Chapter 7-Kero
I spent the night in Syaoran's bedroom, and the child welcomed it. The next morning, I was off, eating. And that was when he went through the absurd training and breaking down in front of Yue.
Yue took Syaoran into the mansion and I saw that he seemed so lost, yet there was something about him I could not understand, something that has changed, warmed, fondness creeping over him. He loved Syaoran, I could tell, he had always loved him, but when Syaoran was revealed as his son, Yue grew even more fond of him, despite the fact that Syaoran wasn't ready to accept such news.
Syaoran was sobbing into Yue, but he was starting to tire. The poor child was exhausted as his father laid him on the bed. He shouldn't have gone out there. He should have stayed home. In this mansion. In his room, even.
Yue said nothing as he drew the covers over the child and tucked him in. When he stood up he still had this dazed expression, and then he sat down by the edge of the bed, his arm around Syaoran, gazing out the window.
" Ano...Yue?" I called. " Daijoubu?"
For a long while, he did not answer. The same blank look lingered.
" He called me Daddy." He finally said.
" Nani?"
" He called me Daddy, Kerberus." There was a faint sign of a smile on his face. "
My son called me Daddy."
I stared at him in disbelief. " Then why is he crying?"
" Tired." Yue said, weary himself. " He was exhausted. A lot of anger was in him.
More than he deserves."
" Good god." I whisper. " Is he going to be alright?"
" He will be. As long as I'm here." Yue said determinedly, and I knew some paternal
instinct awoke in him. " I'll make sure of it."
Syaoran's room was covered with wallpaper, and his room was actually not
as big as you think, although one could see there is plenty of room to practice his
sword waving. The bed was in the middle, probably closer to the window, and there
were nightstands on each side. The bed wasn't the most comfortable- maybe
Chinese just sleep on hard beds, but in any case it might prove well for the old
people. There was a desk and a chair, two shelves filled with books with Japanese
that are completely out of grammar-oh, I mean, Chinese, since there were some
words that don't exist in our language. There were two shelves with six layers and
some on the bottom, so you could probably imagine how many books Syaoran had.
He had a closet which was pretty neat, and a chest of drawers with nice ornaments
on them, since his family could afford them. There was one ornament filled with
nice smelling powder, probably " xiang", in Mandarin, for I don't know Cantonese
as well as Yue. Syaoran had a lot of CD's, although the queer thing was none of
them were pop, as was the more popular genre nowadays. He was very " classical",
for you don't usually find ten year olds reading " Gone with the Wind" the
transelated version or no, or " War and Peace", and you certainly won't find many
children having about seventy five CD's in which all of them are works by
Beethoven and Brahms and that sort. But in any case, the CD's weren't what really
amazed us, because there are some kids like that, and the books really surprised us
but that wasn't what really shocked us. There was a china shelf filled with porcelain
and china crafts like pots and such, On the very top was his sword, and some other
things we've never seen before-a pole, maybe also for martial arts, a three part pole
or whatever you call it-it's a pole that is divided into three parts and jointed together.
There was a spear, a club, a whip, I think, or something that looked like a whip-not
for spanking. I think that's also for kung fu, and there was a spear, nice thing, a club,
also for kung fu, I think, and a bottle for wine? Maybe for decoration. Still, that was
not what really surprised us.
It was the cellos.
Three, nice cellos, one small, one half, and one large. But even the large one
was not as large as a full sized cello-perhaps it was three quarter size.
" Are those his?" I asked, probably one of the most stupid questions I had ever
asked in my life.
Yue knew that I understood well enough, and went over to open the smallest
one.
" Hey!" I cried. " That thing is about the size of a very big violin! Or maybe a
viola!"
" It's a cello. For youngsters." Yue closed the case. Beside the shelves, hidden in the
corner, was a stand, or actually, five stands.
" What the heck does he need five stands for?" I asked.
" Maybe a string quintet." Yue answered simply. " I did not know he plays the
cello."
" He never mentioned it. Heck, he's more modest than I thought!"
The boy moaned, turning over. Yue glared at me, bidding me to be quiet. I
shut my mouth.
Yue took out the three quarter sized cello. It was a beautiful thing, for
Syaoran had kept it well. Yue plucked on the strings, and stared at the white stuff
on his fingers."
" What's that?" I asked.
" I don't know." Yue answered. " I don't know how to play a cello." In the end we
found out that stuff was rosin.
" It has good wood, for one thing." Yue placed the cello back and closed the case.
We found a whole bunch of manuscripts from Beethoven to Bach, and some Schubert and Schuman, quite a lot. The boy went on sleeping.
" I don't want to." Was Syaoran's answer when we asked him to show us his cello
playing. Sakura had went all white with surprise when she heard that Syaoran plays
the cello, then all grumpy because he never told her. Eriol's reaction was whether he
could play one of the piano accompaniments for a sonata with Syaoran, mentioning
" The Swan". And Tomoyo muttered something about filming Syaoran if he had
any concerts.
Yelan wasn't very happy, but she managed to face Yue. And when Syaoran
woke up both were beside him. We gave him several hours break before asking him
about his cello.
" I don't want to."
" Why not?" I asked.
" Because. I haven't played for a year. Who knows if I could still play it."
" You never know until you try." I shrug. " Besides, we don't care if you mess up.
You're with friends here."
Syaoran gave in reluctantly, and had to fetch out a very strange fork from
one of the drawers. Then he made ready his cello and started to tune.
It was both boring and interesting, if you catch my meaning, and if you don't,
you're a loser. We could not detect why he had to adjust the strings, but he had the
musician's ears. Presently he stopped and stared at us.
" I don't know what to play."
" Do you know the swan piece?" Eriol asked. " That was one of my favorite."
" The swan?" Syaoran blinked. " Oh that piece-but it wouldn't sound right without
the piano..."
" The piano is nothing. You just have to play the thing." Eriol waved it off as if it
were nonsense.
" Al-alright," Syaoran looked down and lifted his bow.
It was a lovely piece, which Syaoran had memorized well. The deep voice of the cello was nicely exaggerated from Syaoran's skillful playing, and even without the accompaniment I could picture a white, graceful swan on the lake with her little youngsters swimming in peace. Lush white lilies floated on the lake, as the swan ruffled her feathers while languidly gliding across the water with her children around her. The sky was blue, with clouds overhead, and the mirrored image of the swan in the water shimmered gently as she went past.
The music ended too soon. We were silent, still trapped in the deep spell of it.
Syaoran ignored us and stared at his instrument. Sakura started clapping, and we all
clapped for him. He blushed, then shrank back. Yukito wore a smile on his face as
he went over and patted his shoulder.
" See? It wasn't so bad."
The child uttered a small whimper, and wave after wave of trembling broke
down on him. Meiling rushed to him and we followed. The boy began to clutch at
his chest, gasping. The cello's handle fell from his hand. The instrument fell with a
clatter on the carpeted floor.
Meiling knew what to do. She rushed out to call his mother. And then there came a bright light...
