Well, hello! And Welcome to My Little World of Weirdness!
I state for the record that, despite the fact I really, really wish I did, I don't own any of the characters that will grace this story; it's all CLAMP's! Always has been, always will be!
Also I don't pretend to have any Mastery over the language of Japanese or any clue as to correct grammatical structure. I put it in and hope it gets across the point I'm trying to make!
Also, I've only ever seen the American dub, the first 3 and the 5th DVDs of the sub. Everything else about the whole Sakura-Eriol-Yue arch I've gleaned from the Internet. Sorry if they are all OOC or I slip up and start calling Syaoran, simply Li. Someone? Do tell me if I do that! And before I get any complaints, consider them all to be in their mid-teens, the time when everybody starts making dirty little jokes!!
"Speaking"
*Stress/emphasis*
//Thinking//
The Magical, Mythical, Mischievous Master Clow.
By Dr Megalomania.
For a small city called Tomoeda, of the lovely isle of Japan, the week began like any other. For four magical guardians, the week began hellishly with the activation of an ancient curse, bestowed upon them a long, long time ago . . .
Part six: Wednesday - Suiyoobi
Yue was bored.
He'd clean the house twice.
And he was still bored. *And* it was only just crawling past eleven thirty in the morning.
Kero and Spinel had gone out together to the park, having stolen the Mistress' father's golf clubs, for some reason that they refused to explain, and they had left him here. Well, he didn't want to be around Spinel anyway, the daft cat still couldn't recognise a Rembrandt.
He'd tried to play his brother's blasted videogame, but had barely made it past the first level.
He was sick of seeing the 'GAME OVER' screen, and was tempted to throw it out the window but knew the Mistress would probably be a *little* mad if he broke her stuff.
He'd taken one look at the fridge and, yes, he had reorganised the contents.
Yue the Judgement Maker was *so* bored, he found himself watching the washing machine and thinking stupid thoughts like 'How did the drum go around by itself?', 'Where did the water come from?', 'Should he have separated the coloured clothes from the white ones because it looked like Touya's football shirt was turning a very pretty shade of pink?', 'Maybe he shouldn't have put so much of that white soapy stuff in it but then again the big foamy clouds of bubble that was spilling forth from the machine did remind him of his first baths.', and the most concerning one; 'Were the clothes getting dizzy?'.
It was this last one that revealed to him that he was very bored.
Yue stomped up the stairs, and lay heavily on the pristine carpet. Before him lay a pretty pink cell phone. A gift from the Mistress for use if he needed help; and he was seriously thinking of using it.
It wasn't so much of using it, which he was seriously considering; it was 'who was he going to call?'
The 'who' would be his little sister, Ruby Moon.
//Boredom or Ruby?
Boredom or Ruby?
Bore-dom ooooorrrrrr Ruuuu-By?// Yue rolled on his back as he did when he needed to think, although the effect was spoilt a bit by Kero's four fuzzy legs sticking up in the air. //Boredom or Ruby? Ruby or boredom?//
***RIIIIIIIIIIING!!***
He jumped as the phone rang loudly. Transforming into his brother's small form, he pressed the answer button. "Moshi, moshi?"
"Is this Yue?" Ruby asked timidly. //Timidly?// Yue was shocked, // But then she's probably taking this really hard.//
"Yes."
She sighed. "Phew!"
"What do you want Ruby?" He asked.
"I'm really, really *really* bored. This is worst than the time Clow grounded the two of us for stuffing Kero full of pudding and Suppi full of sugar until the two of 'em were sick."
Yue sniggered unintentionally; he was doing that a lot since the Swap. In fact, he'd been doing a lot of things, things he had never done before or at least not since he was a child. Yue wondered briefly if it had anything to do with the fact he was in Kero's body . . .
"Hey," Ruby asked, "do you wanna come over and run wildly around this house?"
"Why would you think I would want to run wildly anywhere?"
"Have you done any of the laundry?"
"Yes, why?"
"I know I have," She confessed, "but have you got to the stage when you start feeling guilty about the clothes getting dizzy?"
There was silence between them until:
"What time do you want me over?"
Yue knew he could have just flown there, but he didn't want to risk being spotted, a giant flying lion was somewhat more obvious in broad daylight.
So Yue decided it would be easy enough to hitchhike his way there, by his telepathic abilities of course. Clow had given Yue them so if the contenders for the final judgement were unwilling to come nearer he could force them. //Therefore it should be easy to control the passers-by.// he reasoned as he pretended to be a lost plush toy on the sidewalk.
As the first person that picked him up took him to the bus stop, he was pleased to think he had control over them. He was proved wrong when they requested a destination in the complete opposite direction of where he wanted to go. It was because he was in Kero's form, Yue realised, and Kero wasn't capable of the same level of telepathy, his mainly affected the cards, not people!
//Ahhhhh!// he mentally panicked. //What am I going to do?! What am I going to do?! Think. Think. Thinkthinkthink!!//
His spirits dampened considerably when the person dropped him, and a different passenger picked him up. //AHHHHHH!! I'm going to get lost!//
The passenger chuckled calmly and put Yue in his pocket. As the passenger disembarked from the bus, Yue managed to get a glimpse of where he was. Back where he started.
