Thanks for the reviews everyone! Anyway, here is the second chapter. I'm
planting seeds...*whistles*
Oh yeah, someone said that it is impossible for Shinru and Ari to be born on the same month. Well, I'll change them into they are twins, though I can't seemed to draw them to look alike...
Ah well, enjoy!
--
The Tarot and Sakura Cards By: XiaoBai
--
As the various cards flew from the Li household (formerly known as the Kinomoto household), one particular card stopped suddenly in mid air and turned.
The card lifted her hood up a little to get a better look around her and also to have a clearer feel of that sudden aura she had felt.
After feeling around, the card nodded a little to herself, twirled her staff lightly and flew towards a building not far from the Li household and into the bedroom.
A lady was in the bedroom, taking an afternoon nap. The card stood over the sleeping figure for a few moments before realizing something.
She gasped, lifted her hood a little and bent down to have a closer look.
" ...Oh my..." the card muttered, shocked. She looked around, checking to see if anybody was near her, and then stood up.
" I must do something..." She murmured to herself again and raised her staff straight in front of her.
Closing her eyes, she began murmuring charms and the opening spells and started glowing. Slowly, wisps of magic began flowing out of the card's body and into the sleeping figure. The card concentrated more and finally disappeared into the lady.
A minute later, the sleeping lady rose out of her bed, her dark purple hair flowing all over her shoulder and covering her face. She looked at herself, as if unbelieving and then smiled.
--
One Month later...
--
" Damn it! Why doesn't it slow down?!"
" SHINRU! The roots are coming THAT way!"
"You THINK I had no IDEA?!"
The auburn haired boy jumped again out of the roots way and landed on top of a lamppost.
" Rinda! How the hell do I stop it with THREE cards?!" Shinru yelled. A small white kitten with bat wings flew away from some more branches and yelled back, " Use the stupid Wind!"
Immediately, one of the cards Shinru was holding glowed and burst into a longhaired lady. She turned disapprovingly and glared indignantly at the kitten.
" Rindora, I am not stupid."
Rinda gritted her teeth and yelled, " Well, THEN GET RID OF WOOD!"
The Wind shrugged and crossed her arms, her long sleeve flipping around, " You are not my master."
Shinru sweatdropped and sighed, " Wind."
The lady turned and smiled brightly at the auburn haired boy, " Yes, Shinru- sama?"
Shinru cocked an irritated eyebrow, " Get rid of Wood, NOW."
The Wind smiled sweetly again and nodded. She held back her hands and pushed gusts of wind-cutting wind-at the approaching branches and roots.
The resultant was a bunch of neatly cut sticks stacked on the ground. The Wind crossed her arms and said smugly, " Aw, come on, Wood sis. You know you can't wind-oh sorry for that-WIN me with branches and sticks."
The cluster of branches and roots that cracked out of the ground paused for a moment, as if considering then drooped dejectedly. They glowed dark green and formed into another young woman with extremely curly and long hair.
She sighed and shook her pretty head, " It always ends up like this...even when Mistress tries to help me in the old days." She sighed again, " I think I have to change my tactics. Hmm...maybe I should throw trucks at you..."
" Well, I'll just cut them up for Shinru-sama to use as firewood then." The yellow card replied nonchalantly and dodged another attack of branches.
Shinru was, by this time, looking incredulously at the two bickering cards. Rinda landed on his shoulder and looked at him with concern.
" Are you all right? You don't seem to take this well, Shinru."
A nerve at the end of his cheek was twitching. " Are all the cards like that? I mean, they can talk and everything?"
Rinda looked surprised, " Well, of course. Certainly you should know that?"
" 'Kaasan's cards don't talk much..." He muttered. Sighing again, he suddenly jumped in front of the Wood and tapped his golden rod lightly on her head.
" Return to thy true Form, Wood."
The card had enough time to look surprised before being sucked into the glowing card that had formed in Shinru's hand.
" Phew. At last I have captured a card..." He said dryly to himself. Without looking up, he pointed his rod at the Wind and said the same magic sentence.
Rinda flew up on top of Shinru and settled on his head. She peered over his hair and looked at the cards he had in his hands.
Ever since the making of the new Tarot Cardcaptor, the Wood was the first card officially captured and it took one month for it to appear. Shinru had, at the beginning, waited patiently for the cards but had grown edgy for the cards to attack. Heck, he won't even mind if the World card attacks first.
" The Wind, The Wood, The Chariot and the Ace of Wands. Not bad, Shinru, for a beginner." Rinda commented, playing with the bells tied to the end of her long tail.
" It has been one month and all I have are four cards.none of them are even very powerful." The boy muttered. Then he scowled, "Rinda, stop playing with the bells. The noise is distracting me."
Rinda looked amused down at Shinru before waving the bells harder, " Well, you gave it to me as the token of mastership, so you shouldn't be complaining."
Shinru sighed again. Rinda had argued a week before that the master was supposed to present something to the guardians to mark as a token of ownership. Shinru had disagreed strongly at first when Rinda brought the matter up, as he did not like the I-am-your-Master-and-you-belong-to-me concept. It was only when his mother had persuaded him to buy bells for his new *kitten* and also when Kero had explained to him the importance of the token then did he submit to the idea.
Oh yes, his parents had no idea that he was a Cardcaptor now, mostly because he can't afford the embarrassment of Tomoyo-san dressing him up like 'Kaasan in her cardcaptoring days.
Oh so he thought that they didn't know...
