Chapter Eleven

They made it to the spa without Yukito passing out. Mai nearly had a panic attack when they dragged him inside. "Who is he, and what happened to him?"

"His name's Yukito," Sakura explained, easing him down into one of the chairs in the waiting area. She and Kurogane had switched off supporting his delicate frame during their long walk, an arrangement which had made the whole ordeal a lot easier on her. Even so, her back ached with the effort, and her breath came in labored gasps. "He was running from these two men, and one them pulled out a whip and . . ." She choked on her words and gestured helplessly to the man's bloody shoulder.

"Yuka, go get some bandages from the back," Mai commanded, abandoning her post at the reception desk. When she reached them, she lifted the damaged flap of Yukito's sleeve to examine the damage. She called to Yuka again. "Bring some antiseptic and salve, too." She turned back to them. "Who attacked him?"

"There were two men," Sakura said. "One of them was really big, and the other was skinny, and they were running after him like they wanted to kill him."

Fai tilted his head up to look at the ceiling. "The one guy called the big one Ryon, didn't he?"

Mai looked up sharply. "Ryon? As in, Ryon and Roy? Those thugs?"

Sakura nodded. "And Ryon had a whip that must've been twice as long as he was tall, and he used it to hurt Yukito-san." She made another helpless gesture toward the bloody flap of skin.

The dark-haired girl turned to Yuka, who was returning with the medical supplies. "Bring some old towels for me. We don't want blood on the chairs." Mai unscrewed the cap of a small tube, revealing the translucent paste within. She rubbed it into Yukito's wound, every movement deliberate. The blond moaned in pain.

"Do you know them from somewhere?" Fai asked. "Those thugs, I mean."

Mai glared at the laceration, as if the object of her hatred was somehow contained in the wound. "They used to come here and play pranks at our spa. At first, it seemed harmless enough. Kid stuff, you know. They were too old for that kind of thing, but there wasn't much we could do about it. But one night, they took it too far, and assaulted an old man in the bath. There was blood everywhere, and the man they beat up had to go to the hospital for internal bleeding. We couldn't get a reliable customer for months." A wrinkle formed between her eyebrows as she unrolled the gauze. "Next time they showed up, I had them arrested for trespassing."

"Looks like it didn't work," Kurogane muttered.

"We have to stop them," Sakura said.

The ninja sighed. "You know if you go around helping every beaten dog you see, we'll never leave this world."

She looked up sharply. "What are you saying? We have to help him!"

"We have a job to do."

"It can wait a few days." She gritted her teeth, keeping her shoulders square. Some part of her knew that if the ninja intended to hold his ground, he would eventually get his way. "Please," she whispered, eyes dropping to the floor. "We have to."

The room had gone almost silent. The ninja sighed. "Fine. What do I care? So long as it doesn't delay us too much longer."

"Thank you," she said fervently, turning her attention back to the Yukito look-alike. Mai had finished applying salve, and was now wrapping bandages around his shoulder.

"Will you really go looking for them?" Mai asked, looking up at Kurogane. Apparently, she'd decided he was the leader of the group. I haven't even thought about that, Sakura thought, doing her best to give Yukito-san a comforting glance. But I suppose someone needs to take charge, wherever we're going. I've got royal blood, but . . .

Yukito spoke up suddenly. "Is there any way I could go now? My shoulder is feeling better, truly."

Sakura's eyes flashed to the others, then back to the blond. "Um, actually . . . We've sort of been looking for that feather you have." She let the words hang in the air for a moment, hoping Yukito would produce the feather without her having to ask directly.

He looked away. "I'm sorry, but I also need it. For my brother."

"You mentioned that before," Fai said. "What happened to him?"

"Several weeks ago, Touya Onii-san fell ill."

Sakura choked back a gasp when she heard her older brother's name. But—But Yukito and Touya aren't related in Clow! How could they be brothers here?

"The doctors said his prognosis was poor. They thought he'd be dead before the week was over. Just when everything seemed hopeless, a great clap of thunder split the sky open, and the feather drifted down so it was resting over his heart. His fever broke right away, and some of the color came back to his face. It was as if the gods themselves had granted him the means to survive." He looked up, as if he could see the sky beyond the ceiling.

"Then why aren't you with him now?" Kurogane asked. I think that's the first time I've ever heard him ask a question without yelling, Sakura thought.

"That's where the difficulty comes in. I knew from the start the feather was powerful. In the wrong hands, it could likely cause great harm." He shook his head, as if he couldn't believe anyone would use it for such purposes. "Somehow, Ryon and Roy found out about it. I knew them from a few other . . . encounters, I suppose you could call them."

Yukito frowned, a strange expression on his youthful face. "Touya Onii-san might have been able to fend them off, if he hadn't still been ill, but I'm not as strong as him, so when Ryon threatened me, I gave them the feather."

Sakura frowned in confusion. "So you don't have it?"

"Oh, I have it. After they left, I disguised myself and followed them back to their household. When they fell asleep, I slipped in through the window and searched the house for the feather. I couldn't find it anywhere, and I thought maybe they'd stashed it somewhere else when I hadn't been looking, but then I realized Ryon probably still had it on him. I snuck into his room and dug through his bag looking for it." A deep blush crept into his cheeks. "I'd just found it when Ryon woke up."

"And you've been running ever since," Kurogane cut in.

The blond looked down at his feet. "I meant to get back to Touya. I don't know how he's fared without the feather nearby, but if it helped him before, it might help him now."

"That's quite the story," Mai muttered, shaking her head as she waltzed back to the reception desk.

"I'm sorry," Yukito said, directing his attention to Sakura. She looked back at him as steadily as she could. "But I can't return the feather to you."

Her shoulders sagged, thoughts flitting back to Syaoran. They couldn't afford to lose a single feather while he remained in this condition. His irregular sleep schedule and short-term memory loss had already given her a few panic attacks. If they landed in a more dangerous world after this, his condition might end up killing him.

"How about we all go and take a look at your brother," Fai suggested. Kurogane made a sound of annoyance behind him.

Yukito glanced up. "The doctors said there's nothing that can be done for him."

"Maybe there is," Sakura interrupted. "Back in my wo—country—I received a little bit of training in healing. I don't know how much it will help, but it's worth a try."

"You would do that for a total stranger?"

She nodded fiercely, though this man was less of a stranger to her than he believed. In another world, you taught me about magic. Maybe I can use my magic to help you in this dimension.

The ninja crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave an exasperated sigh. "Might as well go now so we can get to the next world sooner."

Sakura nodded. "Is that okay with you, Yukito-san?"

The bespectacled man stood up, moving carefully with his wounded shoulder. "That would be very kind of you."

A new voice pierced the conversation. "Can I come too?"

Everyone turned, their eyes flying to the speaker. Sakura ran over to him, extending an arm as if to stop him. "Syaoran, you're not strong enough to walk that far."

His head tilted to the side in a puppy-dog gesture. "But all of you are helping me retrieve my memories. Shouldn't I try to help, too?"

She bit her lip. "Maybe, but—"

"Let him come," Kurogane said. "See what happens."

See what happens? she thought. He's going to pass out—that's what's going to happen.

"Can I please go?" Syaoran asked. For the first time, Sakura saw a hint of real emotion in his expression. It wore down her defenses faster than anything else that had happened since the masked men had invaded Clow. Her eyes dropped to the floor.

"Okay. Let's go."

Fai handed her the bow and quiver he'd been carrying. She slung the cylindrical basket over her shoulder and moved the bow to her left hand. The others fell in position behind her as she gestured for Yukito to lead the way.