Yue sighed, he wasn't lost, he just had to get out of the stranger's pocket. He was just pulling himself over the rim, when the stranger gently pushed him back in his pocket.
//Great.// he thought, //well at least I'm in the right neighbourhood.//he listened as the stranger open a door and step inside a house.
Yue crossed his arms and glared a piece of lint irritated, as the stranger took off his shoes.
The stranger shuffled quietly into the house; he hummed some quiet little tune and then pulled Yue from his pocket. Yue quickly resumed his stuffed toy appearance. The stranger brought Yue up to his face and smiled.
//Fuijtaka!!// Yue manage to not gasp aloud.
Fuijtaka smiled kindly, and something flicked over his eyes.
"Yue, you could have gotten lost."
"Master Clow?!" Yue spluttered.
A warm smile grew wider over his former Master's oldest half reincarnation. "Mm-hm."
"How did you--?"
"Find you?"
Yue nodded.
"Lucky for you, Fuijtaka forgot some of his notes, and you happened to be on a nearby bus. It was a bit of a run but we managed to catch up."
"I'm thankful, Master." Yue felt a tiny bit silly, his plan hadn't worked and it wasn't often the Master had to correct his mistakes.
"It's all right, Yue! Now where do you want to go?"
"EIGHT!!"
Swish!
Kero shield his eyes from the Sun and watched the tiny white ball sail thru the air. To the average human, the two didn't seem out of that ordinary. One was a tall, grey hair, bespectacled youth, the other a rather serious looking, rose-pink haired, young woman.
Playing golf.
Normal, right?
Kero turned to look at Spinel, //It wasn't often they spent much time together,// he reflected, // then again it wasn't often they were in humanoid forms.//
"Keroberos-"
"Please, just Kero."
"Kero, the word is 'fore'."
Kero thought about this, "But I want it to go really, really far."
Spinel raise a perfectly plucked eyebrow, well actually it wasn't that perfect, it was starting to get a bit bushy. "It's a good point." Spinel shrugged and lined up his shot.
He squinted into the distance, "Green balloon, Blonde kid with the ice cream." He estimated evilly.
Pulling back the club, he yelled, "THREE AND A HALF!!"
Swish!
The tiny ball flew off the roof and sailed thru the air.
He and Keroberos were standing on the roof of a shopping centre. It was packed full of pre-schoolers, as Tomoeda was playing host to a fair. They were just out of direct sight and had been popping little kids' balloons and knocking the walking sticks out of the hands of little old ladies for the past hour.
Why were they doing this?
Kero didn't actually know, // It's something we've never done before and . . .// he thought hard to rationalise it, // It's fun!//
The balloon hit it's target, and the balloon exploded.
"YES!!" Cried Spinel, as the rising wails of some unfortunate, unforgivably cute three year old pieced thru the air.
Ding-Dong.
Ruby lifted the letterbox lid to peer out and find out who was at the door, round furry features looked back at her. "Yue!" She cried delighted.
"Let me in!" He hissed quickly
"Oh right, just a sec!"
Yue fluttered in.
"So what do you want to do first? Run riot in Suppi's room or run riot in Suppi's room?"
"I take it you're mad at them too."
"Bet your ass I am!"
"Ruby Moon, creation of clow reed! Where ever did you pick up such a phrase!"
"Daytime television," she said gravely.
"Really?!" Yue threw his arms in the air, "Great! Even you can work the damnedable thing better than me!"
"Nah! We just get cable!"
"Anyway!" Yue changed the subject before Ruby realise he meant he couldn't actually switch the thing on. "How would you like to get your own back on *them*?"
Ruby blinked, " 'Niichan!! You're back!!"
"Pardon me?"
"The old, fun Yue! You're back!" Ruby threw her arms about her elder brother tightly, he had never used the phrase 'get our own back' in so long, she was beginning to believe she'd imagined the old Yue, the one who never had any qualms about forcing a bar of soap down someone's // Usually Keroberos'// throat, or dropping a freezing bucket of water on you, // Usually me!// first thing in the morning, or even, by far her favourite, tricking a certain sugar allergic brother into drinking the biggest glass of sugared lemonade they'd ever made.
"Sure." He said as he wrapped a stubby arm around her shoulders and led her down the corridor, "Now about our revenge . . . "
"Where could he be?" Sakura squinted at the badly scrawled note. She handed it to Touya, "Can you make any sense of this? Is it in English?"
Touya frowned and then shrugged "Nope. On both counts."
"Here give it to me!" Kero snatch the letter out Touya's grasp. He turned it once, then twice, and then cocked his head a little to the side, closed his left eye, then his right. "It says he's gone to visit Ruby at Eriol's house, and that he'll probably be back soon."
"You can read that?" Touya said incredbuliously
"Of course."
"Stop me if I'm asking a dumb question but how?"
"It's my handwriting."
"Oh."
***RIIIIIIIIIIING!!***
"Moshi, moshi, Sakura speaking. Oh hello Eriol. Is Yue there with you? . . . uh huh, . . . uh. . . huh. . . ohhhhh-kay."