Anyway, he told his parents that he found Rinda in the street and took pity of her, so he brought her home. They allowed him to keep her and his mother loved the little guardian a lot.
" Come to think of it," Shinru began, " Rinda, you have a true form right?"
The guardian nodded and sat up proudly, " My true form is very, very awesome. Even more awesome than Keroberos's true form. That stuff toy can't even walk on twos when he is in his true form!" She shook her head, " Such inconvenience"
The boy raised his eyebrow, " What. You mean you can walk on twos?"
The kitten nodded smugly, " You shall know it until you capture all the element cards."
" Hmm...But can't you go to your true form now?" Shinru asked hopefully. His sister is already the Cardcaptor of the Sakura Cards and she already got all four of the element cards and most of the special cards. Which means Kero is able to go into his true form again. Yue is still around, sometimes coming out of his false form (Tsukishiro Yukito) and have long conversations with his mother.
" Damn...it's like they are making everything easy for Ari because she is younger than me by a few seconds..."
The amethyst kitten blinked slowly in thought as she settled again on the auburn haired boy's head.
' I wonder if The Sun will accept him...'
--
--
" OH SHIT! I'M FUCKING LATE!"
" Shinru! Language!" Sakura reprimanded as the boy hurried downstairs, almost tripping over his sock.
" Oh shit, ohayo 'kaasan, 'tosan, oh shit, oh shit--" He kept on chanting, trying desperately to button his shirt while grabbing the sandwich.
Syaoran sniggered a little and pulled the boy to him. " Come on, let me help you."
Shinru made a muffled thanks and almost choked on his sandwich. Ari sighed, reached over and thumped the boy's back and then slowly rose from her chair and walk out of the room. Syaoran laughed again at Shinru's expression when Ari moved out and said fondly, " You are just as cute as your mother, you know, Shinru?"
The boy gave his father a withering glare and drowned his cup of milk. Swallowing hardly, he grabbed his bag, gave his father and mother a bear hug and rushed after Ari.
Syaoran sighed as Sakura came out of the kitchen and cleared the table.
" You know Sakura?"
"Hn?" The cherry blossom hummed absently.
" I can't believe you are so--"
" SHUT UP, Syaoran!"
--
--
The teacher came into the class as Shinru touched his desk. Ari stared amusedly at her brother as he slumped into his seat and laid his head on the table.
" I wonder if 'Kaasan is also like this..." The brown haired girl mused to herself. Her father had always commented that Shinru was very much alike their mother and it had always earned him a smack on the head.
"Ahem!"
Ari turned her attention back to the teacher and found out that he was staring at Shinru. Sighing, she reached over and gave her brother a violent shake.
" Gag--!" Shinru yelped and jumped. He turned and was about to snap at his sister when she looked at him flatly and pointed at the teacher.
" Whoops..." Shinru muttered. He stood up and apologized before being told that the next time he did this 'stunt' again, he will be 'rewarded'.
" Anyway, class, today we have two new transferred students from Hakuji Elementary School." The teacher announced. Shinru cocked an interested eyebrow and craned his neck to have a glimpse of the new students.
Kazeumi Hiroshi and Kazeumi Kizuna.
It was obvious that the two of them were siblings. There was a girl and a boy and the girl looked clearly much older.
The teacher, as though he had read the students mind, said, " Kazeumi-san will be in our class as her parents had informed us of some reasons which is confidential." The class gave an 'oooohhhhhh' sound and the students started whispering in excitement of the two newcomers.
Ari and Shinru hadn't moved the moment this two came in. Shinru glanced at Ari and she nodded.
" 'Niichan. Those two have magic." She stated plainly. Shinru nodded, " I have a feeling that magic-users don't come to Tomoeda without a reason..."
" Well, from the look that male Kazeumi was giving us, it seemed that we are going to know the reason soon." Ari muttered darkly.
--
--
For the fourth time-no wait, *fifth* time of the day, Shinru felt a cold shiver down his spine as he felt that male Kazeumi stared or glared at him again.
'What the hell is wrong with that guy?!' Shinru thought to himself, feeling the glare intensify again.
The teacher had assigned the Kazeumi siblings to be seated behind Ari and Shinru. Little did Shinru know that this had caused him to be the target of Hiroshi's glaring.
Ari was giving her brother a worried look, mostly because she felt his distress and also because his brother was sweating a lot. The female Kazeumi seated behind her wasn't as hostile as her brother. In fact she seemed friendly enough. She was polite to everyone and was always smiling. Perhaps that was why she seemed creepy too.
Ari frowned in annoyance when Shinru suddenly grabbed her hand. She was about to slap it away when the bell for break rang. Shinru immediately pulled her as fast as he could to the door and raced out of the classroom.
When Shinru finally stopped under the apple tree at the end of the field, Ari glared at her brother angrily.
" 'Niichan! What was that for?!"
Shinru frowned back, " You are lucky I never used my 'special' ability."
Ari know what that special ability was. Their father had trained Shinru very hard when he was very young in martial arts and a technique known as 'qing gong'. This technique enables the user to move lightly, freely and silently around. The user can also jump great heights and his athletic skills are very strong. Ari was taught a little, but her mother had refused to let her learn more. That special ability Shinru was talking about was disappearing suddenly. He had mixed his own magic power with the 'qing gong' technique and come up with this disappearing ability. And Ari knew what will happen if her idiotic brother suddenly disappear with her. Everyone will freak out and thought that the Kinomoto family was wizards and witches or something. Whatever they assume, it will not be a positive one for them.
