Sincerity to the Cherry Blossom 7
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Clamp own CCS. Naoko owns SM. What else needs to be said?
AN: I've made a very important alteration in the story. It involves Sakura's age. I originally wrote her as ten though I think if this takes place after the series finishes, she would be at least twelve or thirteen years old. Therefore I've decided to make her 12 years old.
****
"I'm telling you, Rei it is her," Makoto spoke on the phone in a hushed voice. "It's the girl I saw in my dream a few nights ago." She had to go to the bathroom to speak to her friend on the communicator. It was to not disturb the others sleeping in the hostel. If she called while in the same bedroom, people would complain about her loudness and tell her to go to sleep. Makoto went on about how she sensed a Youma presence in the road close to Sakura's house and spotted Sakura with Syaoran in action, their weapons in hand plus the usage of the Clow cards.
Makoto saw it all in secret. After leaving Yukito and Touya alone, she had felt a powerful presence nearby and in the right moment, heard a girl screaming for help. She was still worried as she ran at top speed back in the direction her friends had taken to go home. Just as she arrived on the scene, she saw Sakura, Syaoran plus two other figures that were barely recognizable. Those two were in her dream. It was a shame that she couldn't work out their names yet. Maybe if she had more time to think then it would come to her.
"Kinomoto Sakura is her name," Makoto explained, "she wasn't in any weird costumes like I said but she had the same wand I saw in my dream and there were the two guys with wings. The Youma they were up against was an easy target to beat." Well it may have been easy for her because she had gone against Youmas dozens of times but to people like Sakura, who had never battled these real monsters, it was a hard job. Plus the fact she was still a young girl.
"Makoto, I sensed a strong energy at about seven o'clock in my shrine," Rei said.
"That was the approximate time I fought the Youma," Makoto responded excitedly.
"I can't seem to figure out who attacked Sakura. There was no clear vision in my fire." Rei yawned on the line, "I'll try to see what else I can see or sense tomorrow. Get some sleep. At least we know you were right about something."
"Yeah fine. Talk to you later, Rei." Makoto signed off on her communicator before switching off the bathroom light behind. It looked like Sakura would need her help for a while.
****
As Touya rode his bike slowly, he kept a watchful eye on Sakura while she trailed away on her roller-blades alongside him. She had a small smile on her round-shaped face and to her older brother, it was a way to cover up her shock from yesterday. The fake façade wasn't pulling off very well. He knew what she was thinking because it was the same thought as his. The bright blue sparkles flashed in Touya's eyes when he remembered the power the helper possessed as she fought against the strange monster.
Never had he seen anyone with agility, physical or magical strength like that before. How rare was it to meet a female warrior who carried any of these in her blood? Only storybooks had these heroines. Or was this the result of over-reading fantasy books and idolizing the legendary females such as the goddess of war and wisdom, Athena? If it was down to this, Touya wasn't sure how Sailor Jupiter had the ability to release thunder and electricity into the open. Was she a magician? It was still a surprise to him after he discovered that Sakura had magical powers like he did and was a Card Captor.
Did Sailor Jupiter have powers like he and his sister did? Should Touya still have his spiritual powers he would be able to see something different about this Sailor Senshi that not many would be able to pinpoint. Maybe Yue knew her personally, which could be the reason why he looked at her with such curious eyes. More curious than Touya's gaze. Sakura went past the school gate first and saw Makoto standing by the bicycle rack, waving to her and Touya as they came into the school grounds.
Touya skidded his bike into the rack, secured the lock and flipped his rucksack over his shoulder. He soon noticed how cheerful Makoto seemed this morning.
"Good morning, Touya. Sakura," She greeted.
"Hi Makoto-chan," Sakura said and looked down at her hands to see a heavy tub begin placed above her tiny palms. Surprised, she opened the plastic lid to see its contents. Different coloured icing covered the pieces of cake sitting neatly in the box. It made Sakura's hunger grow as wel as her smirk. How was Makoto able to make cakes that looked really good? Touya peeked over his sister's shoulder, which was easy to do because she was very small, and his eyes zoomed in at the food Makoto had given.
"Are these…?" Touya's chocolate brown eyes looked up at the expert chef who nodded in reply to his question. "Makoto really, you shouldn't have. I can't believe you made these for Sakura..." Makoto passed him another tub with the same delicious desert inside. "…And me!"
"It's my way of showing how I appreciate friends," She stated then bent down to glance at Sakura, "You can try them at lunchtime with Tomoyo…and your 'boy-friend'."
"Boy…?" The cherry blossom replied embarrassingly. Touya didn't understand what Makoto meant – until he saw a familiar face standing behind his younger sister. Sakura's head straightened and she tilted her head over her right shoulder to see Syaoran. He wasn't in school uniform though and it must mean that he was here to visit. Sakura grinned shyly and came over to see him. "Syaoran-kun, aren't you coming to class?"
