Author's Note: I figured we'd heard a lot about the YYH world, but had yet to get a connection with the CCS world. Sorry it's so short, but time isn't cheap.
Back in Neko's native world…
Narwa, head of the Kurai for only the past week (the past year spent fighting the competition), glared at the spy sitting across from him. The boy looked nervous. "You say the Li family no longer possesses the Cards? The girl is gone?"
The spy nodded. "Y-yes, she disappeared one night and didn't return. At first it looked like the coming-of-age ceremony they use to awaken their member's adulthood powers, but when they returned she was not with them."
Narwa's predecessor had been blind to the need for surveillance of the enemy, costing him his position and his life. Now that Narwa was in control, things would change. Narwa leaned forward and asked, "What has Eriol been doing?"
The spy blinked. "Well, nothing. He spends most of his time at his office or meditating like a monk."
Narwa nodded and sat back. "I see, return to your post." The boy practically ran from the room. Narwa looked at the roaring fireplace with bright green eyes. Eriol was up to something, it was obvious. The reincarnation of the Cards' creator wouldn't let them vanish, nor would he betray his friendship with that twerp's thrice cursed parents. Narwa had been too young to remember the Cardcaptors, but their legacy lived on…somewhere. Right now, he just needed to locate her.
He walked through a side door into another room. It was simply furnished and had a dark alter at one end. Kneeling before it, Narwa closed his eyes and cast his mind into the blessed waters in the basin. He knew what she looked like, and no matter where she was, in time or space, he'd find her.
As he opened his eyes, an evil grin spread across his face. "I've found you, Neko…"
Back to Neko's current realm…
BEEEEEEEEP! The bell for the end of last period rang and Neko jumped. She'd dosed off in the middle of English and had a strange dream. In it, her cat had talked and been swallowed up by a strange playing card. Still somewhat groggy, she meandered down the hall and out of the building. The crisp air woke her up and she walked a more sure path down the street towards home. After dropping off her books and changing, she would use her new skills Koenma had taught her and return to Spirit World for training. Weekends were made all the more beautiful whenever she learned something new, last week she'd harnessed her power over the last element, earth.
As she came around the corner, Neko became aware of something odd. There was a group of emergency vehicles in front of her house. Her heart skipped a beat and she started running. A police officer saw her coming and held out his arms. "Whoa! Wait—"
"That's my house!" she shouted, as if that answered everything, and she ran on. Various officials were walking around the yard and in and out of the house. Neko leapt by them and went inside. She looked around and felt sick. There was nothing disagreeable to her eyes, but her sixth sense, which she compared to a super sense of smell, was screaming. Something very wrong had been in here for a long time. After she got over this she noticed the broken art and torn paintings. Glass crunched as she surveyed the damage. Where was Kiri?
"Damn cat!" shouted someone. Neko looked up and saw a police woman trying to get a grip on Kiri, who was hissing and spitting.
"Kiri!" Neko said sharply. The cat and cop froze, then Kiri made a final swipe and leapt at Neko. She rubbed her head against Neko's shoulder and purred loudly.
The police officer sighed. "I guess it's for the best, but you're going to have to answer a few questions so we can try and figure out who did this."
Neko followed her outside and sat on the curb with a shivering Kiri in her lap as she did her best to think of suspicious characters without wandering into the supernatural. The cop units began to disperse, and finally the two officers decided they had picked Neko's mind clean. "We contacted your father at work, he'll be home soon," one of them said. Neko nodded and the cop took her blank look to mean this had all been rather disturbing to her. "Do you have some neighbors you can stay with for now?"
Neko nodded. Yes, her friends lived close enough. The cops left and Neko stared at her house. It looked so dead and lifeless, lacking any sense of home. Hugging Kiri tight, Neko crept in the back and packed her things. She wrote out a long letter to her father and left it on her desk. As she was leaving, she grabbed her locket. She didn't feel right leaving it behind now that her house had been broken into.
As she stepped out onto the road, she caught a whiff of something familiar. It was similar to Hiei's, but with an extra bite that made her want to sneeze. There was a rustle of cloth above and she looked up. The streetlight was barely beginning to glow as the sun set, but it was bright enough to temporarily blind her and give the person perched on top of the pole enough time to leap down. Neko blinked and narrowed her eyes at the stranger.
His eyes were red, but cold and hard. His hair was black and hung down, but other than that he looked like Hiei before the growth spurt Neko had heard so much about. She held on to her bag tightly, and prayed Kiri could run away if he struck. Kiri didn't hiss or spit, just narrowed her eyes at the demon. "You must be Neko, I've heard so much about you," he said. Neko felt somewhat disturbed. His voice was dead, cruel, had nothing in it to appeal to. He walked around her, looking her over. "Hmm, perhaps you are strong enough to be the Chosen One. Of course, Hiei and I are also candidates."
Neko tried to keep her muscles relaxed. When she was sure her voice wouldn't shake, she said, "I don't know about any 'Chosen One,' but I do know that my father isn't just at work."
He came back to the front, eyes wide. "Oh? I guess you're smarter than I thought." With a movement almost too fast to track, he leapt to the street light once more. "Meet me in my humble abode in Spirit World if you care for his safety. You'd better bring that buddy of yours, Hiei, as well. I'm sure he'd find this too good an offer to refuse if you tell him one word."
Neko looked down the street in the relative direction of Hiei's new apartment. "What should I say?"
The demon grinned. "Kennichi." Then he was gone. Neko could smell him as he leapt to the rooftops and away. Once he was out of earshot, she collapsed on the ground, her whole body shaking as tears ran down her face. Why? Why had her father been involved? Nothing in her life seemed to be right. She suddenly could see nothing but black. Her shivering body was gone, she felt nothing. A picture formed. It was a woman with light brown hair and bright green eyes in a strange dress with a cherry blossom pin.
"Who are you?" she asked. The woman smiled sadly and looked down. Neko watched her unfasten the cherry blossom pin and stood absolutely still as the lady attached it to her uniform front. The woman stood back and started to fade. "Wait!" Neko cried out.
The woman lifted a hand in farewell. "Will you fight to hope, Neko?" she asked before disappearing. Neko was now standing on the sidewalk once more. She blinked and looked around. What had just happened?
"Neko," said a woman's voice behind her. Neko turned, but saw no one. "Down here." Neko looked down and saw Kiri gazing up at her. "Neko, do not concern yourself with Sapphire's safety, he is your Guardian and chose to protect you by allowing himself to be taken. We must leave this world, it has become too dangerous for you." Kiri turned and started to walk back towards the house. Neko didn't follow. "Well? We must contact Eriol and have him open the portal."
"No," Neko said. She looked at her cat, until now an innocent pet. Neko realized at that moment that her whole existence had been a lie. She felt her power to tell truth from lie awaken and it measured her memories in a flash. So many things she'd based her life on, and none of it real. Only the past couple of years had been real, but there had been another home before this world. Yes, she knew this. However, she still loved her father, guardian or no, and this was the world her friends lived in. How could she know if her past home had any friends? One thing was certain, she would not abandon them after all they'd done for her.
"Neko, we must leave!" Kiri insisted.
Neko turned. "I'm going to tell Hiei about Kennichi, then I'm going to save Sapphire." She walked down the road, leaving her dumbfounded cat to catch up.