Chapter 11-Seto Kaiba
I've settled all hard feelings towards Jou. But sometimes it seemed that he was so stupid there can be no one more foolish than he. And then there were times when he is just...I don't know what to think of him anymore.
We decided to let Ryou and Yugi go visit the Kinomotos because Honda and Jou are just too immature. Anzu wanted to go but was afraid that she might say something wrong, after all Touya and Syaoran did part with hard feelings. I would have gone but Mokuba would have wanted to come too, so that wasn't the best idea. If Mokuba came, first, he would be bored to death, and next, Syaoran would become suspicious.
So Yugi and Ryou were the only ones who are capable of going. Plus if Touya decides to hurt them, they have their Yamis to protect them.
The minute Ryou and Yugi entered this town Syaoran got nervous. He wouldn't leave me alone, just stood there staring at me, and his eyes were powerful already without staring, so I was distracted. I couldn't work, so I had to try to comfort him the best I could.
In the end, it was Mokuba who saved me. Mokuba asked Syaoran if he could stay with him for a while, and that was that. I went back to work.
The truth was, I felt something too. It was strange, I was not familiar with it, so I thought it was just my imagination. But there was something that Yugi and Ryou took with them into their town, and when I talked to Touya later about it he told me I sensed it.
That was a story for later. Yugi and Ryou came the following day. We gathered at the living room of my mansion, and they each held an object covered with cloth.
Syaoran knew what Yugi was holding and wasn't as tense about it. It was the lasin board Ryou had described, and that he didn't make such a big fuss about. But when Ryou tried to give him the package wrapped in pink cloth Syaoran wouldn't touch it. Instead, he tried to hide from it, ducking behind me and clinging onto my shirt.
" What's all that fuss about?" Anzu had asked.
" I have no clue." Jou swallowed. " Hey, Syao, why you keep hiding? It ain't like it's
gonna bite ya'll or anything!"
" Hush, Jou." Anzu scolded. Ryou just looked at me sadly.
" What is it?" I asked.
" Syaoran," Ryou ignored me. " Touya said that he wants you to have it, and no
doubt Sakura would. Don't be afraid of it."
" Get it away from me. I can't..." Syaoran buried his head into my back. I sighed.
" Alright then, I'll open it for him." I offered. I held on to Syaoran, wrapping an arm
around his shoulders. He looked at me cautiously, then watched as I untied the cloth
with my right hand.
" It's going to be alright." I assured him. And then I let the cloth fall, revealing what
it was.
It was just a book, pink with golden framings. The name, SAKURA, was spelled out in precise lettering of gold. But there was too much space on the cover. I was guessing it must have been missing because of the guardians. The lock was also there.
When I looked at Syaoran, I saw that he had gone through a dramatic change. From the small, pitiful zombie there now stood a human being. Before his eyes were dry and empty, filled with a light that did not come from himself. But this time when I looked at him, facing his past, the very thing that he fears the most, I saw that he was broken, tears glistening on his cheeks. He didn't sob, he didn't sniffle, just wept quietly, his eyes never leaving the remains of the past that lied before him. Wave after wave of trembling broke down through his shoulders. He did not look at us for reassurance; if he did perhaps he would not have been so tense.
As we watched the young child dropped his lasin board and it fell with a series of clattering. Trembling hands reached out towards the book that Ryou held out before him. As soon as his fingers touched it, a deep aura engulfed the covers, so that when our eyes were use to the dazzling change it was no longer pink, but a dark, rich green, a green of summer leaves or the forest moss. And instead of the words, Sakura, there were, as precisely and clearly as before, the big characters, XIAO LANG.
We were all quiet, even Jou, who hardly ever was. We were as quiet as we could be,
a silence that threatens any noise. It was like a dead spirit was reading her will,
telling that Syaoran will be the next Master of the Cards. Syaoran took the book
gingerly, then hugged it tightly, as if it would all go away should he let it go. The
boy rocked back and forth, as if blindly trying to soothe himself, or keeping his
heart from bursting into many pieces...
Syaoran didn't practice magic much these days, so he was a little off. When he first
tried to use his lasin board-it kinda pointed to the three closest objects possible, the
first two being, of course, the millenium ring and puzzle, the third being me, much
to my distress. The second time Syaoran attempted it went into the air straight into
Industrial Illusions, very much to our confusion because all of us thought Pegasus no
longer had the millenium eye.