Ari sighed and wiped her brother's forehead with her handkerchief, " You should learn to have a handkerchief with you at all times, Niichan. Is that Kazuhiko really that scary?"
Shinru frowned and his eyebrow twitched, " You wouldn't know how scary he is..." Suddenly, he stiffened and stared out at the field.
Ari raised her head and narrowed her eyes, " They are coming this way, Niichan. You want to avoid them?"
" No." Shinru replied, straightening up and brushing his clothes, " That Hiroshi guy wants something from me. I can feel it."
" Something from you?" Ari asked, looking at her brother. He nodded grimly, " Remember Kaasan's cardcaptoring days? Tousan was her rival as there isn't a rightful will for the cards. You won't be having a rival as Kaasan had left it to you. But I'll be having a rival."
" The Tarot cards?" Ari muttered.
Shinru nodded, " Rinda told me that there wasn't a will left by the Mistress of the Tarot cards. So, by rights, there should be many people who want it."
Hiroshi came into view and he smirked. Kizuna stopped behind while her brother walked in front of Shinru.
The two of them stared silently at each other before Hiroshi jumped at Shinru, his fist ready for a punch. Shinru gritted his teeth and block the fist and locked his arms with Hiroshi's.
" So you are the new Cardcaptor." Hiroshi said, trying to free himself from Shinru. Shinru smirked and held his grip, " Yeah, that's me. So you better bugger off to wherever you came from, gaki."
" What did you--" Hiroshi kicked at Shinru and freed himself. He swung his leg and kicked again at Shinru.
" Damn--!" Shinru jumped up high and somersaulted in the air. He grabbed Hiroshi's shoulder with his hands and pulled the boy flat down onto the ground. Having trapped the boy, Shinru swung his own arm back and was about to punch Hiroshi when Ari grabbed his arm.
" Niichan! Stop it! Didn't Kaasan tell you to control your temper?"
Shinru gritted his teeth and snarled. He jumped away from Hiroshi and landed in a ready stance.
Kizuna helped her brother up and frowned at Shinru. Then, she pulled her brother away before he had a chance to have second thoughts for a fight.
" That was totally uncalled for, Kinomoto-san." She said slowly, walking back to school while pulling her brother along. " But Hiroshi was the first to attack you. I apologize on his behalf."
As the two of them left, Shinru had this really frightening expression on his face that Ari recognized as the look he always had whenever he was training serious.
Swallowing inwardly, Ari tapped timidly at her brother's shoulder and said softly, " Let's go, Niichan...the bell is going off soon..."
Shinru said nothing but nodded and walked off.
--
--
Li Shinru was seriously pissed off by the time they got to their third lesson after break. He had been the glaring target of a certain blond boy who was seated right behind him. Well, Shinru had been the target from morning but as the boy was currently feeling like he can kill ANYONE, therefore Ari was extremely worried about her brother, mostly she knew that the auburn haired boy's temper was very short. Apparently, Hiroshi was trying to indirectly pick up a fight with Shinru.
Kizuna wasn't helping much. She simply kept her silence, watched the silent war between the two boys and merely grin or giggle once or twice.
Feeling totally concerned for her brother's health and the Kazeumi's life, a desperate Ari swapped places with Shinru when the teacher was not looking. Shinru gave his sister a puzzled look and when she was about to answer him, he suddenly perked up.
" What?" Ari asked.
Shinru frowned and looked around, " Don't you feel it? I felt something...I think it's a Tarot Card..."
Ari raised an eyebrow, " A Tarot card? Here now in school?"
Behind them, the Kazeumi siblings sat up too and scanned the surroundings tensely. Shinru narrowed his eyes when he felt the aura thicken and his hand reached automatically to his key.
" Ari? Do you have the Sleep card?" He asked his sister. Ari blinked, puzzled, " Well...I had the card. Why did you want it for?"
Shinru nodded in a satisfied way, " Use the card and make everyone except the four of us asleep."
" Four?" Ari asked.
" Well, yeah. The Kazeumi siblings are also counted as Cardcaptors of the Tarot Cards...so they have the right to be awake and try to catch the card." Shinru answered
" But, Niichan--"Ari started, but Shinru stopped her, " Rinda told me that it is fair this way. Besides Kaasan never stop Tousan when she was capturing the cards."
Ari gave an exasperated sigh and argued, " But that was because she didn't have the Sleep card at that time they are still rivals!"
"Ari, just stop reasoning with me and do the job!" Shinru said, " The card is very close now...it's moving unusually slow for my taste..."
" Okay, okay..." Ari unsealed her the Key of Stars and called out the Sleep Card quietly.
" Sleep, let everyone fall into a deep sleep except for me, Shinru, Hiroshi and Kizuna. Do not let them wake unless I told you so, okay?" Ari whispered to the card, hiding it from the teacher's view.
The blue fairy nodded cheerfully and flew out of window when no one was looking.
A few seconds later, everyone in the class were asleep on their table and Shinru unsealed his key. Then he turned to Hiroshi.
" No need to thank us for this one, Kazeumi. From now on, we are working separately, got it?"
Hiroshi snorted and went out of the room with Kizuna. Shinru glared after them, muttering to himself about attitudes. Then he took in a deep breath and looked determinedly at Ari.
" Let's go sis." He then grinned, " This should be your first time in Tarot cardcaptoring, right?"
Ari frowned mockingly, " Well, yeah. But it should be the same as capturing Sakura cards--"
" Well, if you think THAT way, then you are wrong, my dear girl." Came a new voice.
