Chapter 4-Jounouchi
I am not a baka. It's true that I'm always hungry, but hey, I have to eat, ye know? It's not like I'm a Yami, no offense, and can just wander around without food or drink and still duel and all. Sure, I know I eat a lot. But that's the reason I'm tall, anyways. And Honda's just as much of a pig as I am. He's no smarter.
But back to the boy, Syaoran. We got to the part where Syaoran tells us those spooky stories, yeah? What did not make sense that night was exactly how he knew the histories of someone like that Yami B. I mean, c'mon! That guy's insane, first of all, and he ain't very young neither. He's not very opened up, if ye know what I mean. So how's Syaoran gonna know 'bout his past? So, remember when Kaiba talked about the Li clan being strange and all? Well, this was the conclusion all of us made about him soon after.
As for Pegasus, that seemed even more spooky. But we know it's true. It's just one of those things that you just know. You don't need any proof. No proof. And it made a lot of sense, really, because Pegasus is sick minded and insane. Kidnapping a poor kid like Mokuba, that's just, well, sick. But never mind about that. Back to the kid.
Yugi talked about how the kid made up all those names, right? ( And just to be safe, ' Red guy in a dress' is the Flaming Swordsman. ' Sakura' is the Magician of Faith.) Gradually we found out that he was just bluffin, but he really couldn't see very clearly for some reason. Anyways. He was pretty cute, very adorable, for a ten year old at least. He is very close with Mokuba, and Kaiba seemed to take it upon himself to be their guardian. As for Yami B, he's just, well, staying put for some reason. No strange things happened.
One time we were at the game shop, just Yugi, me, and the kid. Yugi was explaining to Syaoran the heart of the cards as they were playing, so he won't make the same mistake Kaiba did. Then Syaoran did a strange thing.
" I can't play this game." He said, placing his cards down. " I'll never win if this goes
on."
" What do you mean?" Yugi asked. I stared at the kid as if he had grown two heads.
" Yeah Syao, what's wrong? Just because you're starting doesn't mean you won't
get better."
" I won't get better." Syaoran lowered his eyes. " It's not that I can't if I want to. I
just won't. I don't have any faith anymore."
" What do you mean?" Yugi's grandfather asked.
" Syao, just because you're clan was murdered doesn't mean that you won't have a
life ye know." I told him seriously.
" It's more than that." Syaoran sighed. " If it had just been my family, I might still
have some hope. But it's more than that."
" What do you mean?" Yugi asked, putting down his cards and touching Syaoran's
shoulder. " Do you want to talk about it?"
At this Syaoran was quiet for a long time.
" Several thousand years ago," He began, so soft I could barely hear it. " There was
a powerful sorceror named Clow Reed." I knew that this was something concerning
with his ability to read the past. " He gathered the forces of magic and formed them
into cards. He created two guardians to guard them, one to keep the cards safe,
another to judge whoever will own the cards in the future.
' I am the descendant of Clow Reed. I had been training in magic and sorcery just
for the day when the cards will be found, so I can capture them. But fate did not
deem me. Instead, the cards were found and brought to Tomoeda. The judge awoke
and acquired a false form. The guard slept, and one year ago the cards were
released by a girl named Kinomoto Sakura.
' I sensed the cards. I flew from Hong Kong into Tomoeda. But by that time Sakura
already had a sealing wand, and had captured a few of the cards. I helped her
capture them, capturing some myself, for the cards love freedom as much as you or
I. At the Final Judgement I lost and she won. She became the Card Mistress, and
transformed her sealing wand to a Staff."
" That was why when I saw the Magician of Faith I remembered Sakura. It wasn't
because they look alike. It really wasn't. It was purely because of the staff. And the
poised look they had were the same. When I looked at the card I remembered the
Card Mistress. I remembered how she had held the staff, proud that she had won."
All of this was said in the most unemotionless way, as if Syaoran indeed had no heart left.
" At that time something inside me broke." Syaoran continued. " I felt worthless. I
could have gone back to Hong Kong. But then the reincarnation of Clow Reed
came to Tomoeda, by the name of Hiriingaziwa Eriol. He came from England, and
brought along with him two other guardians, to test Sakura. Sakura transformed
her cards from Clow Cards to Sakura Cards and passed the tests. I couldn't really
help her much, I was too weak. But she did it." At this, Syaoran had a small smile
on his face. " She did it.
' For a while afterwards it seemed as if nothing else would happen for some time.
