Cardhunter

Chapter Two: About the one who forgot his name

A story by Kelly

Kelly says: Well finally, the next chapter. Let me assure you that such an excessive delay is not how I normally do my stories. Rest assured that I'll try my best to not let it happen again. That's what you get for starting too many stories at the same time. . .*wince* plus, I was having some trouble fleshing out the story thus. . . .Cardcaptor is such a new field for me so bear with me, ne?

Summary: The Cards are now Sakura Cards and every one knew peace. But having a power so great means having to fight those who would steal it from her. Would Sakura kill to defend the Cards and protect her loved ones?

Warning: Angst, recollections, trauma. . .all the things we love about fanfics. Will be yaoi, slash, het, etc.

Review replies:

Yasha Misaki: I updated! Dear god, I did it!

Ashura Akuma: Ah, I hope I'll manage to keep your interest till the end ^^

Emerald Phoenix524: Why, thank you. I'm not really that good at doing waffy fics. I like my characters to suffer. In copious amounts. ^^ Would you like update notices by email? I do that for my other stories as well. And I promise that the next chapters won't be this late. I was having some trouble with inspiration but I got it worked out now ^^

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Touya Kinomoto cursed god, nature, fate and whatever else that was responsible for him getting a RX-Z than a car. Really, how ignorant can he get? Did he not realize the utter impracticalities of getting a bike instead of a car? For one thing, a bike won't let you carry that much groceries. You can't even carry more than one passenger. And if it rains, why, tough luck. But the most annoying, the most infuriating of it all was that Yuki could put his arms around his waist, his arms slender yet strong and his chest pressing intimately close to his back and he could do absolutely nothing about it.

Touya growled, a low deep growl and Yuki chuckled in response.

Their helmets prevented them from talking and Touya would rather forgo the talking than risk their safety. He had no doubt that Yue, Yuki's other form, could have easily handled any situation but he preferred not to take that chance. Ever since giving away his powers to save Yuki's life, Touya had felt decidedly helpless, unable to fully watch over his little kaijuu nor even his Yuki. So he'll take any other precautions he could get.

It was funny really, and goes to show the wonderful sense of humour that the gods have that he was thinking just this, of how Yue could help them out in any emergency, that helmets are important for safety, when from out of nowhere, a boy stepped out onto the road.

Touya shouted out a warning but it was muffled by his full-face helmet. Grinding down on the brakes, there was a screeching of tyres but Touya had managed to get slow down enough that the startled boy was only clipped instead of getting hit head-on. But even then, as bad luck comes in threes (or as they like you to think so to convince what a terrible day you're having), the boy stumbled back wildly, away from the curb, and straight on to an incoming car.

Horns blaring, brakes screeching, people shouting and the end result?

"What happened?" the boy asked, apparently unhurt save for a scratch or two and just extremely dazed.

Looking into the wide green eyes, like kaijuu's, he thought distractedly, Touya had to admit, this day was not turning out great.

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Touya paced the hallway impatiently, his nostrils flaring with disgust at the hospital smells that pervaded every inch of the place, even the plastic chairs. He hated hospitals since the time okaasan had to stay here. Which only resulted in her never coming home.

He was old enough to know the reality of the situation back then but he still hated it.

"To-ya," Yukito called softly. The ash-haired boy was sitting on one of the chairs, both of them waiting patiently (or in Touya's case, impatiently) for the doctor to finish examining the boy they had run over earlier. The driver of the car, even before the paramedics had arrived, had driven away as fast as he could. Touya had the distinct pleasure of taking down his license plate number.

"You'll tire yourself out. Come on," he patted the chair next to him. "Sit." From any other person, it would have been a polite request, at most, a hesitant pleading. But with Yuki, Touya knew an order when he heard one.

He dropped into the proffered chair heavily, ignoring the protesting squeak of the plastic and stared angrily at the wall opposite.

"How the hell could I have been so stupid!" he burst out after a while.

Yukito placed a comforting hand, covering Touya's clenched fist. "It wasn't your fault," he said calmly. "And it wasn't his fault. It was nobody's fault. All of us were just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Touya snorted. "That did not change the fact that I nearly killed the poor boy."

"You're over exaggerating, To-ya. I was there too. I saw what happened. We weren't even going that fast. The most that would have happened was that he would have gotten a few more bruises. It wasn't your fault."

Touya stared unseeingly down at his fists, the tanned skin a contrasting shade with the creamy paleness of Yukito. He fought to blink back sudden tears as he whispered, "His eyes are just like kai--Sakura's."