Shinru whirled around and came face to face with an upside-down man suspended on a few fragile looking cloths. This man had this really irritated expression on his face and Shinru can tell that the man was not frowning because of him.
" What are you so irritated at?" Shinru asked. Ari just stared at the inverted man.
The man frowned deeply and growled, " Would you like it if you have to hang upside-down every single seconds of a day?"
Shinru blinked, " Well, no. In fact, I'll have a headache because of the blood that had rushed to the head..."
The man sighed exasperatedly, " Exactly! So, I have to get this over so that Sun-sama can flip me back upright."
" Sun-sama?" Shinru asked. The man nodded and shrugged, " Anyway, Sun-sama said I had to get rid of you, then he'll turn me upright."
Ari stopped for a moment when she heard this sentence and stared at the man once more. " You are a Tarot card right?"
The man blinked, " Yep. And," He turned and eyed Ari, " We Tarot Cards are MUCH more superior than those Clow Cards."
Ari began to smirk, " I know what card you are. Besides, the cards are known as Sakura Cards now."
Shinru turned and stared at his sister, " You know what the card is?"
Ari smiled smugly, " Well, well, well, Oniichan. You as the Cardcaptor of the Tarot cards had no idea what card you are going to capture...Kaasan is going to kill you when she heard of it. Anyway, I'm giving you a hint. He is *hanging* upside-down. Which card *hangs* upside-down?"
" The Hanged Man?" Shinru tried and the man cursed. " Damn! Am I that obvious?" Ari looked incredulously at the Hanged Man, " You ARE hanging upside down mister. It's a give away!"
The Hanged Man pouted slightly and frowned, " Well, in that case, I'll just get rid of you then." He raised his hand and waved it once. At once, many navy ribbons shot out from the depths of the cloths he was suspended on and they wrapped around the legs of Shinru and Ari.
" Oh no...not again." Shinru muttered to himself as the ribbons twisted tightly around his legs and pulled him up to the ceiling, causing him to be upside-down too. He turned (with much difficulty as he was starting to feel giddy) to check on his sister and found out that she was not hurt, just irritated.
He turned back and faced the card, which was eyeing him smugly.
" Got you." He said. Shinru sighed inwardly and searched his pocket for The Wood. He tapped his golden rod on the card and call upon the card.
The green bare-footed lady appeared and she smiled at Shinru. " What can I do, Shinru-sama?"
Shinru groaned, " Oh dear...now you got Wind's attitude..." He shook his head annoyingly and pointed at the ribbons, " Cut these away, Wood."
The Wood curtseys and replied cheerfully, " Okay!"
She spread her arms and created many sharp vines. Then she moved her hands and directed the vines to cut the ribbons. The ribbons ripped and Shinru fall at once. Gritting his teeth, he somersaulted in mid-air, landed safely on one of the tables in the class and almost stepped on his classmate's head.
He was about to command Wood to cut Ari's ribbons when she called out the Sword and cut the ribbons herself. After making sure that his sister was safe, he turned back to the suspended man and smirked slightly.
" Okay, Mr. Hanged Man. Now is my turn." He waved his rod again and the Wood appeared beside him.
" Okay, Wood, be gentle on that guy. Just cut those cloths are enough."
The Wood nodded and sent the sharp vines whipping at the cloths. The Hanged Man gave a small "Oops" and crashed straight down onto the ground.
" Ouch..." The card groaned and tried futilely to stand up. Shinru stood over the card with a victorious smile and said, " Hmm...it seemed that you had not put those legs to good use for a long time, Mr. Hanged Man. Therefore, I'm going to seal you now so that I can train you to walk." He tapped the rod on the Hanged Man's head and muttered, " Return to thy true form now, Hanged Man!" The Hanged Man turned into a card and flew into Shinru's hand.
Shinru called back the Wood and sighed tiredly. Just then, Hiroshi and Kizuna entered the classroom and Shinru smirked at the blond boy. He raised his newest captured card and showed it to Hiroshi. The boy merely glanced at it and returned to his seat. Shinru glared after the boy but returned to his seat too. He nodded at Ari and she called back the Sleep Card.
A few minutes later, everyone awoke and was in total confusion. In the end, the lesson ended earlier, much to everyone's delight.
Shinru and Ari rushed home immediately for fear of another confrontation with the Kazeumi siblings. But Hiroshi and Kizuna did not follow them.
Kizuna gazed at her brother as he watch them run home. " Hiroshi? Why didn't you interfere when Kinomoto-san was capturing the card?"
Hiroshi remained silent for a few moments before answering.
"I want to see his skills."
Kizuna hummed and looked back at the Kinomoto siblings, " So, how's his skills."
" He is still weak but he got the potential physically and mentally. After all, he is the son of the head of Li Clan and the Sakura Card Mistress."
Kizuna nodded, but Hiroshi continued, " I am not going to let him get those cards so easily next time. I'm going to prove to Otousan that I am better than any Kinomoto..."
-Tsuzuka.
--
--
So how was it? Share your opinions with me cause I got the motivation when people reviews my stories...it means that I post chapters faster!
Oh and please go and read my other stories...And I strongly recommend Mars Versus Venus. ^_^ It's about a prank war between the males and the females in the CCS gang class! Now it's up to you guys to guess which side will win...
Anyway, I got the idea for this chapter when I was drawing this big picture of the chibi version of the entire card collection I had drawn so far...I made the Hanged Man looked really irritated so I got this idea of him being irritated because he had to hang upside-down everyday.
@_@ Man...I'll really get a headache if I hang upside-down everyday...
