Ch. 2: The
Mysterious Student
Sakura went downstairs and went into
the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast. Her dad greeted her with a smile. "Sleep
well?" he asked. "Hai," Sakura said quickly. He handed her a plate of eggs and
toast. "Arigato," she said and started to gobble it up. He stared at her as she
finished the plate in record time and handed it back. "I'll see you later,
Dad!" she called out. He shook his head and started cleaning up. Sakura was
certainly growing up. She looked more and more like her mother every day. He
happened to glance at a picture of his wife on the table and smiled. In that
particular picture, she was wearing a long, light blue dress with a crown of
daises on her head and her hair down in long waves. He gazed at the picture for
another moment, and then continued cleaning up.
Touya walked into the kitchen. His dad
was cleaning up. Touya stopped suddenly and thought his eyes were deceiving
him. Above his dad's head was a figure. It was a woman, dressed in a simple
white and gold gown, and with large white wings sprouting from her back. He
stood there stunned, before realizing it was his mother. She saw him looking at
her, and smiled. "Hello," she said. "I was just visiting to see how my family
was doing. You are certainly growing bigger and bigger Touya. Soon you will be
the man of the family. Sakura is growing up too. She is becoming a young woman.
Please take care of this family for me." She then disappeared in a small flash
of gold light, leaving a rather shaken and shocked Touya.
Sakura rushed out of the kitchen and
strapped on her skates as fast as she could. She swung the door open and flung
herself out, skating as fast as she could. When she finally reached school,
Tomoyo greeted her with a smile. "Sleep in again?" she asked teasingly. "Yes,"
Sakura said, grumbling slightly. "Hello Sakura," a quiet voice said behind her.
She jumped and saw Syaoran. "Good morning," she said cheerfully back. She
noticed though, that he seemed slightly tense and jumpy. She ignored it though
and noticed Eriol coming into the classroom. He smiled at her with his usual
mysterious smile, but she saw that he seemed a bit preoccupied. The teacher
then came into the classroom.
He announced,
"Today we have a new student. Please welcome Domnu Takaya." A boy stepped into
the classroom. He was tall and lanky, with sallow skin and a shock of brown hair.
He had strange purple-gray eyes that were piercing and hard. He bowed to
everyone and smiled. Sakura noticed that his smile did not completely reach his
eyes and had a strange feeling about him, like she'd seen him before. She felt
Syaoran tense up from behind her.
"Hello," the boy
spoke up. "I'm Domnu Takaya, pleased to meet you. I'm from Vietnam, but am
Japanese."
"You may sit in
the desk in front of Sakura Kinomoto over there," the teacher said, pointing.
Domnu walked over,
but before he sat down, he turned around and smiled at her. The teacher then
began the lesson. Sakura tried to pay attention, but her mind kept wandering.
What was up with the new student? She shook the thoughts out of her thoughts
though, and put her attention back onto the lesson. Soon though, the day passed
by and soon class was over. The bell rang, and everyone started packing. Domnu
turned around and gave her a small smile and bowed slightly before leaving the
room. She stared, and then broke out of her trance. She gently tapped Syaoran
and Eriol on the shoulders. "Can you come to my house today?" she said quietly.
"I want to talk about something with you and Tomoyo." Tomoyo was waiting with a
smile; Sakura had already asked her if she could come over.
"Of course," Syaoran
said instantly and blushed. Eriol had nodded, looking a bit concerned. They all
started out. When they reached Sakura's house, she quickly ushered them into
her room. Luckily, Touya wasn't there.
"What is it
Sakura?" Syaoran said, looking concerned.
"Well, I had a
strange dream last night," Sakura started. "It was dark, and Yue, Cerberos,
Tomoyo, you, and me were there. Then in the shadows this strange figure
appeared."
"What did he look
like?" Eriol said concentrating.
"Well, he was
tall, thin, and had pale skin. He had black hair and black eyes. Yet the eyes
were just so cold. They were like pits that swallowed everything. And he was
wearing strange robes made out of some black and gold material."
"Did he look like
this?" Eriol said, holding up a small magical image of a boy.
"Yes, he looked
exactly like that," Sakura said, a bit shocked.
Eriol suddenly
looked grim, a strange look on his pleasant face. "He's dangerous. Clow Reed
fought him many years ago and locked him away, but apparently he's escaped."
"What's his name?"
Sakura asked curiously.
Here Eriol paused
then went on. "Well apparently he didn't have any name. He was just called the
Prince of Darkness."
"Yup," Kero said,
coming out of his drawer. "My master Clow had a heck of time trying to fight
him. He was very powerful, drawing on the powers of darkness."
"Hello Cerberus,"
Eriol said calmly.
"It's been some
time," Kero said casually, but his eyes were worried.
"Hello gaki," Kero
added, seeing Syaoran. Syaoran turned red and was about to strangle the little
being but Tomoyo spoke up. "Can you tell us the rest of the dream?"
Sakura nodded.
"Then he told me to give the Sakura cards to him. I refused, and he hit Tomoyo
with a blast of red light. Then a strange fog covered Yue, Kero, and Syaoran.
Your eyes were blank, without pupils, and he ordered you all to attack me. I
managed to dodge most of the attacks but Li-kun in the dream stabbed me." At
this Syaoran looked ashamed and looked to the ground. "It's not your fault,"
Sakura said to him smiling. "It was just a dream. Anyway, then he walked over,
tilted up my chin, and said if I didn't hand over the cards, he would make sure
anything close to me would be his or destroyed."
Eriol looked
thoughtful. "If he has the Sakura cards, then he can have enough power to take
over this world and place it into darkness. Even though he's a bit weak because
of Clow Reed, he's still dangerous."
Sakura turned to
Syaoran. "Li-kun, why were you so tense when the new student came in?"
Syaoran just
looked resolute. "I sensed something strange about him."
"So did I," Eriol
spoke up. "Your powers are growing, young descendent."
Syaoran flushed
with embarrassment. Unknown to them outside, a figure in black and gold robes
stood in a sakura tree. It held onto one of the branches filled with blossoms
and ripped of a handful of the delicate flowers. He held the flowers to his
nose and smelled the delicate scent. He smiled sardonically and slowly tore the
petals apart. He opened his hand and let the mutilated blossoms fly away on a
breeze. Some of them hit Sakura's window. "Later Cherry Blossom," he murmured. "Later
will we meet face to face."