A CCS Fanfic By Card Captor Schlueter (a.k.a. Syaoran-kun)
Memo From The Legal Dept.
We don't own this stuff and we don't care because we have disclaimers. Try to sue us and we'll shred you into coleslaw, got it?
Chapter Two: When It Rains, It Pours.
"Shadow Card! Return to your power confined!"
I was frankly getting very sick of shouting that phrase. I had become a Card Captor on Friday and here I was two days later facing a constant stream of Clow cards. I had just gotten out of bed to discover that `The Sweet' card had taken up residence in my house. I'd like to say that my awesome power of magic had allowed me to sense the card's presence, but I'd be lying. Frankly, I was pretty sure that my kitchen didn't look like the gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel when I went to bed. If that wasn't enough, `The Jump' card was trying to eat my fridge, which was now made of chocolate. The only good thing was that I had managed to restore things to normal before Kero-Ni got up and decided to eat the peppermint kitchen sink.
I had always pictured how I would have gone about capturing the Clow cards. I had always pictured it as being efficient or, to put it simply, not at all like how Sakura handled things with goofy costumes, Tomoyo and her camcorder and certainly not with that obnoxious stuffed animal. Unfortunately, I now had my own version of the guardian beast (if you could call it that) and getting Tomoyo to drop the camera would've taken an act of God.
Such an act did not occur. My bad luck, I suppose.
So there I stood, having captured my eleventh Clow card (if you count the ones I started with). I only wished I could have been wearing the Li clan's robes instead of this weird outfit Tomoyo had insisted that I wear tonight.
**
"Do I really have to wear this thing?" I had asked.
Earlier this morning, Tomoyo had insisted I stop by to try on the outfit she wanted me to wear for the next card capture. You might wonder how I was suckered into this. The answer is that Tomoyo had enlisted Sakura who said that it would be so nice if I played along just this once. Please? Pretty please? I think Tomoyo has a future in manipulation through emotional blackmail. So that's how I ended up in Tomoyo's closet, trying desperately to change clothes in the small dark space and with one of Tomoyo's elaborate creations, that isn't easy. Even after I got the damned thing on, I still felt like an idiot.
"Relax, Li-kun." Tomoyo said. "Have a little faith, ne?"
"I still think this idea is stupid." I replied.
"Li-kun, I'm sure you look fine." said Sakura.
`Somebody please just kill me now.' I thought to myself as I opened the door.
The outfit was mostly Tomoyo's creation but I had insisted on a few things about it. I probably should have insisted on more. The design lay somewhere between Chinese traditionalism and some goofball school girl fantasy. The shirt and pants were both standard Chinese issue for martial artists, all in black. The sleeves of the shirt fit a lot closer that the large baggy ones on my robes and had white cuffs. It also had little gold fasteners on the left side and gold trim on the collar. (I was pretty sure the fasteners were just gold-colored but knowing Tomoyo I couldn't be sure.) It also came with a bright red sash and a cape. The cape was black on the to layer with the Clow crecent moon symbol on it (at my insistence) and gold trim along the bottom. The bottom layer of the cape was red. The cape was held together at the front by a small medallion with the black and white Chinese yin-yang symbol on it. If this was not enough, Tomoyo had instead that I wear a beret, a black one. `Prince Charming goes to the far East' was the overall effect
I couldn't help but be reminded of a quote I had read from an old book once that went: `I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' It re-worded itself in my head to: `I am become Sakura, the captor of Clow cards.'
"I still say this is stupid." I grumbled with my eyes shut so I wouldn't be forced to look at myself in this stupid thing. I couldn't help but notice that no one had responded. I opened my eyes to see what was up. Sakura had this weird dreamy eyed look on her face. Even Tomoyo was looking a little out of it. What was this all about?
I snapped my fingers in front of Sakura's face a couple of times. "Hello? Anyone home?" Sakura suddenly seemed to come back to reality. "What's with the silent treatment?" I asked.
Sakura blushed for a moment. (Strange but true) "I'm sorry, Li-kun." she said. "But that outfit does look good on you."
Frankly, I thought I looked like something out of a bad rip-off of "Sailor Moon". I couldn't help but wonder what had been going through Sakura's head a couple of moments earlier.
**
`The Shadow' card drifted down into my hand. This was not my ideal Sunday night. I don't mean to say that I didn't want to capture the card, I just didn't want to have to deal with Tomoyo and her camera or her outfits. For the record, I wasn't the only victim of Tomoyo's fashion fetish this weekend. Tomoyo had thought it would be funny to put Sakura in a set of robes like mine. I had protested that one. The Li clan's traditions were nothing to be made light of. I insisted that the robes could not bear any of the Li family symbols. The result was that Sakura's outfit looked, more or less, like Meiling's. It had more pink, of course, than Meiling's and it also had a little red bow under the collar. For the record, I had made it quite clear to Sakura that she was not to use her own Clow cards to help me unless I really needed it.
"That was fantastic, Li-kun!" said Tomoyo.
I sighed ruefully. This was not how I had planned it.