She hung up and started to dial, "Hello Tomoyo, yes, I'm okay . . . no, no progress yet. But we do seem to have a little problem, Yue and Ruby have appeared to have run away together . . ." at this Kero appeared to pale, although in Yue's features that was a little hard to tell, Sakura continued, "no nothing, Yue left a note saying he was going to visit Ruby then Eriol just rang to tell me Ruby wrote on the wall that she and Yue were running away and not to expect them back anytime soon . . . pardon me? No, I'm going up to Eriol's house as soon as I get Syaoran. Yes? . . . well I don't think it's really. . . yes, okay, bye!"
She hung up again, and started to dial another number from memory.
"If that's the Gaki's number, I wanna know why you know it off by heart!" Touya threatened. Kero punched him on the arm to silence him. Touya cast him a questioning look, but Kero was looking down at the note he held in his hands. Touya lifted his hand, then paused, then completed the gesture. Keroberos, great guardian beast of the seal, looked scared.
"Hello Syaoran?" Sakura said quickly. "I'm sorry, it's late . . .," she laughed, "Yes, I was thinking about you too or I wouldn't be making this call . . ."
Kero's head snapped up at this and he took two long strides over to Sakura. Grabbing the phone out of her head, he yelled into the handset. "Listen Gaki! My brother and incredibly annoying little sister are missing! Haul that butt of yours to hiirawagizawa's right now!! . . . What?! . . . Okay then!"
He thrust the handset back to a shocked Sakura. "He wants to talk to you." He said sternly.
She started to talk again, "Hello? . . . he's just worried, he's not angry at you . . . Hai, Ruby and Yue have gone missing . . . I *know* because Eriol just rang me to tell me that Ruby had painted foot high, strawberry jam, letters on his study's wall . . . that's the plan. Meet you there? . . . Great, could you bring. . . you read my mind! Bye!" She hung up and fetched a jacket out of her closet.
Touya had left the room to fetch coats for both he and Kero.
"Kero?" He was staring out of the window.
"Kero" she said a bit louder.
He jumped slightly and turned to look at her, Sakura's mouth fell open. Kero looked like he was on the verge of tears. By the look on her face he must have realised what he looked like. He quickly rubbed his eyes with Yue's fists. He glanced out the window.
"It's raining." He said, he turned to look at her; "If you fly there and I carry Touya, we'll get there sooner."
Sakura stepped forward and beckoned her tall guardian down to her level. As he knelt before her, she put her hand under his chin and pulled his face up. "Kero," she said with quiet conviction, "We'll find them."
He looked as if he was going to say something, then he closed his mouth, changed him mind and opened it again. He did this for a few moments before looking away; he was thinking and Sakura let him.
Kero reached up to his brother's ear and removed the earring that resided there. He held it towards her so she could see. On the back of the earring, under the jewel, the part that would be hidden by the wearer was engraved some Kanji. It was badly scrawled, but still legible.
Kero pointed to it and inhaled a couple of short breaths. He was really trying not to break down before his Mistress. Touya entered carrying the raincoats, and approached the two gently.
"It says . . . Yue." He tried to smile, Touya knelt and joined them, and Kero smiled tremblingly, "Well, actually it says Yu-wa, we were . . . six or seven months old, about five or six if we were human." He explained. "Clow had given these to us, and we, heh, heh . . ." he smiled fondly, "We hated them, they were itchy. And we'd take them off, but we were still a little under developed and because Clow had given us both cat-like eyes, we had a bit of a problem distinguishing which colour was ours. So Yue wrote my name on my earring because he could and one night I slipped his off his ear and did the same." Kero fell silent for a bit. "He didn't speak to me for a week! And Clow offered to replace it . . . but Yue said he didn't want to waste the Master's powers." Kero looked them both in the eye; "Yue was always a lousy liar. And he was even worst at 'hide and go seek', he hasn't gone very far."
When Sakura, Touya and Kero arrived, Tomoyo quickly hustled them in. As they walked to Eriol's favourite sitting room, Tomoyo quickly explained, "Eriol doesn't look too happy. I think he's genuinely shaken by this."
"Aren't we all?" Murmured Touya. Keroberos was always the happy one; it was quite unnerving to see him looking so upset.
Scarier still was Eriol and Spinel Sun in Ruby's body. One sat back in his Throne of Evil, knuckles pressed firmly against his paler than usual chin, staring unblinkingly at the ground before him. The other stood by the window gazing out silently. Spinel turned and paced over to Kero, "Can you feel them?"
Kero, not trusting his voice, shook his head slowly. Sakura realised that's why the three looked so pale, none of them had any spiritual contact with the errant guardians. But then she could--
Eriol blinked, he was following this line of thought too. "Sakura-chan? What do you feel?" he said suddenly.
Sakura allowed he eyes to slide shut, she could still feel a magic signature, and it was faint as if Yue was trying to hide but not so, if she got into trouble, she wouldn't be able to call him.
Opening her eyes, she nodded slightly.
"Well! Tell them to come home!" Cried Spinel, his fear was turning into anger.
"It's not them exactly." She said, "and I'm not sure, even if it was them, that I could call them to me. Not unless I was in serious danger."
"Which, before anyone suggests it," Touya spoke up, "Is not going to be an option."
Sakura sighed and looked at Kero, he was staring out of the window. Spinel turned away and joined him.
Lightening cracked loudly as if to remind the silent group of the harsh conditions that were out there.
