Chapter
Twelve:
Tomoyo sat up straight in her chair
as her cell phone went off in class. Eyes turned to stare at her, her teacher
pausing in the middle of scribbling equations on the board.
"Sumimasen." She uttered, taking
hold of the cell phone and rushing out of the classroom quickly. Who would call
in the middle of class, knowing she wasn't allowed to receive calls?
The number showed it to be Syaoran.
She pressed the Send button, lifting the phone to her ear. "Li-Kun!" she
admonished. "What is the matter-"
"Sakura knows." He said softly,
faintly enough that she was sure she could hear pins dropping in his
background.
She grimaced, not understanding.
"What?"
"Sakura knows." He said in the same
dead voice. "She knows about the bet. And about how I feel about her."
Tomoyo's lips parted, eyes lifting
to look out the window at the mid-day sun. "How? How does she know?" she
murmured, feeling just as lifeless as he sounded.
"She found a tape. One that you
taped of Hiiragizawa and I making the bet." He answered. There were soft voices
in his background, now that she focused on it. "I'm watching the tape right
now."
Tomoyo closed her eyes, leaning
against the window weakly. "Li-kun, I'm so sorry. I wasn't expecting it to
happen. I was just going to show Kero-chan the tape-"
"What the hell happened?" he
demanded, anger suddenly making his voice stronger. "How do you have this tape
if I asked you to stop taping?"
Tomoyo nodded, knowing that was
going to be his next question. "When Eriol-kun came into the classroom he did
something to the camera. To block the fact that it was still taping. We weren't
going to use it for anything. It was going to remain part of my collection!
But…but then I took it to Sakura-chan's house-"
"Why?!"
"Because I wanted to show it to
Kero-chan! I went over to talk to Sakura-chan and she was saying how she liked
you but that she was in love with Yukito-san." She broke off, voice going
quiet. "I'm sorry, Li-kun. I was trying to help you."
He hesitated on the other line,
inhaling shakily. "So you just left it at her house? For her to see?"
"No." Tomoyo answered instantly. "I
tried to talk to Kero-chan about Yukito-san. Because I knew he didn't love her
the way she wanted him to. I wanted Yue-san to do something, to talk to
Sakura-chan and make her understand! But Sakura-chan came in halfway through
our conversation and I hid the tape. I hid the tape under her pillow! I didn't
think to tell her that it was just an old tape. I didn't want her to want to
watch it! And I told myself that once dinner was over I'd go back to her room
and get the tape back but then Eriol-kun came to pick me up at the house and we
had to talk because he had just spoken to you!"
She wasn't sure he was even
listening anymore. She broke off with a sigh, hand lifting to rub at her eyes.
On the other line Syaoran paused for
a long moment. His breathing was rapid, shallow, and Tomoyo knew it was because
of what had happened. "How do you know she knows?" she asked him reluctantly.
Syaoran chuckled humorlessly. "She
came over and told me. She had the tape and she kindly gave it to me
before storming out of my house."
Tomoyo nodded slowly in understanding.
"So, she's mad."
"Um, yeah. Just a bit."
Syaoran growled.
She inhaled wearily and for the
first time in a long time she didn't know what to do at all. She looked toward
the classroom, slowly wandering toward it and Eriol lifted his head as if sensing
her. She motioned for him to come out and Eriol excused himself from class,
floating out.
"What happened?"
"Sakura knows." She mouthed,
listening to Syaoran breathe in her ear.
Eriol paled, lips parting. "About
the bet?" he asked softly.
Tomoyo nodded, lips tight.
Eriol looked down, looking as if he
had been dealt a blow. "The tape." He stated and he glanced at her again, dark
eyes wide.
Tomoyo nodded again.
All around the bell suddenly rang,
signaling the end of the class. Tomoyo looked at Eriol and he nodded, turning
to go back into the classroom. "Li-kun, " she said, amidst the chatter that had
abruptly risen in the hallways. "We're getting out now, Eriol-kun and I. And
we're coming to you."
"Great, my favorite relative."
Syaoran mumbled.
"Just stay there." Tomoyo smirked.
She accepted her books as Eriol came out with them and then she put the phone
away, taking hold of his wrist. "Let's go. We're going to visit your
descendant."
Eriol smiled wryly, allowing her to
lead him.
"The house is so dead without
Eriol…" Nakuru sighed, sprawled out on the couch. She was playing with her
hair, blowing at the delicate strands and watching as her breath lifted them up
and then released them.
Beside her and along the back of the
couch, Spinel Sun looked just as bored. Every time her hair floated up he
swiped at it without any real effort.
"You see that, Suppi-chan?" she
demanded as his claws caught her hair and tore a few strands. "That is
how I get split ends!"
"I don't have the privilege of
getting split ends." He purred, setting his paws down and then stretching
luxuriously.
Nakuru stared at him evilly. If she
could get her hands on a razor she'd finally have the chance to see what Spinel
Sun looked like. Furless.
Instead she threw herself up, rising
into a sitting position. "What time is it?" she asked, eyes scanning the
grandfather clock ticking out in the hallway.
"At least afternoon." Spinel Sun
yawned, rolling onto his side.
Nakuru pouted. Another three house
before Eriol even got out of class. She didn't understand why he had enrolled
anyway. He was Clow Reed. He had already had schooling in his past life.
She sighed again, knowing her impatience would piss Spinel Sun off the
slightest bit. And then she looked at the small lamp table, eyes catching on a
deck of Red-backed cards.