"I'm here to visit for the whole of this week," He replied, ignoring the deathly glare Touya pulled off. "You know, to do…uh…" How was he supposed to cover up when there was a girl he barely knew watching him? He couldn't say to stop the strange occurrences. The girl would think he was mad.
"Well guess I'll leave you guys to it." Her back turned swiftly and she was off to her first lesson as the bell rang. "There's nothing better than to start my day cooking. See ya."
"Who is that girl?" Syaoran asked when Makoto left.
"That's not your business," Touya informally said, causing the Chinese boy to growl. He glanced over to his sister as he walked away, "Later, Kaijuu."
Sakura wasn't sure how to wipe off the angry scowl on Syaoran's face. He and Touya rarely ever got along whenever they met through eye contact. Sakura's older brother despised him in a strange way and it was too difficult for Sakura to get them to be friendly to each other. The only solution she could think of was to leave them alone to sort their differences out. That sounded reasonable, didn't it? It was the same with Syaoran and Eriol when Syaoran kept suspecting Eriol's weird behaviour, which Sakura wasn't able to pick out and thought he was a nice boy.
"You're not hurt or anything are you?" Syaoran asked quietly while walking with her to the classroom. Sakura looked at him confusingly then understood in a matter of seconds what he meant. She smiled sweetly and shook her head. So what if her older brother and him couldn't get along. It was nice to see Syaoran cared for her. That was good enough for the Clow Cards' mistress.
"We should thank Sailor Jupiter," Sakura muttered, "She helped us beat that monster."
Syaoran nodded, "I saw how she fought. Every punch and kick she pulled off was precise. I wonder who she is in real life."
"Hey look everyone, Syaoran's back!" Chiharu came to the classroom door and pointed to the two friends approaching the room. Everyone else barged to the door to see whether it was true. The Chinese boy could hear his name echoing around him happily. Why was everyone happy to see him all of a sudden?
"Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo cheerfully waved to her best friend, "Hey, Syaoran-kun. Nice to see you back in Tomoeda."
"Hi, Tomoyo." He sat by his usual desk in a struggle as the swarm of surprised faces followed him. Questions that began with when or why kept on coming at him. Everyone thought he had gone back to Hong Kong permanently and wanted to know his reason for returning. Syaoran had trouble giving out a good enough explanation other than to protect Sakura from whatever was after her. Luck saved the day as the teacher came in to begin the lesson. With the teacher facing his back, Sakura looked behind her desk at Syaoran.
"I'm glad you're back, Syaoran-kun," She whispered happily, holding his hand underneath his desk. Syaoran gulped shyly as her soft fingers held onto his shaking palm. His face turned red like always but he managed to wash it away as he looked into Sakura's innocent emerald eyes. Looking beyond those emerald colours gave him a more ecstatic reaction, permitting him to smile back at her.
"Me too," He murmured.
****
Makoto proudly carried her freshly made vegetarian pasta under one arm as she headed off to eat her lunch in the cafeteria. The Home Economics teacher gave her a grade A for the recipe and showed everyone in class how the result should be. Most of the other students either put too much pepper in the pasta or overcooked it till its colour faded. Makoto explained that making pasta was quite easy to do in three minutes and it made everyone's mouths hang open at the confidence and expertise she was giving to them.
She even volunteered to help some peers in stirring the sauce in the correct way. Of course some of them were still hesitant in accepting her help because of her karate maniac name. But after seeing how well she could make the recipe look people started go easy on her. She wasn't someone to be feared or gossiped.
However there were some who thought she shouldn't even be in school and instead at a special clinic for mental people. Since when did people get the impression she had to go to a mental hospital for being kicked out of fighting? That was an exaggeration. She was a perfectly normal girl – except for her super strength that no female could equalise. That was what made her stick out.
After buying a bottle of orange juice, Makoto went outside to sit by an outdoor bench and ate her lunch quietly. Alone like yesterday. Her mind wandered to other important facets that nobody would know about. Namely about Sakura, who had no idea what else she was going to be facing. Well neither did Makoto. It couldn't be a past enemy of the Inner Senshi because as far as they could see the evil had been vanquished.
Makoto's dream still bothered her each night. Whenever she closed her eyes, the same thing repeated over and over again. She would see Sakura calling upon her Clow cards against unusual magic and end up awakening in shock as soon as the Card Captor and her guardians noticed her presence. What was her dream telling her? Did she have a new purpose in Tomoeda? She was in this town right now so what did she have to do next?
Makoto wandered if the future Queen Serenity had anything to do with this. Or even Jupiter's future self perhaps. There are too many possibilities She thought groaningly. Rei said she would contact Makoto if she spotted anything while meditating in her shrine. Makoto prayed she would call her soon because her brain wasn't in order to be thinking properly.
"Hey, Kino you shouldn't be in our school," A boy suddenly approached her. Oh no! Not now! She didn't want any fights at this time. Dammit so what she was here for a week. Having fights all week wasn't Makoto's intention on this training course. Another Tomoeda High School boy joined his friend as they looked over the table at the karate expert. Makoto ignored their stares and drank her orange juice in one swallow. She stood up to leave but they blocked her path on both corners.