Syaoran noticed Sakura's forlorn look as she gazed toward her guardian. He knew she hated it when she couldn't help them, especially as they had done so much for her.
He stepped forward, and stopped. He could feel the heated gaze of Touya on him, Syaoran turned to return the glare, and saw Touya soften his glare slightly and nodded. He didn't need to be magic to understand the thought, // Comfort my sister. //
Syaoran smiled slightly, enough to make the tall brother recognize he had understood the message, and then glowered at him as was, now, traditional between them. He stepped forward and took her hand.
Although she didn't take her eyes off the two guardians, she smiled appreciatively and squeezed his hand back.
Tomoyo looked about the depressed group, her eyes finally resting on Eriol. He was shaking his head slightly, as if he was thinking of a solution then rejecting it. She stepped forward and knelt by his throne of evil and proclaimed loudly, "I wish I could tape this all!"
"Tape this?!" Snapped Spinel. "Is that all you think about?!"
Eriol was about to add his comment to the fracas but realise that Tomoyo had a slight smile on her lips, she was just trying to lift the terrible melancholy that had descended.
"Oh, I agree," he said. "Then you'd be able to tape such great moments like . . ." he waved his hand upward in a gesture, to make it look like he was merely looking for the right words. ". . .Oh I don't know. . ."
He looked up, and pointed, "Something like that."
*Fhunk!*
A large stuffed sheep appeared from the ceiling and bounced off Syaoran's head.
"Hey!" Sakura called as more stuffed sheep began to fall, and called forth her magic key, and called for the shield card to protect her and her little wolf from the airborne stuffed sheep attack.
The card didn't appear.
"Shield!" Another sheep bounced on her head. "Eriol! Stop! There's something wrong!"
One last random stuffed toy bounced off Syaoran's head, he bent and picked it up. He looked questioningly at his nemesis. "A flamingo?"
Eriol shrugged before turning to Sakura, "What's wrong?"
"The shield card." She said quickly searching her pockets, "It's gone!"
"Of course," Eriol slapped his head. "They are using the shield card, *that's* why we can't feel them and you can!"
Touya stepped over the sheep, and stood next to his sister, he pointed at her. "Errr. . . she's the Card Mistress, how can they be using the card without her say so?"
Eriol put his hand over his mouth and muttered something.
"Pardon me?"
Everyone was looking at him expectantly, the half-reincarnation sucked in a deep breath, and blushed slightly, "I don't actually know."
Syaoran's eyes bugged and he climbed over the stuffed sheep; he grabbed the arms of Eriol's throne of evil.
"There's something you don't actually know?"
Eriol's eyes narrowed.
Tomoyo stood, "Li-kun, don't-"
"No! Please, don't take this moment from me." He chuckled; "Do you want to know why?"
Touya suggested quite smugly, "You *are* sane and you can't stand the little Creep."
Syaoran didn't break his eye contact with Eriol, "That too, but the reason Yue can use it is because it's one of the cards that are under his protection."
Eriol looked away and growled as Syaoran did a subtle little victory dance with Touya,
"Who the man? You the man!" They chanted. "Who ain't the man? He ain't the man."
Tomoyo and Sakura giggled gently, until this life size stuffed toy of a polar bear dropped on the two.
They looked at Eriol, who smiled at them, hands clasped innocently in his lap. "What? I like polar bears."
Kero walked over to Sakura and crouched down beside her. "Mistress?"
Her mirth dimmed a bit. //He was still worried// she reminded herself. "Kero, I can feel them. They are not far away; they're just hiding."
Kero looked at her for a few moments, contemplating what she had just said. He looked over at Spinel Sun, who was less angry now, and the two stared at each other.
The room quieted as the pair moved closer. Spinel raised an eyebrow, and Kero nodded. The two guardians looked up.
The rest of the group followed their gaze.
"What are we looking at?" Touya asked.
"We used to do this to them all the time," muttered Kero. "I should have guessed!"
"We'd go hide from them," Spinel continued; "It would freak them out so much."
"What?" Asked Sakura.
"It was only because they'd pick on us," Kero groused.
"Because we were so small!" Spinel growled.
"And now we've swapped!" They both uttered darkly. "They think it would be fun to do the same to us!"
"I'm getting a neck ache!" Stated Syaoran, "What are you two on about?!"
"THEY'RE ON THE BLOODY ROOF!" Kero and Spinel yelled angrily.
-----------------
And now it's time for LEAVE IT TO DOCTOR MEGALOMANIA!!
DrM: Konnichiwa!! And thank you for your reviews!! They are brilliant!
Syaoran: [reads reviews] I notice no one is objecting to you dropping things on my head. [Turns to reader] I implore you! Please make her stop with the dropping stuff on Li Syaoran's head.
DrM: but I like dropping stuff on you, you're the kind of person that that kinda stuff happens to.
Syaoran: no wonder you keep doing it! Look at that last sentence it doesn't even make any sense!!
DrM: does to me!
Syaoran: sure it does, now would anyone like to organise an 'Anti-drop stuff on Li Syaoran club'? Join now and get this extraordinary plate, collector's edition of me.
DrM: that's nothing but an old soup bowl. [Shakes head in confusion] ladies and gents, much as I'd like to continue this conversation, it just went beyond reason. Please R&R!! Ja-ne!!