"Ooh! The Clow Cards!" she said
eagerly, leaning forward.
"The Second Edition?" Spinel Sun
asked, lifting his head. "They don't come with numbers in the corners this
time, do they? We could put them to some real use for once…"
Nakuru was already looking through
them, admiring them. "They're so pretty." She giggled and she lifted up a card,
gazing at it. "Clow Card," she stated in a deep voice, mimicking Eriol, "I
command you to find the Card Mistress." And she settled into little giggles
once more.
The Card suddenly flew out of her
grip, shooting into the air. Nakuru cut off in the middle of laughing, Spinel
Sun staring at the card with her as it twirled in the air.
"Oh, no…"
And it spun twice, the first spin causing
it to shimmer, the second causing it to vanish into nothing.
Spinel Sun looked down at Nakuru as
she turned wide eyes to him. "What did you do?" he demanded quickly.
"What card was it?"
Nakuru swallowed, blinking at him
fearfully. "The Sword Card."
Sakura gazed at her wall, feeling
cold. So cold. She pressed her fingertips to her mouth again, still feeling
Syaoran's lips there. And she closed her eyes, almost imagining he was there
with her, holding her. But the iciness in her limbs didn't go away and she knew
she was just dreaming. He had felt so right to her, so perfect. More than
Yukito because when he had kissed her forehead she hadn't felt the same rush.
Her face reddened even as Syaoran's face came to mind.
No! She wasn't going to do this, she
wasn't!
She wasn't.
Above her she didn't notice as
something came into being, a long card. It flashed momentarily and that got her
attention. But when she looked up she didn't see anything. She rolled over,
thinking maybe it was Kero-chan still wanting to comfort her but she didn't see
him anywhere.
"Ow." She groaned as she rolled over
something sharp. She reached under her and pulled forth a small brooch, staring
at its face. It was familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere a long, long time
ago. In a dream, perhaps. Or maybe it had belonged to her mother? But then
again, what would it be doing on her bed? She gazed at it, feeling suddenly
sleepy. It really was beautiful, the brooch. With a small sigh she attached it
to her shirt and then rolled back over onto her side, intent on sleeping. She
just needed to sleep some, so that when she woke up she would be thinking
clearly. She couldn't think right then and there. She just wanted to sleep…
Kero-chan slid open his drawer and
floated up out of it as he heard Sakura getting up. "Sakura-chan…" he said
cautiously. She was still mad at him, he didn't want to anger her further. "You
should be sleeping, Sakura-chan…"
She looked at him, a long, measured
stare and he recoiled at the blankness in that gaze. Her green eyes were
hooded, pupils tiny, almost invisible, in their emerald depths.
"S…Sakura-chan?"
She turned away and left the room,
door closing quietly behind her.
Kero stared after her wordlessly,
taken aback. Something was wrong here, he felt it. He looked toward the phone,
Sakura's cell phone and flew over to it.
What was that girl's number?
Tomoyo answered the phone, blocks
from Syaoran's home. "Kero-chan?" she asked with a frown, slowing to a stop.
Beside her Eriol also stopped, looking at her as she spoke into the phone.
"Sakura-chan what?"
He gauged her reaction to what the
Guardian said on the other line. Whatever it was, it didn't look good.
"So she just left? And…you sensed
something? Something wrong?" she looked at Eriol knowingly but he merely shook
his head. He didn't have anything to do with anything. She frowned at
him as if to ask 'Not you?'.
Then Kero brought her back to the
conversation and she nodded. "Ok, we'll keep a look out for her. Ok, bye." And
she hung up.
"What?" Eriol asked as resumed
walking, his pace quickening. "What's wrong?"
Tomoyo shrugged, practically running
now. "He says that Sakura got up and left but that he felt something wrong.
That Guardian Instinct again." She said as if in explanation but Eriol nodded
that he understood.
"Well, we're almost there." He said,
now running with her.
They sprinted down the streets,
calling out apologies as they rammed into people. It didn't slow them and Eriol
found himself taking hold of Tomoyo's hand to keep her close to him. She
squeezed his hand, keeping up with him.
And moments later they were outside
Syaoran's home, racing up to his door. Eriol rang the bell as Tomoyo took a
deep breath to calm her racing pulse. Eriol didn't seem out of breath in the
least, she marveled.
The door opened and Wei stood there,
looking quite proper. "Good afternoon." he said with a very sweet smile. "Here
to see Syaoran-sama?"
Eriol nodded, Tomoyo still breathing
hard.
"He's not here, I'm afraid. He left
only moments ago. He didn't say where." He looked apologetic. "Perhaps I can
tell him you came calling?"
Eriol nodded, "Yes, please. Thank
you." And he took hold of Tomoyo who whimpered at the thought of running again.
"If he returns soon can you please tell him to get in contact with us? We both
have our cell phones."
Wei bowed politely. "Of course."
And Eriol turned away, dragging
Tomoyo.
"Now what?" she asked.
Syaoran came out of the thick trees,
into a clearing. He wore his uniform, sword in his hand. He had felt her
calling, had known she was ready for him. But it wasn't her. It was someone
with her voice and her appearance, but it wasn't her.
Sakura turned slowly to face him, a
long sword in her hand. Her hair blew with a gust of wind, green eyes clear.
Blank
Syaoran's eyes narrowed.
Sakura lifted the sword, pointing at
him with the blade. "At last." She said coldly. "It ends here."