Anyway, please review!!
Hon Na Na!
Oh yeah, someone said that it is impossible for Shinru and Ari to be born on the same month. Well, I'll change them into they are twins, though I can't seemed to draw them to look alike...
Ah well, enjoy!
--
The Tarot and Sakura Cards By: XiaoBai
--
As the various cards flew from the Li household (formerly known as the Kinomoto household), one particular card stopped suddenly in mid air and turned.
The card lifted her hood up a little to get a better look around her and also to have a clearer feel of that sudden aura she had felt.
After feeling around, the card nodded a little to herself, twirled her staff lightly and flew towards a building not far from the Li household and into the bedroom.
A lady was in the bedroom, taking an afternoon nap. The card stood over the sleeping figure for a few moments before realizing something.
She gasped, lifted her hood a little and bent down to have a closer look.
" ...Oh my..." the card muttered, shocked. She looked around, checking to see if anybody was near her, and then stood up.
" I must do something..." She murmured to herself again and raised her staff straight in front of her.
Closing her eyes, she began murmuring charms and the opening spells and started glowing. Slowly, wisps of magic began flowing out of the card's body and into the sleeping figure. The card concentrated more and finally disappeared into the lady.
A minute later, the sleeping lady rose out of her bed, her dark purple hair flowing all over her shoulder and covering her face. She looked at herself, as if unbelieving and then smiled.
--
One Month later...
--
" Damn it! Why doesn't it slow down?!"
" SHINRU! The roots are coming THAT way!"
"You THINK I had no IDEA?!"
The auburn haired boy jumped again out of the roots way and landed on top of a lamppost.
" Rinda! How the hell do I stop it with THREE cards?!" Shinru yelled. A small white kitten with bat wings flew away from some more branches and yelled back, " Use the stupid Wind!"
Immediately, one of the cards Shinru was holding glowed and burst into a longhaired lady. She turned disapprovingly and glared indignantly at the kitten.
" Rindora, I am not stupid."
Rinda gritted her teeth and yelled, " Well, THEN GET RID OF WOOD!"
The Wind shrugged and crossed her arms, her long sleeve flipping around, " You are not my master."
Shinru sweatdropped and sighed, " Wind."
The lady turned and smiled brightly at the auburn haired boy, " Yes, Shinru- sama?"
Shinru cocked an irritated eyebrow, " Get rid of Wood, NOW."
The Wind smiled sweetly again and nodded. She held back her hands and pushed gusts of wind-cutting wind-at the approaching branches and roots.
The resultant was a bunch of neatly cut sticks stacked on the ground. The Wind crossed her arms and said smugly, " Aw, come on, Wood sis. You know you can't wind-oh sorry for that-WIN me with branches and sticks."
The cluster of branches and roots that cracked out of the ground paused for a moment, as if considering then drooped dejectedly. They glowed dark green and formed into another young woman with extremely curly and long hair.
She sighed and shook her pretty head, " It always ends up like this...even when Mistress tries to help me in the old days." She sighed again, " I think I have to change my tactics. Hmm...maybe I should throw trucks at you..."
" Well, I'll just cut them up for Shinru-sama to use as firewood then." The yellow card replied nonchalantly and dodged another attack of branches.
Shinru was, by this time, looking incredulously at the two bickering cards. Rinda landed on his shoulder and looked at him with concern.
" Are you all right? You don't seem to take this well, Shinru."
A nerve at the end of his cheek was twitching. " Are all the cards like that? I mean, they can talk and everything?"
Rinda looked surprised, " Well, of course. Certainly you should know that?"
" 'Kaasan's cards don't talk much..." He muttered. Sighing again, he suddenly jumped in front of the Wood and tapped his golden rod lightly on her head.
" Return to thy true Form, Wood."
The card had enough time to look surprised before being sucked into the glowing card that had formed in Shinru's hand.
" Phew. At last I have captured a card..." He said dryly to himself. Without looking up, he pointed his rod at the Wind and said the same magic sentence.
Rinda flew up on top of Shinru and settled on his head. She peered over his hair and looked at the cards he had in his hands.
Ever since the making of the new Tarot Cardcaptor, the Wood was the first card officially captured and it took one month for it to appear. Shinru had, at the beginning, waited patiently for the cards but had grown edgy for the cards to attack. Heck, he won't even mind if the World card attacks first.
" The Wind, The Wood, The Chariot and the Ace of Wands. Not bad, Shinru, for a beginner." Rinda commented, playing with the bells tied to the end of her long tail.
" It has been one month and all I have are four cards.none of them are even very powerful." The boy muttered. Then he scowled, "Rinda, stop playing with the bells. The noise is distracting me."
Rinda looked amused down at Shinru before waving the bells harder, " Well, you gave it to me as the token of mastership, so you shouldn't be complaining."
Shinru sighed again. Rinda had argued a week before that the master was supposed to present something to the guardians to mark as a token of ownership. Shinru had disagreed strongly at first when Rinda brought the matter up, as he did not like the I-am-your-Master-and-you-belong-to-me concept. It was only when his mother had persuaded him to buy bells for his new *kitten* and also when Kero had explained to him the importance of the token then did he submit to the idea.
Oh yes, his parents had no idea that he was a Cardcaptor now, mostly because he can't afford the embarrassment of Tomoyo-san dressing him up like 'Kaasan in her cardcaptoring days.
Oh so he thought that they didn't know...
Anyway, he told his parents that he found Rinda in the street and took pity of her, so he brought her home. They allowed him to keep her and his mother loved the little guardian a lot.
