Chapter 13-Kero
I layed near Syaoran's bed.
He was like a fallen snowflake, withering, withering. And then he stopped, but simply is, with no feeling and no growing of anything. He did not heal and he did not worsen, did not grow old and did not grow young. It was as if time, for him, had frozen. A preserved work of art.
Slowly he turned his head towards me, the poor child locks eyes with me. He was wide awake, exhausted but awake, his eyes large and flickering.
" Kero-chan..." He whispered. " Why are you in your true form?"
" I don't know." And I honestly didn't. " Are you alright?"
It was quiet out, with an occasional wind as a car went by. Syaoran nodded slowly. There was dark circles around his eyes.
" Where's Otou-san?" He asked.
" He's talking with Touya. Don't worry." I assured him.
" Oh." Syaoran sighs.
" You should sleep now." I told him. " Do you want me to go?"
" Iie. Stay." He whispered. " Don't go."
" Alright. Relax. You better rest." I nudged him. " So you can save energy."
" What if I slip?"
" The stone will help you."
" Oh."
It was then when I realized he hasn't slept in days. His hand was cold, so cold. The poor child snuggled up next to me and shut his eyes. His body instantly relaxed.
Mimi glared flatly at Spinel as she twirled her staff.
" I've come here to see Syaoran."
" Stop being a baka Suppi." Nakuru said tiredly. " It won't do you any good, after
all. Come in."
" I hear that the Moon Angel hasn't been doing well." The girl continued as she
walked in.
We murmured a little. Ever since that night, with the pot and the flowers, Yue had simply collapsed. He was in danger of a nervous breakdown, and even the dead tried to soothe him. Something happened that night. He never spoke of it.
" He's upstairs in his room. Sleeping, I should hope." Nakuru had transformed into
Ruby Moon for some reason. " Touya is with him."
" Poor thing." Mimi mused. " What about the Card Mistress? How is she doing?"
Again we mumbled a little. Ever since that night Sakura had been crying every time she went to bed. For what reason, we don't know. She always clutched the card she drew to her, as if parting with it would kill her.
" Oh." Mimi caught the idea. " And the Reincarnation of Clow?"
Again we murmured. She always manages to ask the health of those who are not healthy. Eriol had remained silent all through the night, and refused to speak thereafter.
Mimi sighed. " That's why the Head Council is so troubled." She shook her head.
She opened the door to Syaoran's room and closed the door behind her. Who knows what they did in there.
" I'm so glad that they invented instant messaging." Touya typed on the computer.
The other line was Violoncello, which was actually Xuyan.
/ Of course I did./ Xuyan typed.
/ Sure./ Touya typed. / So tell us, what happened to that poor kid?/
/ Jingxi was practicing with Meiling./ Xuyan answered after some hesitation. / Outdoors, of course. Syaoran did a high kick at Meiling, who blocked and thrusted it away from her. Syaoran kind of got off balance and the wind blew up./
/ Joy. Must of been quite comical./
/ I teased him endlessly about that. He nearly went up to the roof. We always knew he could ride the wind./
/ Joy./
/ Hai./
" So that was one time Syaoran made a boo boo, kind of what happened to my math teacher." Touya laughed.
/ I have to go now./ Xuyan wrote.
/ Alright. Thanks for everything./ " He was writing down several problems when the
wind blew up and the door followed the wind. It banged him to the wall. Yukito
remembers it, I'm sure."
" Ouchies." I replied. Touya went to some website and we just talked.
" Do you think I'll ever be cured Kero-chan?" Syaoran asked.
" Have courage." I told him. " Stay strong. You can do it."
" Domo arigatou." Syaoran said softly. " I wish it could end soon."
" It might."
" Twelve years. Twelve years already passed. When I was first conscious of it I
thought each year will drag so long, so long. I made it twelve years."
" You're a remarkable kid."
" Maybe I would make it in the record books." Syaoran was grinning. " Longest
survivor that still carries the incurable and deadly disease. Even people who
survived AIDS won't beat that, would they? Twelve years. Hehehe. Twelve long,
remarkable years. I remember when I came here. Touya glared at me as if I
threatened his very pride. Of course, pretty soon it became ' who's the better
hyptnotist'. Touya was so mad. And then that time with the Change Card. You
remember that, don't you Kero? We got stuck playing each other for a whole day.
Meiling must have given you a hard time. You are good at eating but not cooking,
eh?" Syaoran coughed, and smiled again. " I never knew how to use those wings of
yours. They are so awfully small. Not like the wings you have right now." He lifted
a feather. I felt a little uncomfortable, with the end pointing the wrong way. He
released it.
" Tell me about Clow Reed." He suddenly whispered. " what you usually do with
him everyday. You told Sakura, but I'm his descendant. Tell me about everything in
those days, Kero."
" Why didn't you ask your father?" I asked.
" He loves him too much." Syaoran shut his eyes. " Tell me a story Kero."
I didn't know where to start. His request came as a surprise. I closed my own eyes and thought for a while.
" There was one time when it was raining out..."
" What is he doing?" Touya asked.