I state for the record that, despite the fact I really, really wish I did, I don't own any of the characters that will grace this story; it's all CLAMP's! Always has been, always will be!
Also I don't pretend to have any Mastery over the language of Japanese or any clue as to correct grammatical structure. I put it in and hope it gets across the point I'm trying to make!
Also, I've only ever seen the American dub, the first 3 and the 5th DVDs of the sub. Everything else about the whole Sakura-Eriol-Yue arch I've gleaned from the Internet. Sorry if they are all OOC or I slip up and start calling Syaoran, simply Li. Someone? Do tell me if I do that! And before I get any complaints, consider them all to be in their mid-teens, the time when everybody starts making dirty little jokes!!
"Speaking"
*Stress/emphasis*
//Thinking//
The Magical, Mythical, Mischievous Master Clow.
By Dr Megalomania.
For a small city called Tomoeda, of the lovely isle of Japan, the week began like any other. For four magical guardians, the week began hellishly with the activation of an ancient curse, bestowed upon them a long, long time ago . . .
Part six: Wednesday - Suiyoobi
Yue was bored.
He'd clean the house twice.
And he was still bored. *And* it was only just crawling past eleven thirty in the morning.
Kero and Spinel had gone out together to the park, having stolen the Mistress' father's golf clubs, for some reason that they refused to explain, and they had left him here. Well, he didn't want to be around Spinel anyway, the daft cat still couldn't recognise a Rembrandt.
He'd tried to play his brother's blasted videogame, but had barely made it past the first level.
He was sick of seeing the 'GAME OVER' screen, and was tempted to throw it out the window but knew the Mistress would probably be a *little* mad if he broke her stuff.
He'd taken one look at the fridge and, yes, he had reorganised the contents.
Yue the Judgement Maker was *so* bored, he found himself watching the washing machine and thinking stupid thoughts like 'How did the drum go around by itself?', 'Where did the water come from?', 'Should he have separated the coloured clothes from the white ones because it looked like Touya's football shirt was turning a very pretty shade of pink?', 'Maybe he shouldn't have put so much of that white soapy stuff in it but then again the big foamy clouds of bubble that was spilling forth from the machine did remind him of his first baths.', and the most concerning one; 'Were the clothes getting dizzy?'.
It was this last one that revealed to him that he was very bored.
Yue stomped up the stairs, and lay heavily on the pristine carpet. Before him lay a pretty pink cell phone. A gift from the Mistress for use if he needed help; and he was seriously thinking of using it.
It wasn't so much of using it, which he was seriously considering; it was 'who was he going to call?'
The 'who' would be his little sister, Ruby Moon.
//Boredom or Ruby?
Boredom or Ruby?
Bore-dom ooooorrrrrr Ruuuu-By?// Yue rolled on his back as he did when he needed to think, although the effect was spoilt a bit by Kero's four fuzzy legs sticking up in the air. //Boredom or Ruby? Ruby or boredom?//
***RIIIIIIIIIIING!!***
He jumped as the phone rang loudly. Transforming into his brother's small form, he pressed the answer button. "Moshi, moshi?"
"Is this Yue?" Ruby asked timidly. //Timidly?// Yue was shocked, // But then she's probably taking this really hard.//
"Yes."
She sighed. "Phew!"
"What do you want Ruby?" He asked.
"I'm really, really *really* bored. This is worst than the time Clow grounded the two of us for stuffing Kero full of pudding and Suppi full of sugar until the two of 'em were sick."
Yue sniggered unintentionally; he was doing that a lot since the Swap. In fact, he'd been doing a lot of things, things he had never done before or at least not since he was a child. Yue wondered briefly if it had anything to do with the fact he was in Kero's body . . .
"Hey," Ruby asked, "do you wanna come over and run wildly around this house?"
"Why would you think I would want to run wildly anywhere?"
"Have you done any of the laundry?"
"Yes, why?"
"I know I have," She confessed, "but have you got to the stage when you start feeling guilty about the clothes getting dizzy?"
There was silence between them until:
"What time do you want me over?"
Yue knew he could have just flown there, but he didn't want to risk being spotted, a giant flying lion was somewhat more obvious in broad daylight.
So Yue decided it would be easy enough to hitchhike his way there, by his telepathic abilities of course. Clow had given Yue them so if the contenders for the final judgement were unwilling to come nearer he could force them. //Therefore it should be easy to control the passers-by.// he reasoned as he pretended to be a lost plush toy on the sidewalk.
As the first person that picked him up took him to the bus stop, he was pleased to think he had control over them. He was proved wrong when they requested a destination in the complete opposite direction of where he wanted to go. It was because he was in Kero's form, Yue realised, and Kero wasn't capable of the same level of telepathy, his mainly affected the cards, not people!
//Ahhhhh!// he mentally panicked. //What am I going to do?! What am I going to do?! Think. Think. Thinkthinkthink!!//
His spirits dampened considerably when the person dropped him, and a different passenger picked him up. //AHHHHHH!! I'm going to get lost!//
The passenger chuckled calmly and put Yue in his pocket. As the passenger disembarked from the bus, Yue managed to get a glimpse of where he was. Back where he started.