" Come to think of it," Shinru began, " Rinda, you have a true form right?"
The guardian nodded and sat up proudly, " My true form is very, very awesome. Even more awesome than Keroberos's true form. That stuff toy can't even walk on twos when he is in his true form!" She shook her head, " Such inconvenience"
The boy raised his eyebrow, " What. You mean you can walk on twos?"
The kitten nodded smugly, " You shall know it until you capture all the element cards."
" Hmm...But can't you go to your true form now?" Shinru asked hopefully. His sister is already the Cardcaptor of the Sakura Cards and she already got all four of the element cards and most of the special cards. Which means Kero is able to go into his true form again. Yue is still around, sometimes coming out of his false form (Tsukishiro Yukito) and have long conversations with his mother.
" Damn...it's like they are making everything easy for Ari because she is younger than me by a few seconds..."
The amethyst kitten blinked slowly in thought as she settled again on the auburn haired boy's head.
' I wonder if The Sun will accept him...'
--
--
" OH SHIT! I'M FUCKING LATE!"
" Shinru! Language!" Sakura reprimanded as the boy hurried downstairs, almost tripping over his sock.
" Oh shit, ohayo 'kaasan, 'tosan, oh shit, oh shit--" He kept on chanting, trying desperately to button his shirt while grabbing the sandwich.
Syaoran sniggered a little and pulled the boy to him. " Come on, let me help you."
Shinru made a muffled thanks and almost choked on his sandwich. Ari sighed, reached over and thumped the boy's back and then slowly rose from her chair and walk out of the room. Syaoran laughed again at Shinru's expression when Ari moved out and said fondly, " You are just as cute as your mother, you know, Shinru?"
The boy gave his father a withering glare and drowned his cup of milk. Swallowing hardly, he grabbed his bag, gave his father and mother a bear hug and rushed after Ari.
Syaoran sighed as Sakura came out of the kitchen and cleared the table.
" You know Sakura?"
"Hn?" The cherry blossom hummed absently.
" I can't believe you are so--"
" SHUT UP, Syaoran!"
--
--
The teacher came into the class as Shinru touched his desk. Ari stared amusedly at her brother as he slumped into his seat and laid his head on the table.
" I wonder if 'Kaasan is also like this..." The brown haired girl mused to herself. Her father had always commented that Shinru was very much alike their mother and it had always earned him a smack on the head.
"Ahem!"
Ari turned her attention back to the teacher and found out that he was staring at Shinru. Sighing, she reached over and gave her brother a violent shake.
" Gag--!" Shinru yelped and jumped. He turned and was about to snap at his sister when she looked at him flatly and pointed at the teacher.
" Whoops..." Shinru muttered. He stood up and apologized before being told that the next time he did this 'stunt' again, he will be 'rewarded'.
" Anyway, class, today we have two new transferred students from Hakuji Elementary School." The teacher announced. Shinru cocked an interested eyebrow and craned his neck to have a glimpse of the new students.
Kazeumi Hiroshi and Kazeumi Kizuna.
It was obvious that the two of them were siblings. There was a girl and a boy and the girl looked clearly much older.
The teacher, as though he had read the students mind, said, " Kazeumi-san will be in our class as her parents had informed us of some reasons which is confidential." The class gave an 'oooohhhhhh' sound and the students started whispering in excitement of the two newcomers.
Ari and Shinru hadn't moved the moment this two came in. Shinru glanced at Ari and she nodded.
" 'Niichan. Those two have magic." She stated plainly. Shinru nodded, " I have a feeling that magic-users don't come to Tomoeda without a reason..."
" Well, from the look that male Kazeumi was giving us, it seemed that we are going to know the reason soon." Ari muttered darkly.
--
--
For the fourth time-no wait, *fifth* time of the day, Shinru felt a cold shiver down his spine as he felt that male Kazeumi stared or glared at him again.
'What the hell is wrong with that guy?!' Shinru thought to himself, feeling the glare intensify again.
The teacher had assigned the Kazeumi siblings to be seated behind Ari and Shinru. Little did Shinru know that this had caused him to be the target of Hiroshi's glaring.
Ari was giving her brother a worried look, mostly because she felt his distress and also because his brother was sweating a lot. The female Kazeumi seated behind her wasn't as hostile as her brother. In fact she seemed friendly enough. She was polite to everyone and was always smiling. Perhaps that was why she seemed creepy too.
Ari frowned in annoyance when Shinru suddenly grabbed her hand. She was about to slap it away when the bell for break rang. Shinru immediately pulled her as fast as he could to the door and raced out of the classroom.
When Shinru finally stopped under the apple tree at the end of the field, Ari glared at her brother angrily.
" 'Niichan! What was that for?!"
Shinru frowned back, " You are lucky I never used my 'special' ability."
Ari know what that special ability was. Their father had trained Shinru very hard when he was very young in martial arts and a technique known as 'qing gong'. This technique enables the user to move lightly, freely and silently around. The user can also jump great heights and his athletic skills are very strong. Ari was taught a little, but her mother had refused to let her learn more. That special ability Shinru was talking about was disappearing suddenly. He had mixed his own magic power with the 'qing gong' technique and come up with this disappearing ability. And Ari knew what will happen if her idiotic brother suddenly disappear with her. Everyone will freak out and thought that the Kinomoto family was wizards and witches or something. Whatever they assume, it will not be a positive one for them.
Ari sighed and wiped her brother's forehead with her handkerchief, " You should learn to have a handkerchief with you at all times, Niichan. Is that Kazuhiko really that scary?"