The pale hand squeezed his briefly while the other brought up his chin with firm, insistent fingers. He followed the command willingly, Yukito's grey eyes blazing with furor.

"It wasn't your fault," he said fiercely. "And the boy is not Sakura and you will never fail her. Never."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Touya shook off the fingers still gripping his chin and said gruffly, even as he looked away and tried to surreptitiously wipe the threatening tears, "Yeah? Well, how can you be so sure anyway?" But there was no mistaking the thanks in his voice.

Yukito smiled even as Touya stared determinedly at a brown stain on the floor a few feet away, not meeting his eyes. "Because you have a sister-complex, To-ya."

He snorted again but was saved from giving his usual reply when two figures came running down the hallway towards them.

"Touya-kun! Are you alright?"

"Oniichan!"

He groaned and sank deeper into his chair.

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They crowded the hospital room, staring with a mix of sympathy, guilt, bewilderment and a healthy amount of confusion at the boy who was currently staring back at them with total incomprehension on his face.

Touya could tell that the boy was roughly around Sakura's age, though whether he was a pure Japanese could be debatable. The eyes were that familiar orient slant at the edges, though not so distinct. The hair, falling haphazardly all over his face as though he had never saw a comb in his life was a brown so light, it was nearly gold. The eyes were just as arresting, a clear, if somewhat befuddled pale green. Even sitting down, Touya could tell that he was at least taller than the kaijuu, maybe as tall as that damn Eriol. But where Eriol gave the impression of force and solidity, this boy was built as delicate as a girl.

Almost as delicate as Yuki, Touya thought absently.

All the relentless staring must have unnerved the poor kid. Hands twitching restlessly on the blankets, he offered a hesitant smile. "Hi?"

They blinked, thrown out of their collective studying. Recovering fast, Fujitaka was the first to offer him a comforting smile in return. "Hello there. My name is Kinomoto Fujitaka. These are my children, Touya, Sakura and this is Yukito."

Each of them offered him a smile in return, Sakura's blindingly cheerful though strained at the edges, Yukito's his ever present enigmatic quirk and Touya, a smile that was tinged with guilt. Before the boy could respond though, Touya quickly spoke up.

"Listen, kid," he said gruffly, trying to maintain eye contact with the guileless pale green eyes. "I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened but. . ." he made a small gesture of frustration.

"It's okay, really," the boy smiled easily. "I think it's pretty much my fault anyway. I wasn't looking where I was going. If anything, I'm sorry, for upsetting you like that."

Touya shook his head, not willing to shake off his guilt as easily as that. "I'm still sorry. If there's anything I can do. . ." again, he trailed off.

The boy chuckled quietly. "I'll be the first to let you know," he promised solemnly. Though he was still smiling, Touya could tell that the forgiveness was genuine, though the boy was obviously convinced that he had nothing to apologise for in the first place. He'll be the judge of that.

"Ne, what's your name anyway?" Sakura broke in. She was already sitting on the bed beside the boy, looking at him with wide, curious eyes. Sakura must have come straight off from cheerleading practice; the dark blue and white cheerleading uniform of the Seijou High School a familiar sight to him. Privately, Touya wished that he could bundle Sakura up in a gunny sack. The uniform was positively indecent in his eyes and he had sworn to put out the eyes of anyone who even looked at Sakura the wrong way.

The boy seemed a bit taken aback at first with Sakura's friendliness but quickly smiled back. Eyes narrowing slightly, Touya waited for the inevitable once over that all males not of blood kin seemed inclined to give to the kaijuu. But to Touya's relief, the boy didn't even squint funny. If anything, he appeared disturbed with Sakura's question.

"My. . . .name?" he asked back.

"Yeah," Sakura grinned. "We can't keep on calling you, 'you' right?"

The boy grinned back. "I guess you're right."

They waited. And waited. He kept on smiling at them, though the smile was slipping by notches until it was once again a tentative quiver that bordered between a smile and a grimace.

"Your name?" Fujitaka prompted gently.

He shook his head sheepishly. "Actually, I was hoping one of you could tell me."

Touya couldn't help the little start of guilt at the boy's helplessness. "What do you mean?" he asked, though the sinking feeling in his chest confirmed that he already knew what he meant.