"I don't fight in school anymore," Makoto calmly said, trying to leave for the second time. The boy on her right slapped his thick hand on her shoulder. This narrowed her eyes in a cautious glare.
"Oh really well we wanna see what you makes you the karate maniac," The other boy insisted, "Come on, take us on, you bitch."
"This is wrong!" Makoto warned. They didn't seem to understand her at all. She hated being called a bitch. It was just…insulting.
"Takeru, Joe! Leave her alone!" Touya pushed the two boys back by their shoulders forcefully, almost tripping them on their soles.
"She's a freak. Freaks don't belong here," Joe moaned. Touya grabbed his arm in a rough hold and looked him in the eye warningly.
"She's perfectly normal to me," He disagreeably replied, "Get out of here. BOTH OF YOU!" As he released Joe from the grip, Takeru spat out a disgusted humph and left with his friend in defeat, helping him adjust his shirt collar tidily. Touya looked back at Makoto, whose face lowered towards the table's surface. He then realised her expression had become one of anger rather than sadness. Did he do something wrong?
"Are you okay?" Touya questioned.
Makoto brought her head up and instantly said, "I could have taken care of them myself."
"Yeah, right you were about to hit them hard in the face, weren't you? I could see it in your eyes, Makoto."
"I…I was going to but I changed my mind. Reality hit me," She admitted. Truthfully she should be saving her punches for later on when someone tougher than those two boys. Touya was lucky to be nearby when he saw her in a crisis. "Thanks, Touya. I appreciate you helping me."
"I owe you one for making those cakes," He said, his face lightening up more with some signs of joyfulness. "They were great by the way."
Makoto nodded approvingly, "Glad to hear it." She wondered if her mood swings were affecting her as she looked up into his stern face. He never smiled broadly like his best friend Yukito did when he greeted her. Touya was smiling sure but it was very faint to see in the public eye. She wanted to desperately ask him why he didn't smile as happily like his best friend did though she was unlikely to get a sufficient reply.
Touya glanced at her as though he suspected something. He was very good at keeping his emotions hidden behind a stern façade. Even he was able to fool Makoto. Hopefully he wouldn't find out about her being Sailor Jupiter yet.
"Uh Touya is there something about me that bothers you in some way?" She blurted out.
"What? Oh no…of course not. I was just daydreaming," He immediately said without holding his breath. Well this boy was a good liar too. He did know something; Makoto could smell it on him. "Hey I'm gonna check on my sister."
"I'll come with you." Makoto whirled round the picnic table to stand next to him. Touya grimaced at her keenness to follow him to see his younger sibling. He couldn't help worrying what this girl would do to Sakura. They took a turning that lead away from the main playground and headed towards Tomoeda Elementary. Touya usually met Sakura and Tomoyo by the sports field.
"Touya, Makoto, wait up!" Yukito jogged by to join them. "How was your…?" His voice floated away as his body swayed unevenly in front of Touya and Makoto. His eyes closed and something bright glistened in front of them.
"Yukito-kun!" Touya concealed Yukito's strange aura surrounding him. What was going on? Oh he wasn't doing what Touya thought he was doing, was he? Was Yue surfacing in school? This wasn't a good time! There was someone watching! What should I say to make her go? Touya thought worriedly.
What the hell? Makoto's attention diverted from Yukito to the Tomoeda Elementary building as she saw a group of elementary students run out of their classroom in shear panic. They screamed at the top of their lungs as they ran out in all directions. Crashing and banging could be heard inside the classrooms. What was this? Makoto guessed it was something strange all right.
"I'll go check what's going on over there and see if I can help!" She told Touya. He didn't respond to her. Not wasting time she went off on her own to see what the occurrence was this time. Touya turned his head round to see whether she was gone and lowered his arms to his waist. Yue's wings glittered in vivid shimmers and spread outward in the air.
"Thank goodness she didn't see," Touya sighed thankfully. He glanced back to Yue. "Why did you come out? You realise we're in school, right? That girl, Makoto she could have seen you."
"That doesn't matter now," Yue said dully, "I felt 'her' close by."
"Is my sister in trouble again?"
"Yes but that wasn't who I sensed just now," Yue elaborated, "I sensed Sailor Jupiter's magic." Touya gasped shockingly. "My powers do not fail me. She may be nearby to help us. To help Sakura. Come!" He flew briskly across the field towards the Tomoeda Elementary section. Touya had to put up a lot of effort to not let anyone see a flying person breezing past them during a crisis. What was it that went after his sister this time? Sakura, we're coming. And so is Sailor Jupiter…whoever she is Touya prayed as he ran.
TBC.
I heard some Japanese wav files of CCS and I heard Touya call his sister Kaijuu, which has to be the Japanese version of 'Hey, squirt.'