Yue sighed, he wasn't lost, he just had to get out of the stranger's pocket. He was just pulling himself over the rim, when the stranger gently pushed him back in his pocket.
//Great.// he thought, //well at least I'm in the right neighbourhood.//he listened as the stranger open a door and step inside a house.
Yue crossed his arms and glared a piece of lint irritated, as the stranger took off his shoes.
The stranger shuffled quietly into the house; he hummed some quiet little tune and then pulled Yue from his pocket. Yue quickly resumed his stuffed toy appearance. The stranger brought Yue up to his face and smiled.
//Fuijtaka!!// Yue manage to not gasp aloud.
Fuijtaka smiled kindly, and something flicked over his eyes.
"Yue, you could have gotten lost."
"Master Clow?!" Yue spluttered.
A warm smile grew wider over his former Master's oldest half reincarnation. "Mm-hm."
"How did you--?"
"Find you?"
Yue nodded.
"Lucky for you, Fuijtaka forgot some of his notes, and you happened to be on a nearby bus. It was a bit of a run but we managed to catch up."
"I'm thankful, Master." Yue felt a tiny bit silly, his plan hadn't worked and it wasn't often the Master had to correct his mistakes.
"It's all right, Yue! Now where do you want to go?"
"EIGHT!!"
Swish!
Kero shield his eyes from the Sun and watched the tiny white ball sail thru the air. To the average human, the two didn't seem out of that ordinary. One was a tall, grey hair, bespectacled youth, the other a rather serious looking, rose-pink haired, young woman.
Playing golf.
Normal, right?
Kero turned to look at Spinel, //It wasn't often they spent much time together,// he reflected, // then again it wasn't often they were in humanoid forms.//
"Keroberos-"
"Please, just Kero."
"Kero, the word is 'fore'."
Kero thought about this, "But I want it to go really, really far."
Spinel raise a perfectly plucked eyebrow, well actually it wasn't that perfect, it was starting to get a bit bushy. "It's a good point." Spinel shrugged and lined up his shot.
He squinted into the distance, "Green balloon, Blonde kid with the ice cream." He estimated evilly.
Pulling back the club, he yelled, "THREE AND A HALF!!"
Swish!
The tiny ball flew off the roof and sailed thru the air.
He and Keroberos were standing on the roof of a shopping centre. It was packed full of pre-schoolers, as Tomoeda was playing host to a fair. They were just out of direct sight and had been popping little kids' balloons and knocking the walking sticks out of the hands of little old ladies for the past hour.
Why were they doing this?
Kero didn't actually know, // It's something we've never done before and . . .// he thought hard to rationalise it, // It's fun!//
The balloon hit it's target, and the balloon exploded.
"YES!!" Cried Spinel, as the rising wails of some unfortunate, unforgivably cute three year old pieced thru the air.
Ding-Dong.
Ruby lifted the letterbox lid to peer out and find out who was at the door, round furry features looked back at her. "Yue!" She cried delighted.
"Let me in!" He hissed quickly
"Oh right, just a sec!"
Yue fluttered in.
"So what do you want to do first? Run riot in Suppi's room or run riot in Suppi's room?"
"I take it you're mad at them too."
"Bet your ass I am!"
"Ruby Moon, creation of clow reed! Where ever did you pick up such a phrase!"
"Daytime television," she said gravely.
"Really?!" Yue threw his arms in the air, "Great! Even you can work the damnedable thing better than me!"
"Nah! We just get cable!"
"Anyway!" Yue changed the subject before Ruby realise he meant he couldn't actually switch the thing on. "How would you like to get your own back on *them*?"
Ruby blinked, " 'Niichan!! You're back!!"
"Pardon me?"
"The old, fun Yue! You're back!" Ruby threw her arms about her elder brother tightly, he had never used the phrase 'get our own back' in so long, she was beginning to believe she'd imagined the old Yue, the one who never had any qualms about forcing a bar of soap down someone's // Usually Keroberos'// throat, or dropping a freezing bucket of water on you, // Usually me!// first thing in the morning, or even, by far her favourite, tricking a certain sugar allergic brother into drinking the biggest glass of sugared lemonade they'd ever made.
"Sure." He said as he wrapped a stubby arm around her shoulders and led her down the corridor, "Now about our revenge . . . "
"Where could he be?" Sakura squinted at the badly scrawled note. She handed it to Touya, "Can you make any sense of this? Is it in English?"
Touya frowned and then shrugged "Nope. On both counts."
"Here give it to me!" Kero snatch the letter out Touya's grasp. He turned it once, then twice, and then cocked his head a little to the side, closed his left eye, then his right. "It says he's gone to visit Ruby at Eriol's house, and that he'll probably be back soon."
"You can read that?" Touya said incredbuliously
"Of course."
"Stop me if I'm asking a dumb question but how?"
"It's my handwriting."
"Oh."
***RIIIIIIIIIIING!!***
"Moshi, moshi, Sakura speaking. Oh hello Eriol. Is Yue there with you? . . . uh huh, . . . uh. . . huh. . . ohhhhh-kay."