**
The next morning, Tomoyo was at it again. On the way to classes she just went on and on.
"You were great, Li-kun!" she said. You could be the next James Bond! The camera loves you, babe."
"You've been reading way too many Hollywood magazines lately, Daidouji." I replied. "You know, if my mother ever finds out about this..."
"Relax, Li-kun." Tomoyo said cheerfully.
I was actually starting to look forward to one of Terada's long drawn out lectures. When we walked into class I wondered if we hadn't missed it. Everyone in the class was asleep. Okay, so I'm just trying to be funny. The truth is that I knew that it had to be a Clow card.
"What's going on here?" asked Sakura.
"It must be `The Sleep' card." I replied.
Indeed it was. The card appeared from behind Terada's desk. If I didn't move fast we'd all be snoozing. I barely had time to get my sword before the card started its attack. I didn't have time to use a Clow card so I had to swat the card out of the way with the flat side of the sword. The card hit the far wall and was about to attack again when I made my move.
"Sleep card! Return to your power confined!" The card dissolved into waves of energy that formed `The Sleep' card's sealed form. The card drifted down onto a desk.
"So much for a quiet morning." I grumbled as I picked up the card.
"And me without my camera." Tomoyo said sadly.
"So what now?" asked Sakura.
"It'll be a while before they wake up." I replied. "I guess we just sit around until then."
"How are we going to explain this whole thing?" Sakura asked.
"Let's hope they don't ask." I said. I was kind of hoping that I wouldn't have to deal with any more surprises today.
I was, of course, wrong.
This particular epiphany came to me when a small white cloud, the size of a pillow, floated in through the window and stopped about half a foot from my face. `The Rain' card popped up from its hiding place in the cloud. It stopped and stared at me for a minute. I just stared back. The card floated a little close until it was an inch from my face and continued to stare at me for a second before giggling cutely. I wondered what was so funny. `The Rain' card kissed me on the nose and then took off into the hallway, giggling all the way.
I stood there staring blankly for a moment. "What... was that all about?"
"I think `The Rain' card wants to play some kind of game with you, Li-kun." said Sakura.
I was still trying to get over the fact that the card had kissed me. How weird. "Well, we'd better go after it." I said. `The Rain' card was, more or less, just a kawaii little sprite on a cloud. If I could find it again it wouldn't be too hard to capture it.
Things aren't always as easy as you'd think.
Which explains what happened next. The only thing I knew about Sakura's friend, Rika, was that she was occasionally late and had once tried to kill us with `The Sword' card. That was about it. Today just happened to be one of those days that didn't go well for Rika.
"Sakura-Chan! Tomoyo-Chan!" She ran down the hallway with that kind of panicked look people get when they're late. I was only glad that she hadn't seen `The Rain' card make its exit. Then again, I wasn't sure how we'd explain the room full of snoozing students.
"Rika-Chan!" began Sakura.
"Class hasn't started yet, has it?" asked Rika.
"Um... No. Not really." Sakura sweatdropped.
"Oh, Li-kun.... Does Terada-sensei know that you bring that thing to school with you?" Rika asked.
It was just then that I realized that I was still carrying my sword. "Uh... Actually..." I began.
"You know, it's so weird." Rika said, cutting me off in mid-sentence. "You know that sword brooch I lost at your house?"
I had started to wander off in search of `The Rain' card when Rika began talking but I stopped suddenly when I head her mention the sword pin.
"I found it just this morning." Rika finished cheerfully. I abruptly turned around and... ACK! She was already wearing it. I think we all know what happens next. Rika's face went blank and two seconds later we were running for our lives.
"Is anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu here?" I asked. I decided to stop running and fight.
"Wait! Li-kun!" shouted Sakura "You can't hurt Rika!"
I managed to deflect Rika's first attack. "Who's trying to hurt who here?"
"You have to promise me you won't hurt her, Li-kun. Please!"
"I don't suppose there's any way you can get her to make the same promise." I said. I parried the next three attacks. I used a single swing to place the tip of my sword under the hilt of Rika's. I jerked my sword up and yanked `The Sword' from Rika's hand
"Sword Card! Return to your power confined!" I managed to seal the card just before Rika fainted. I just barely managed to catch her. "This isn't the quiet morning I was hoping for." I mumbled.
"That makes two more captures I've missed." Tomoyo grumbled. At least my plans weren't the only ones going awry.
The day hadn't even started yet and I was already exhausted. Just then I felt something on the side of my head. I glance over to see `The Rain' card smiling sweetly and patting my head with one of its little hands. I placed the end of my sword lightly on the card's head and said quietly "Return to your power confined." `The Rain' returned to its card form with a small poof. I couldn't help but get the feeling that `The Rain' card had taken pity on me for some reason.
Oh well. A card's a card, I guess.
Next: There's no rest for the weary. Li finds himself face to face with `The Illusion', `The Mirror' and `The Twin' who have all come together for the goal of impersonating Sakura. It's Sakura times four, but only one of them is real.
See it all in "Chapter Three: Will The Real Sakura Kinamoto Please Step Forward?"