The third time Syaoran tried it pointed to the Xiao Lang book now laying at the foot of his bed. He could have given up then. And actually, he did, for quite some time.
We didn't really understand why Pegasus still hosts the Duel Monsters tournaments, because we had thought he, like me, had lost some of his confidence. Then Syaoran explained that Pegasus still has the powers of the millenium eye.
" Pegasus was cursed." Syaoran explained. " By having the eye, he was blinded because he knows too much. He knows so much that he can't see. That was his punishment. To keep his sanity from returning, he must still be blindfolded by that same power. When Ryou took his eye, the item lent over its power into Pegasus, which is also why now the eye is useless. Pegasus now has magical powers."
Needless to say, we didn't like that.
The first time Syaoran actually met him was at the Duel Monsters tournament some
time after we received the book. I had just won the tournament and there was a
reception. There were not many people like Yugi, so it was not very bad. I didn't
like it when Pegasus appeared.
In truth, it was more of Syaoran bumped into him. Pegasus has a liking for drink, and Mokuba was daring Syaoran to taste the champagne. All the while, the two were arguing about one of the cards.
" The Celtic Guardian is an elf."
" He's not an elf!" Mokuba protested. " He just has elf ears."
" If pointy ears don't make people an elf, what does?" Syaoran asked.
" But his ears are flat."
" His ears are pointy! He is an elf."
" Elves are short!"
" The Mystical Elf is not!"
" But how can elves be guardians?"
" Why can't they be? If they can be monsters, why not guardians?" Syaoran poured
a bit of champagne. " You dared me, so you go first." Mokuba grimaced.
" Iie, you go first."
" You go!" Syaoran laughed. " And then we can ask your brother-Seto, is the Celtic
Guardian an elf?"
I was too amused to answer. Then he came.
" I don't suppose that's important, young Li." The bastard was behind Syaoran. The
poor child was so startled he nearly spilled the wine. At first he was surprised, and
then he covered it up by teasing Mokuba.
" The Celtic Guardian was an Elf!"
" Why, hello, Kaibaboy." Pegasus smirked. I hissed. " I see you acquired a new
member of the family."
" What do you want," I growled.
" Silver Fang was named after White Fang."
" No she's not!"
" Yuck! I never liked alcohol." Syaoran grimaced, then peered at Pegasus. "
Oh...konbonwa!"
This made me choke a laugh. Syaoran just blinked innocently at a mildly surprised Pegasus.
" Nice vodka," Syaoran sniffed at the wine. Pegasus, who apparently was in good
humor, bent down to let Syaoran have a sip. Everyone was watching without trying
to appear to be. Syaoran blinked.
" Urgh, it's burning my throat!"
" Are you okay?" Mokuba asked. When he noticed Pegasus, also for the first time,
he paled and looked like he was about to scream.
" Hai." Syaoran blinked. " But it tastes better than chinese wine. Chinese wine is
made of rice."
" Rice?" Mokuba wrinkled his little nose, immediately forgetting Pegasus by some
magic of Syaoran's. " Ew."
As the two were having their own little ' discussion', Pegasus was watching and
listening to them.
" He doesn't seem afraid." He observed. " And the little one isn't either."
" He's not afraid of anything." I said, none too nicely.
Pegasus nodded as if understanding. " Very young to go through such obstacles."
" Why do you care?"
" Oh. I had a little chat with one of his old friends from England."
" Another one?"
" Hai. It appears that she was not on common terms with little Li either. But she
does care for him. You should probably remind him of a woman named Mizuki
Kaho."
At this the ' discussion' stopped abruptly and Syaoran stared at Pegasus in mute shock. I decided to keep my old feelings towards Pegasus repressed until we could get all the help we could out of him.
" Mizuki Kaho."
" A nice lady, very nice." Pegasus answered in a genuine Pegasus manner. " A pity,
really. She really does miss him. Of course, I know that we now are such good
friends, so I won't bother telling you why the twelve immortals are after Syaoran in
the first place, why the Sakura Book became the Syaoran book, and who the
immortals are anyway-it would just ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"
" What are you pulling this time, Pegasus?" I hissed. I felt as if I would kill him right
there and then. " What do you know?"
" He knows quite a lot."
We both stared at Syaoran, who was eyeing Pegasus as if he was getting hypnotized. I knew better though. " He knows quite a lot." He repeated. " Had I been any other person I would have asked the same question. But I guess I'm not in the position." He looked down. " I just wish it would be over soon." He turned away.