We all thought we could live peacefully ever after. I fell in love with Sakura."
Syaoran's voice was now tender. " She was my hikari, my cherry blossom, my
hope and my faith. She was what I lived for. She was gentle. She was sweet,
generous and kind, was kind of...like Mokuba. Innocent, and saw only good things
in people. Only good things." Syaoran looked at Yugi.
' Then a shadow came." Here is perhaps, the story you've never heard of. ' A
shadow came. It attacked the judge of the new mistress. He was injured and Sakura
tended him for days. When he finally healed a message came and Sakura found it.
She looked at me in a worried glance and said that someone was after me. I thought
it was a prank. After all, I was so weak. I had no powers. Who would want me out
of all people?
' But then the Li clan was murdered." Syaoran's voice was again cold and
indifferent. " The shadow murdered my mother. My sisters. My aunt and my
dearest cousin. Everyone was gone. All the pride, all the wealth, all the honor and
reason for fame, gone. Without a trace. I wanted to go back to Hong Kong. Sakura
wouldn't let me. Neither would either of the guardians, who I had never been close
with. A few days later the shadow came back to Tomoeda. We all sensed it and
went to the park where the shadow was waiting. There were twelve of them,
dressed in black and gray, all holding staffs like the Dark Magician. All wanted me
to go with them or perish. Sakura didn't let me go. No one let me go.
' There was Tomoyo-chan, she was the daughter of Daidouji Sonomi. You heard
about her. She ran a big company. Tomoyo-chan had no magical powers, she just
videotaped, and made the funny costumes. So she had no reason to be pulled into
this. Eriol-kun, he was more like the Dark Magician than anything, his staff proud,
his eyes...it's not that they look alike at all. But both gave off that same aura, that
same feeling of power. Eriol and I had nothing in common. He should have been
left out. Then there's Kero-chan, the guard who slept too long so the cards were
released. He was also proud. A tall lion with wings. I wish you could have seen him.
Yue, the judge. He was an angel, divine and fair. I wish I knew him better-he had
helped me so much, but he was cold, cold, and I wonder if he understood me at all.
Then there was Ruby Moon, or Nakuru-san as her false form. Happy and hyper,
cheerful and always brightens the day with her foolishness. Spinel-san, he's a
panther, eats as much as Kero and Jou, perhaps more than Jou, and who is quiet
and silent most of the time. And then there is Sakura, pretty and kind. She was
innocent, pure. She should not have been tainted. I wish she was still here."
" What do you mean, still here?" Yugi asked. " What happened to all of them?"
" What happened?" Syaoran answered, without emotion, completely practical, as if he were answering a quiz problem in school. " The twelve magicians killed them. They're all dead."
It was at this point when Yugi, Yami and I realized what the news was talking
about. Why so many were found dead in the park in Tomoeda, why four of them
disappeared without a trace right after they found them, and why Syaoran had left
Tomoeda in such a hurry without bringing anything with him except for his sword
and the clothes he wore on him. It explained why Syaoran and Ryou had met; they
were both near death, both dying, both trying their best to heal. And Syaoran used
his magic to revive Ryou and in turn was brought to life himself. He was the only
survivor of that night, the night when everyone who was important to him was
killed. Why he had burst out crying in front of Ryou, fully realizing that all was lost.
He had no family. He had no friends. He was alone.
What good would faith do him now? He had no faith. It had went along with the others, dead and forgotten. In some sense the kid was already dead. It was why he was not afraid of Yami B. He had nothing to fear except the past. Because the past is what he was running from.
Syaoran was eleven years old.
It was that day when we got a big gulp of who he was, if ye know what I
mean. Before, it's just worthless clues. It's the first time the kid opened up, and we
really weren't ready for it, I mean, a whole clan dead! A whole group of friends!
How many were there, eight? Seven? All killed by that weird shadow thingie. The
twelve shadow figures. But Syaoran didn't explain everything even then. It's all just
clues. He never did explain what happened to the twelve sorcerors. He didn't
explain why Tomoyo was dragged into this if she don't have no magic. He didn't
explain who Ruby Moon was, who Spinel was, and certainly did not tell us much
about that Sakura other than...he loved her? But it was a big fish to swallow, if you
know what I mean. I'm sure you do. The most we've ever learned about the child at
that time. And there was more to come.
' Cause the shadow thing, it was not dead, as we had hoped. It came into the dumps that this town is. Syaoran thought he could run away, well, it never works that way. Because the past follows ye, wherever you go.