Shinru frowned and his eyebrow twitched, " You wouldn't know how scary he is..." Suddenly, he stiffened and stared out at the field.
Ari raised her head and narrowed her eyes, " They are coming this way, Niichan. You want to avoid them?"
" No." Shinru replied, straightening up and brushing his clothes, " That Hiroshi guy wants something from me. I can feel it."
" Something from you?" Ari asked, looking at her brother. He nodded grimly, " Remember Kaasan's cardcaptoring days? Tousan was her rival as there isn't a rightful will for the cards. You won't be having a rival as Kaasan had left it to you. But I'll be having a rival."
" The Tarot cards?" Ari muttered.
Shinru nodded, " Rinda told me that there wasn't a will left by the Mistress of the Tarot cards. So, by rights, there should be many people who want it."
Hiroshi came into view and he smirked. Kizuna stopped behind while her brother walked in front of Shinru.
The two of them stared silently at each other before Hiroshi jumped at Shinru, his fist ready for a punch. Shinru gritted his teeth and block the fist and locked his arms with Hiroshi's.
" So you are the new Cardcaptor." Hiroshi said, trying to free himself from Shinru. Shinru smirked and held his grip, " Yeah, that's me. So you better bugger off to wherever you came from, gaki."
" What did you--" Hiroshi kicked at Shinru and freed himself. He swung his leg and kicked again at Shinru.
" Damn--!" Shinru jumped up high and somersaulted in the air. He grabbed Hiroshi's shoulder with his hands and pulled the boy flat down onto the ground. Having trapped the boy, Shinru swung his own arm back and was about to punch Hiroshi when Ari grabbed his arm.
" Niichan! Stop it! Didn't Kaasan tell you to control your temper?"
Shinru gritted his teeth and snarled. He jumped away from Hiroshi and landed in a ready stance.
Kizuna helped her brother up and frowned at Shinru. Then, she pulled her brother away before he had a chance to have second thoughts for a fight.
" That was totally uncalled for, Kinomoto-san." She said slowly, walking back to school while pulling her brother along. " But Hiroshi was the first to attack you. I apologize on his behalf."
As the two of them left, Shinru had this really frightening expression on his face that Ari recognized as the look he always had whenever he was training serious.
Swallowing inwardly, Ari tapped timidly at her brother's shoulder and said softly, " Let's go, Niichan...the bell is going off soon..."
Shinru said nothing but nodded and walked off.
--
--
Li Shinru was seriously pissed off by the time they got to their third lesson after break. He had been the glaring target of a certain blond boy who was seated right behind him. Well, Shinru had been the target from morning but as the boy was currently feeling like he can kill ANYONE, therefore Ari was extremely worried about her brother, mostly she knew that the auburn haired boy's temper was very short. Apparently, Hiroshi was trying to indirectly pick up a fight with Shinru.
Kizuna wasn't helping much. She simply kept her silence, watched the silent war between the two boys and merely grin or giggle once or twice.
Feeling totally concerned for her brother's health and the Kazeumi's life, a desperate Ari swapped places with Shinru when the teacher was not looking. Shinru gave his sister a puzzled look and when she was about to answer him, he suddenly perked up.
" What?" Ari asked.
Shinru frowned and looked around, " Don't you feel it? I felt something...I think it's a Tarot Card..."
Ari raised an eyebrow, " A Tarot card? Here now in school?"
Behind them, the Kazeumi siblings sat up too and scanned the surroundings tensely. Shinru narrowed his eyes when he felt the aura thicken and his hand reached automatically to his key.
" Ari? Do you have the Sleep card?" He asked his sister. Ari blinked, puzzled, " Well...I had the card. Why did you want it for?"
Shinru nodded in a satisfied way, " Use the card and make everyone except the four of us asleep."
" Four?" Ari asked.
" Well, yeah. The Kazeumi siblings are also counted as Cardcaptors of the Tarot Cards...so they have the right to be awake and try to catch the card." Shinru answered
" But, Niichan--"Ari started, but Shinru stopped her, " Rinda told me that it is fair this way. Besides Kaasan never stop Tousan when she was capturing the cards."
Ari gave an exasperated sigh and argued, " But that was because she didn't have the Sleep card at that time they are still rivals!"
"Ari, just stop reasoning with me and do the job!" Shinru said, " The card is very close now...it's moving unusually slow for my taste..."
" Okay, okay..." Ari unsealed her the Key of Stars and called out the Sleep Card quietly.
" Sleep, let everyone fall into a deep sleep except for me, Shinru, Hiroshi and Kizuna. Do not let them wake unless I told you so, okay?" Ari whispered to the card, hiding it from the teacher's view.
The blue fairy nodded cheerfully and flew out of window when no one was looking.
A few seconds later, everyone in the class were asleep on their table and Shinru unsealed his key. Then he turned to Hiroshi.
" No need to thank us for this one, Kazeumi. From now on, we are working separately, got it?"
Hiroshi snorted and went out of the room with Kizuna. Shinru glared after them, muttering to himself about attitudes. Then he took in a deep breath and looked determinedly at Ari.
" Let's go sis." He then grinned, " This should be your first time in Tarot cardcaptoring, right?"
Ari frowned mockingly, " Well, yeah. But it should be the same as capturing Sakura cards--"
" Well, if you think THAT way, then you are wrong, my dear girl." Came a new voice.
Shinru whirled around and came face to face with an upside-down man suspended on a few fragile looking cloths. This man had this really irritated expression on his face and Shinru can tell that the man was not frowning because of him.