Mokuba didn't follow him, instead he backed up behind me, away from the bastard. But Pegasus did not seem amused nor happy. Instead, there was a sympathetic look I have never seen before, a look of pure understanding, as if Pegasus did indeed, know something about Syaoran that we don't.
Syaoran was not afraid of Pegasus at all. In fact, when I was not with him, I usually found Syaoran actually sitting next to Pegasus. And the bastard didn't seem to mind him. I could sense a feeling of caution whenever Pegasus was around Syaoran, although I could not imagine why.
This acquaintance was not a good thing for me. It's a little like Romeo and Juliet, now that I remember, because it sort of forced the same outcome. Syaoran wanted to visit Pegasus again to talk about Kaho, and what can I say? I couldn't exactly refuse him. I could tell he was a little relieved that someone he knew from the past was alive and actually was not angry with him. I could not find out why anyone should be, but the mind of the youngster is strange.
Truth to be told, I was glad when the reception was finally over. Two hours being stuck with my eternal enemy was nearly more than I can stand. Nearly, because Pegasus was decent enough to at least not talk about Mokuba, or the duels. Actually, to put it in a practical way, he was decent enough not to talk at all. Of course, he does speak, not to me anyway, but for some reason he's always next to me. Which gives me the creeps, and him the creeps, no doubt, because I could tell he wasn't exactly trying to stay near me in any way. In fact, I think it's simply fate trying to toy with us.
Staying near that bastard was enough to make me lose my appetite. The only thing, perhaps, that actually saved me from throwing up what I already ate, was that Syaoran was actually there some of the times. Mokuba decided, very intelligently, to avoid both me and Syaoran by sticking with Yugi, who didn't really participate in the tournament, and Ryou, for once eating something other than noodles. So I wasn't really afraid for Mokuba. My grudge was all because of that Li child, who had become my second brother-and if I'm the superego and Mokuba's the id, then Syaoran's the ego ( Take Psychology 101 if you don't know what I mean), but the only problem is, the ego of the Kaibas is actually befriend their very enemy!
I did not doubt that Syaoran was perfectly capable of defending himself from Pegasus, after noting the slight sense of fear every time that snow headed bastard was near him. I had a perfect confidence in Syaoran's mysterious powers, whatever they may be, and as Yami had pointed out, he is the weilder of the elemental forces, weak or not. That much Pegasus was aware, anyway. So no, I was not unhappy because Pegasus might hurt Syaoran. Syaoran was stronger than Mokuba.
It's just that I always thought Syaoran was loyal!
It was not that Syaoran did anything to betray me. I just thought he was on my side, and only mine, like Mokuba. But I guess Syaoran has a mind of his own, good for most things, bad for this one. I hated Pegasus. Syaoran was befriending him!
Of course, after some time all these things seemed amusing, I'm sure. Very immature, very childish, blah blah blah, but I'm fifteen, a teenager, who has just been trapped inside a card and had gone through all those other weird stuff, there is no reason why I should be nice to Pegasus-
Except for the little gaki, of course.
So those two hours became a drag week of emptiness, until Syaoran decided that he wanted to visit Duelist Kingdom. I had a feeling that Pegasus somehow talked him into this, because I've never seen the kid beg before. Something Pegasus told him convinced the boy to see him again.
And the kid couldn't exactly fly there-the truth was he could, but he wouldn't touch the book of cards even if his life depended on it-so far anyway. That book remained under his bed, trying to be lost and forgotten, collecting dust to hide itself.
So I had to take him to the island. I was not happy. It was almost like I'm commiting social suicide, but I had not choice. He was only eleven years old, what could I do? And it wasn't like Ryou could face Pegasus either-not that he was able to, anyway. So I had to take Syaoran to the island.
The guards welcomed us without much fuss, really. I was tense, but Syaoran knew that and gave me a reassuring squeeze now and then. That made me feel stupid, because an eleven year old was the one that was comforting me, and not the other way around. That day, Mokuba, sensing that I was going to Pegasus out of all people, was over at Jou's, so at least he wasn't there to watch.
Pegasus was sitting at his famous dining table with a very beautiful woman. She had
kind eyes, brown hair, thin frame and a calm expression. She stood up as soon as
Syaoran, in his fancy robes, ( He didn't manage to buy much when he went
shopping because the clothes don't fit him), dragged me into the room. Pegasus
followed suit.
" Syaoran!" She smiled, spreading her arms out, " I'm so glad you're alright!"
And...that's when I first met Mizuki Kaho.