She hung up and started to dial, "Hello Tomoyo, yes, I'm okay . . . no, no progress yet. But we do seem to have a little problem, Yue and Ruby have appeared to have run away together . . ." at this Kero appeared to pale, although in Yue's features that was a little hard to tell, Sakura continued, "no nothing, Yue left a note saying he was going to visit Ruby then Eriol just rang to tell me Ruby wrote on the wall that she and Yue were running away and not to expect them back anytime soon . . . pardon me? No, I'm going up to Eriol's house as soon as I get Syaoran. Yes? . . . well I don't think it's really. . . yes, okay, bye!"
She hung up again, and started to dial another number from memory.
"If that's the Gaki's number, I wanna know why you know it off by heart!" Touya threatened. Kero punched him on the arm to silence him. Touya cast him a questioning look, but Kero was looking down at the note he held in his hands. Touya lifted his hand, then paused, then completed the gesture. Keroberos, great guardian beast of the seal, looked scared.
"Hello Syaoran?" Sakura said quickly. "I'm sorry, it's late . . .," she laughed, "Yes, I was thinking about you too or I wouldn't be making this call . . ."
Kero's head snapped up at this and he took two long strides over to Sakura. Grabbing the phone out of her head, he yelled into the handset. "Listen Gaki! My brother and incredibly annoying little sister are missing! Haul that butt of yours to hiirawagizawa's right now!! . . . What?! . . . Okay then!"
He thrust the handset back to a shocked Sakura. "He wants to talk to you." He said sternly.
She started to talk again, "Hello? . . . he's just worried, he's not angry at you . . . Hai, Ruby and Yue have gone missing . . . I *know* because Eriol just rang me to tell me that Ruby had painted foot high, strawberry jam, letters on his study's wall . . . that's the plan. Meet you there? . . . Great, could you bring. . . you read my mind! Bye!" She hung up and fetched a jacket out of her closet.
Touya had left the room to fetch coats for both he and Kero.
"Kero?" He was staring out of the window.
"Kero" she said a bit louder.
He jumped slightly and turned to look at her, Sakura's mouth fell open. Kero looked like he was on the verge of tears. By the look on her face he must have realised what he looked like. He quickly rubbed his eyes with Yue's fists. He glanced out the window.
"It's raining." He said, he turned to look at her; "If you fly there and I carry Touya, we'll get there sooner."
Sakura stepped forward and beckoned her tall guardian down to her level. As he knelt before her, she put her hand under his chin and pulled his face up. "Kero," she said with quiet conviction, "We'll find them."
He looked as if he was going to say something, then he closed his mouth, changed him mind and opened it again. He did this for a few moments before looking away; he was thinking and Sakura let him.
Kero reached up to his brother's ear and removed the earring that resided there. He held it towards her so she could see. On the back of the earring, under the jewel, the part that would be hidden by the wearer was engraved some Kanji. It was badly scrawled, but still legible.
Kero pointed to it and inhaled a couple of short breaths. He was really trying not to break down before his Mistress. Touya entered carrying the raincoats, and approached the two gently.
"It says . . . Yue." He tried to smile, Touya knelt and joined them, and Kero smiled tremblingly, "Well, actually it says Yu-wa, we were . . . six or seven months old, about five or six if we were human." He explained. "Clow had given these to us, and we, heh, heh . . ." he smiled fondly, "We hated them, they were itchy. And we'd take them off, but we were still a little under developed and because Clow had given us both cat-like eyes, we had a bit of a problem distinguishing which colour was ours. So Yue wrote my name on my earring because he could and one night I slipped his off his ear and did the same." Kero fell silent for a bit. "He didn't speak to me for a week! And Clow offered to replace it . . . but Yue said he didn't want to waste the Master's powers." Kero looked them both in the eye; "Yue was always a lousy liar. And he was even worst at 'hide and go seek', he hasn't gone very far."
When Sakura, Touya and Kero arrived, Tomoyo quickly hustled them in. As they walked to Eriol's favourite sitting room, Tomoyo quickly explained, "Eriol doesn't look too happy. I think he's genuinely shaken by this."
"Aren't we all?" Murmured Touya. Keroberos was always the happy one; it was quite unnerving to see him looking so upset.
Scarier still was Eriol and Spinel Sun in Ruby's body. One sat back in his Throne of Evil, knuckles pressed firmly against his paler than usual chin, staring unblinkingly at the ground before him. The other stood by the window gazing out silently. Spinel turned and paced over to Kero, "Can you feel them?"
Kero, not trusting his voice, shook his head slowly. Sakura realised that's why the three looked so pale, none of them had any spiritual contact with the errant guardians. But then she could--
Eriol blinked, he was following this line of thought too. "Sakura-chan? What do you feel?" he said suddenly.
Sakura allowed he eyes to slide shut, she could still feel a magic signature, and it was faint as if Yue was trying to hide but not so, if she got into trouble, she wouldn't be able to call him.
Opening her eyes, she nodded slightly.
"Well! Tell them to come home!" Cried Spinel, his fear was turning into anger.
"It's not them exactly." She said, "and I'm not sure, even if it was them, that I could call them to me. Not unless I was in serious danger."
"Which, before anyone suggests it," Touya spoke up, "Is not going to be an option."
Sakura sighed and looked at Kero, he was staring out of the window. Spinel turned away and joined him.
Lightening cracked loudly as if to remind the silent group of the harsh conditions that were out there.