" What are you so irritated at?" Shinru asked. Ari just stared at the inverted man.
The man frowned deeply and growled, " Would you like it if you have to hang upside-down every single seconds of a day?"
Shinru blinked, " Well, no. In fact, I'll have a headache because of the blood that had rushed to the head..."
The man sighed exasperatedly, " Exactly! So, I have to get this over so that Sun-sama can flip me back upright."
" Sun-sama?" Shinru asked. The man nodded and shrugged, " Anyway, Sun-sama said I had to get rid of you, then he'll turn me upright."
Ari stopped for a moment when she heard this sentence and stared at the man once more. " You are a Tarot card right?"
The man blinked, " Yep. And," He turned and eyed Ari, " We Tarot Cards are MUCH more superior than those Clow Cards."
Ari began to smirk, " I know what card you are. Besides, the cards are known as Sakura Cards now."
Shinru turned and stared at his sister, " You know what the card is?"
Ari smiled smugly, " Well, well, well, Oniichan. You as the Cardcaptor of the Tarot cards had no idea what card you are going to capture...Kaasan is going to kill you when she heard of it. Anyway, I'm giving you a hint. He is *hanging* upside-down. Which card *hangs* upside-down?"
" The Hanged Man?" Shinru tried and the man cursed. " Damn! Am I that obvious?" Ari looked incredulously at the Hanged Man, " You ARE hanging upside down mister. It's a give away!"
The Hanged Man pouted slightly and frowned, " Well, in that case, I'll just get rid of you then." He raised his hand and waved it once. At once, many navy ribbons shot out from the depths of the cloths he was suspended on and they wrapped around the legs of Shinru and Ari.
" Oh no...not again." Shinru muttered to himself as the ribbons twisted tightly around his legs and pulled him up to the ceiling, causing him to be upside-down too. He turned (with much difficulty as he was starting to feel giddy) to check on his sister and found out that she was not hurt, just irritated.
He turned back and faced the card, which was eyeing him smugly.
" Got you." He said. Shinru sighed inwardly and searched his pocket for The Wood. He tapped his golden rod on the card and call upon the card.
The green bare-footed lady appeared and she smiled at Shinru. " What can I do, Shinru-sama?"
Shinru groaned, " Oh dear...now you got Wind's attitude..." He shook his head annoyingly and pointed at the ribbons, " Cut these away, Wood."
The Wood curtseys and replied cheerfully, " Okay!"
She spread her arms and created many sharp vines. Then she moved her hands and directed the vines to cut the ribbons. The ribbons ripped and Shinru fall at once. Gritting his teeth, he somersaulted in mid-air, landed safely on one of the tables in the class and almost stepped on his classmate's head.
He was about to command Wood to cut Ari's ribbons when she called out the Sword and cut the ribbons herself. After making sure that his sister was safe, he turned back to the suspended man and smirked slightly.
" Okay, Mr. Hanged Man. Now is my turn." He waved his rod again and the Wood appeared beside him.
" Okay, Wood, be gentle on that guy. Just cut those cloths are enough."
The Wood nodded and sent the sharp vines whipping at the cloths. The Hanged Man gave a small "Oops" and crashed straight down onto the ground.
" Ouch..." The card groaned and tried futilely to stand up. Shinru stood over the card with a victorious smile and said, " Hmm...it seemed that you had not put those legs to good use for a long time, Mr. Hanged Man. Therefore, I'm going to seal you now so that I can train you to walk." He tapped the rod on the Hanged Man's head and muttered, " Return to thy true form now, Hanged Man!" The Hanged Man turned into a card and flew into Shinru's hand.
Shinru called back the Wood and sighed tiredly. Just then, Hiroshi and Kizuna entered the classroom and Shinru smirked at the blond boy. He raised his newest captured card and showed it to Hiroshi. The boy merely glanced at it and returned to his seat. Shinru glared after the boy but returned to his seat too. He nodded at Ari and she called back the Sleep Card.
A few minutes later, everyone awoke and was in total confusion. In the end, the lesson ended earlier, much to everyone's delight.
Shinru and Ari rushed home immediately for fear of another confrontation with the Kazeumi siblings. But Hiroshi and Kizuna did not follow them.
Kizuna gazed at her brother as he watch them run home. " Hiroshi? Why didn't you interfere when Kinomoto-san was capturing the card?"
Hiroshi remained silent for a few moments before answering.
"I want to see his skills."
Kizuna hummed and looked back at the Kinomoto siblings, " So, how's his skills."
" He is still weak but he got the potential physically and mentally. After all, he is the son of the head of Li Clan and the Sakura Card Mistress."
Kizuna nodded, but Hiroshi continued, " I am not going to let him get those cards so easily next time. I'm going to prove to Otousan that I am better than any Kinomoto..."
-Tsuzuka.
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So how was it? Share your opinions with me cause I got the motivation when people reviews my stories...it means that I post chapters faster!
Oh and please go and read my other stories...And I strongly recommend Mars Versus Venus. ^_^ It's about a prank war between the males and the females in the CCS gang class! Now it's up to you guys to guess which side will win...
Anyway, I got the idea for this chapter when I was drawing this big picture of the chibi version of the entire card collection I had drawn so far...I made the Hanged Man looked really irritated so I got this idea of him being irritated because he had to hang upside-down everyday.
@_@ Man...I'll really get a headache if I hang upside-down everyday...
Anyway, please review!!
Hon Na Na!