade-eyes still holding a little fear in them. Sighing, the man ran his fingers though his hair.

"You shouldn't be thanking me. It's my fault you were even in that position. I should have stuck closer to you. This was because of me." Sakura shook her head furiously and replied.

"No! It was my fault, I can take care of myself, but I didn't. It's over now, okay? It's getting dark, so we should look for open inns. Let's forget about this." After a few moments of silence, Syaoran nodded.

"Okay. We'll look for an inn. But no more bars for you!" Suppressing a sigh, Sakura nodded, and the two began to search for a place to stay for the night.

After an inn was found, baths were taken, and Sakura asleep in her room, Syaoran walked outside once more to take a breath of night air and clear his head. Looking up at the sky, the man admired the bright moon shining brightly among the stars. Sighing, the man looked down at the necklace in his right hand, before slowly beginning to put it on. Having just washed himself, he had taken the necklace off. Stopping suddenly however, the man tucked the necklace into his pocket, assumed a defensive position and reached for his sword, looking around tensely.

"I'm impressed little worm. You actually perceived me. You are, however, nowhere near my ability." A voice called out, and that was all Syaoran knew before he was consumed in darkness. A wind whipped around the unconscious man, circling him and closing in. When the dust and wind cleared, the man's unconscious form had disappeared.

End of Chapter 10

Eh-heh-heh, CLIFFY! Review please, or I'll never want to post what happened to the Captain! (Even though we don't go back to this until chapter 12) So please tell me how I did, and I apologize for the wait. Since school will be starting up, I'll get really slow to update, sorry!