Syaoran noticed Sakura's forlorn look as she gazed toward her guardian. He knew she hated it when she couldn't help them, especially as they had done so much for her.
He stepped forward, and stopped. He could feel the heated gaze of Touya on him, Syaoran turned to return the glare, and saw Touya soften his glare slightly and nodded. He didn't need to be magic to understand the thought, // Comfort my sister. //
Syaoran smiled slightly, enough to make the tall brother recognize he had understood the message, and then glowered at him as was, now, traditional between them. He stepped forward and took her hand.
Although she didn't take her eyes off the two guardians, she smiled appreciatively and squeezed his hand back.
Tomoyo looked about the depressed group, her eyes finally resting on Eriol. He was shaking his head slightly, as if he was thinking of a solution then rejecting it. She stepped forward and knelt by his throne of evil and proclaimed loudly, "I wish I could tape this all!"
"Tape this?!" Snapped Spinel. "Is that all you think about?!"
Eriol was about to add his comment to the fracas but realise that Tomoyo had a slight smile on her lips, she was just trying to lift the terrible melancholy that had descended.
"Oh, I agree," he said. "Then you'd be able to tape such great moments like . . ." he waved his hand upward in a gesture, to make it look like he was merely looking for the right words. ". . .Oh I don't know. . ."
He looked up, and pointed, "Something like that."
*Fhunk!*
A large stuffed sheep appeared from the ceiling and bounced off Syaoran's head.
"Hey!" Sakura called as more stuffed sheep began to fall, and called forth her magic key, and called for the shield card to protect her and her little wolf from the airborne stuffed sheep attack.
The card didn't appear.
"Shield!" Another sheep bounced on her head. "Eriol! Stop! There's something wrong!"
One last random stuffed toy bounced off Syaoran's head, he bent and picked it up. He looked questioningly at his nemesis. "A flamingo?"
Eriol shrugged before turning to Sakura, "What's wrong?"
"The shield card." She said quickly searching her pockets, "It's gone!"
"Of course," Eriol slapped his head. "They are using the shield card, *that's* why we can't feel them and you can!"
Touya stepped over the sheep, and stood next to his sister, he pointed at her. "Errr. . . she's the Card Mistress, how can they be using the card without her say so?"
Eriol put his hand over his mouth and muttered something.
"Pardon me?"
Everyone was looking at him expectantly, the half-reincarnation sucked in a deep breath, and blushed slightly, "I don't actually know."
Syaoran's eyes bugged and he climbed over the stuffed sheep; he grabbed the arms of Eriol's throne of evil.
"There's something you don't actually know?"
Eriol's eyes narrowed.
Tomoyo stood, "Li-kun, don't-"
"No! Please, don't take this moment from me." He chuckled; "Do you want to know why?"
Touya suggested quite smugly, "You *are* sane and you can't stand the little Creep."
Syaoran didn't break his eye contact with Eriol, "That too, but the reason Yue can use it is because it's one of the cards that are under his protection."
Eriol looked away and growled as Syaoran did a subtle little victory dance with Touya,
"Who the man? You the man!" They chanted. "Who ain't the man? He ain't the man."
Tomoyo and Sakura giggled gently, until this life size stuffed toy of a polar bear dropped on the two.
They looked at Eriol, who smiled at them, hands clasped innocently in his lap. "What? I like polar bears."
Kero walked over to Sakura and crouched down beside her. "Mistress?"
Her mirth dimmed a bit. //He was still worried// she reminded herself. "Kero, I can feel them. They are not far away; they're just hiding."
Kero looked at her for a few moments, contemplating what she had just said. He looked over at Spinel Sun, who was less angry now, and the two stared at each other.
The room quieted as the pair moved closer. Spinel raised an eyebrow, and Kero nodded. The two guardians looked up.
The rest of the group followed their gaze.
"What are we looking at?" Touya asked.
"We used to do this to them all the time," muttered Kero. "I should have guessed!"
"We'd go hide from them," Spinel continued; "It would freak them out so much."
"What?" Asked Sakura.
"It was only because they'd pick on us," Kero groused.
"Because we were so small!" Spinel growled.
"And now we've swapped!" They both uttered darkly. "They think it would be fun to do the same to us!"
"I'm getting a neck ache!" Stated Syaoran, "What are you two on about?!"
"THEY'RE ON THE BLOODY ROOF!" Kero and Spinel yelled angrily.
-----------------
And now it's time for LEAVE IT TO DOCTOR MEGALOMANIA!!
DrM: Konnichiwa!! And thank you for your reviews!! They are brilliant!
Syaoran: [reads reviews] I notice no one is objecting to you dropping things on my head. [Turns to reader] I implore you! Please make her stop with the dropping stuff on Li Syaoran's head.
DrM: but I like dropping stuff on you, you're the kind of person that that kinda stuff happens to.
Syaoran: no wonder you keep doing it! Look at that last sentence it doesn't even make any sense!!
DrM: does to me!
Syaoran: sure it does, now would anyone like to organise an 'Anti-drop stuff on Li Syaoran club'? Join now and get this extraordinary plate, collector's edition of me.
DrM: that's nothing but an old soup bowl. [Shakes head in confusion] ladies and gents, much as I'd like to continue this conversation, it just went beyond reason. Please R&R!! Ja-ne!!