"I don't remember my name," the boy shrugged helplessly. "I'm not even sure how old I am. It's not your fault!" he said suddenly, making everyone jump. "Really," he insisted, his pale eyes boring earnestly into Touya's. "That's why I know it's not your fault that the accident happened in the first place. I've been wandering around town the whole day. I can't remember how I got here in the first place and. . . ." he sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair and mussing it up further. "I was getting more than a bit tense and I wasn't watching where I was going and. . . .well, you know what happened next."

Shock and horrified silence filled the room. Fujitaka was watching the boy with something akin to parental sympathy while Sakura was making comforting noises, patting the boy's arm and assuring him that everything would be alright. Touya, though feeling overwhelmingly guilty, had Sakura's safety first and foremost on his mind. So he turned to Yuki, asking him plainly with only a frown on his face.

Yuki smiled back in assurance and for a second, his eyes shifted color to Yue's cool grey. He nodded once. Relieved, he turned then to his father. The man was a mind reader. Even before he could ask the unspoken question, Fujitaka was smiling and nodding agreeably as well.

Touya turned to the boy with a shade of his familiar grin. "Well, that's settled then. I'm assuming you don't have a place to go back to?"

The boy grinned ruefully. "I don't even have a wallet."

"Well, welcome to the Kinomoto's then."

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"So? Do you like it?"

The girl, Sakura, was practically bouncing up and down, waiting for his approval and grinning excitedly. He took a slow look around the room. It was set aside earlier for Yukito, Fujitaka had told him, whom he found out earlier was not really a member of the family. But he was practically that anyway, since he was currently occupying another room in the house, that is, Touya's room. Marveling at how easily this family accepted people into their fold, he grinned back.

"It's a great room," he answered honestly and was rewarded with an excited squeal. And it was a great room. It was not that large, having only a bed, a wardrobe and a desk underneath a window. But he loved it all the same. It was cheery, what with the light filtering in and it had a great atmosphere. The whole house did in fact. The feeling of love and warmth that pervaded every corner of the two storey house helped settle the uneasiness that gnawed his insides since that morning when he discovered that for the life of him, he could not remember his own name.

And he hadn't been lying when he insisted that it wasn't Touya's fault. He had been getting extremely agitated and more than a little afraid. Confused, bewildered and all alone in a strange town, he didn't watch where he was going. It was a bloody miracle in the first place that he hadn't died.

"So what are we going to call you?"

"Huh?" he pulled his mind back to the present with a jerk. Sakura was smiling gently at him, as though aware that the darker ramblings his thoughts were taking him to.

"We have to give you a name for now," she said gently.

"You're right," he smiled sheepishly. "Help me?"

The two of them settled themselves comfortably on the bed, legs dangling over the edges as they each wracked their brains for a suitable name.

"How about. . .Manabu?" Sakura offered.

"Eew!"

Sakura giggled and tried another one. "Shouzaburou?"

"No way!"

"Chuuichirou?"

"Sakura-san!"

It was quickly degenerating into all out teasing. Rolling around giggling on the bed, Sakura gave him every name that she could think up that was guaranteed to make his face squinch up in mock disgust. The names were getting more and more ridiculous by the minute until none of them could talk, having fallen to the floor and clutching their sides as they tried to catch their breath from laughing too hard.

"We seem to be enjoying ourselves," was the wry observation from the doorway.

"O-oto-san!" Sakura gasped, hiccupping.  She giggled again and explained as he was currently too breathless to say anything. "We-we were. .," she broke off for another laugh, "trying to come up with a-g-good name!"

Fujitaka smiled indulgently, setting down the tray of refreshments he was carrying. Surveying the two, he offered a quiet suggestion of his own.

"How about Takumi?"

He sat up, the laughter dying off as he seriously considered the name. He tried it out silently, rolling the syllables around on his tongue to try it out.

"Takumi," he said quietly. He looked up, giving Fujitaka a grateful smile that was more than just a thank you for giving a good name. "Takumi," he repeated softly. "I like it."

"Takumi!"

"Nani?" he turned to Sakura.

"The name does suits you!" Sakura grinned cheerfully. "Ne, Takumi-san?"

He smiled. "It does, Sakura-san."

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Power.

Power that thrummed beneath the earth like a seismic explosion that never ended. It waited underneath the surface like a sleeping dragon that breathed with the ages. It called; body, mind and soul.

The call knew no boundaries, no restraint. It wanted. It must be heeded.

It awoke.

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                                                                            to be continued

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A/N: The in-between stages before the action starts is always the hardest. . .sigh. I'm sorry that there's not much excitement here but it will begin soon. As always, please review, ne? And do try my other stories *grin*.