" Sleeping." I answered, stalking about the room, not feeling like reducing into my
smaller form since it was suddenly too...well, small. " I told him a bedtime story."
" Really? Isn't he a little too old for that?"
" Wake up, Kinomoto. There are no books about Clow Reed, first of all, and second,
you try reading a book when you can barely get up."
" Never mind. Me stupid."
" Hai. How is Yue doing?"
" I'm fine."
I turned around to see Yukito bending down to throw something into the
garbage can. He was cutting up shrimp. It was six fifteen.
" Are you sure?" I asked. " You look a little pale."
" You baka. He's always pale." Touya pointed out.
" I'm just a little tired. I have a headache." Yukito replied. He was in his false form
but was controlled by Yue. Who knew how he did that.
" Who wouldn't."
" So I hear that you taught him some ancient history."
" It was so boring he fell asleep."
" How come he never asked me anything."
" He's afraid he'll pull the wrong strings, genius. Don't you think a musician is
capable of being sympathetic?"
" He is also a fighter." Touya cut in. Yukito and I shot him a glare. He just chuckled.
" Otou-san isn't coming home until next Friday. Home is so boring. But at least next
week he has a four day weekend. We could actually go somewhere. Kyoto, for
example."
" Russia."
" Be quiet."
" Hey," I protested. " Russia is also very close you know. Wherever you want to go,
you'll have to go by boat anyway." I grabbed a cookie and munched on it. " That's
the thing with Japan. It's the size of three to four Taiwans divided into a whole
bunch of islands."
" Hey, China was the one that got all the land. And Russia." Touya mumbled. " But
no matter. We have a Chinese kid here."
" Shizuka ni, enough of that." Yukito scolded. " Each keep to themselves."
" No worries, we're not politicians." I chuckled. " Where is Sakura?"
" Outside with Tomoyo and Eriol." Touya answered. " Nakuru took Spinel home.
George is in the living room trying to do things without hurting himself."
" He does that too often." Yukito nodded, bending down to throw stuff into the
garbage again. He suddenly started chuckling.
" What happened?" I asked. " What's so funny?" Yukito doesn't laugh too much
these days.
" Oh, I was just remembering something Jingxi told me." Yukito answered. I
suddenly remembered it was Yue who was laughing. That made me more confused.
" What did he tell you?"
" Oh, it was when he was about one year old. Yelan was cutting up shrimp just like
I am, in the kitchen, and at the other end there was a bowl of instant noodles. The
child just learned to walk and when he learned it he was toddling about all over the
place. Yelan was cutting up shrimp and throwing the waste into the garbage.
Syaoran was watching her. Then, since Syaoran didn't remember but his mother
does, Yelan, from her point of view, thought she heard him walking, or toddling,
back and forth, and everytime he drew close there was a splat, in the garbage can.
She peeked into the garbage and found out it was filled with noodles, and that
night's dinner was just gone. Syaoran wanted to copy her. Monkey see, monkey do,
only he did it to their dinner. Of course, his sisters whined for some time about it.
They teased him endlessly afterwards."
" Well, that was something one would never expect from Li Jingxi!" Touya laughed.
" He actually did something stupid!"
" He was a baby Touya." Yukito defended.
" But whenever I picture him as a baby I thought of him as this kid with a big
frown on his face-I mean, the first time I met him he was glaring at the kaijuu."
" Only because he's in Japan. And besides. He's all alone with Wei. With no one he
knows, a foreign land, with no friends. How would you feel? He was only ten years
old." Yukito was upset.
" Father Yukito, my sincerest apologies," Touya smirked. " Relax, Yuki! I was
merely teasing the boy behind his back."
" Hmph." Yukito went back to working on the shrimp.
" By the way, where is the olive oil?" Touya asked.
" They're all in that cupboard over there."
Touya reached down to take the olive oil. " My, Yukito. With all the food you
have, how come Syaoran never gained any weight?"
" Oh, ano..." Yukito looked uncomfortable. " He doesn't eat much-only soup and
chocolate."
" What, no solids?"
" Not really. He gets full very easily. Couldn't help him."
" Oh, gomen nasai..."
" Hey, Yukito-san, Oni-chan." Sakura shook her head as she rubbed her eyes.
" Hm? Oh," Touya turned back. " You want to check up on Syaoran?"
" I did already." Sakura answered. " Right after Kero left. He is so kawaii!" She
smiled.
" You didn't wake him, did you?" Yukito asked.
He was responded by a glare from each of us.
" I'm not that stupid and heartless, Yue." Sakura replied, a little hurt and frustrated.
" No, I don't mean that." Yukito suddenly understood what we took it as. " I just
hoped that the door didn't wake him. He is a light sleeper these days. Hardly gets
any sleep at all."
" Why? He is so weak." Touya stated.
" I know." Yukito looked mournful. " But I know he is afraid to...to..." He fell silent.
" Oh." We all said softly.
" You won't believe this, Syaoran is actually up!" Tomoyo cried, rushing into the
kitchen.
" Nani?" Sakura cried. She left the kitchen. We followed.