Name: Yukimi the Ice Goddess
Title: Lost and Found Reasons for writing: Loving life, I want to express it!
Konnichiwa, minna! This story takes place about four years after the end of CCS. Most of the couples at the end still apply, excepting Chiharu and Yamazaki, who are the center of this fic. Although I am a devoted SS supporter, I am also a huge fan of most couples that don't get enough recognition in the manga and anime. Chiharu and Yamazaki are my particular favorite!
The usual disclaimer, CCS belongs to Clamp, not me. Except for any characters that I make up during the story, they all belong to CCS. Enjoy!
Chiharu Mihara was enjoying the bright summer's day. It was warm, but not too hot and the sun was shining in a cloudless sky. Chiharu liked to be out and about in nice weather like this. It helped her collect her thoughts. On that particular day however, she was on her way to her best friend, Naoko Yanagizawa's house to meet her and the rest of her friends. They had a private get-together every month because Sakura, Tomoyo, and Rika all went to different schools. This was their chance to catch up and tell each other what had happened during that month.
Chiharu suddenly stopped in mid-run and paused for a moment. "Funny," she thought. "I thought I heard a cat!" The high-pitched mewling noise sounded again and Chiharu turned toward the source of the sound. She saw a small black and white kitten nestled in between two bags of garbage. "Awwww, kawaii!"she squealed. Chiharu went over to the cat. Upon closer examination, she noticed that the cat was extremely well groomed and apart from being a little dirty, it showed none of the signs of being a stray.
"Oh no, I have to get moving! Naoko-chan is going to be mad at me if I'm late!" Chiharu was about to run off, but the mewling kitten stopped her. "Well, there's no reason I can't take you with me!" She grabbed the kitten and continued to run to the gathering.
"You're late, Chiharu-chan!" Naoko was usually like this when plans of hers had gotten disrupted by unruly guests or late arrivals. Looking back, Naoko had changed a lot since their time together in Tomoeda elementary. She had grown her hair longer, talked her parents into getting her contacts and started submitting a regular column to the school paper. She still loved ghost stories and was the only one of Chiharu's old friends who still went to the same school as her. While Sakura, Tomoyo, and Rika chose to go to Tomoeda's junior high, Chiharu enrolled in a private school for girls and Naoko joined her so that Chiharu would not be alone.
"Gomen, Naoko-chan!" Chiharu said. "I have a good reason for being late though..." As soon as Chiharu pulled out the kitten from behind her back, the other girls in the room squealed with delight.
"Chiharu-chan, it's so cute! Where on Earth did you find it?" Sakura cried out happily. Chiharu handed the kitten to her and proceeded to tell the story. The kitten promptly licked Sakura's nose and she nearly dropped it.
"So the cat was in the alley by your house?" Tomoyo asked after she had finished.
"Yup, but it doesn't look like a stray to me."
"Well, who would just leave their pet out on the street like that?" Rika exclaimed in outrage. Rika had become quite outspoken in her teen years, especially against animal cruelty.
"I'm not sure," Chiharu said. "I think it might be lost."
"You should look for its owner. See if there are any missing cat reports!" Sakura put in quickly.
"You're right, Sakura-chan! I'll do that right after our meeting!" Chiharu was very happy that the cat was a good topic of conversation. The cat seemed to be enjoying it too. Its eyes were closed with pleasure as all of the girls fawned over it like a newborn baby.
"Oh, wait!" Naoko exclaimed. "I forgot refreshments! Excuse me for a moment while I get some snacks." She left the room quickly.
Suddenly, Tomoyo nudged Sakura with her elbow. "Ask her!" Sakura looked very uncomfortable all of the sudden.
Rika joined in. "If you don't ask her, I'll do it, but I think it should come from you!"
Chiharu knew that this was about her somehow, but she really had no idea what was going on. "What is it?" She asked quizzically.
"Um, Chiharu-chan... you know how we are going to high school next year?" Sakura asked reluctantly.
"Hai, doshite?"
"Ano... we were wondering... if you would come to Seijuu high with us this year," Sakura finished, embarassed.
Chiharu wasn't expecting that. By the way that Sakura was acting, she thought she was going to ask something much more serious. However, Chiharu was a bit shocked by the request. She asked the question that her friends knew she would ask:
"Well, I'd love to, but... that's a co-ed school, right?"
Rika smiled sadly. "We know how you feel about boys, Chiharu. Isn't that why you went to that private school in the first place?"
Chiharu had no idea that her feelings showed that much. As far as she could tell, nobody but Naoko knew about her problems with men.
Tomoyo suddenly spoke. "We want to you come so that we don't have to meet every month like this. We can be a group again. We asked Naoko, but she wants to know what you want, Chiharu."
"Wow, won't Naoko be disappointed when she finds out that these meetings will end?" Chiharu's attempt at a joke had no effect on her friends. She sighed, knowing that she couldn't get out of it.
"Onegai, Chiharu-chan," Sakura spoke again. "We would really be happy if you came with us."
Well, it can't be that bad, Chiharu thought to herself. "All right, I'll come." Her friends sighed with relief. "Arigatou, Chiharu-chan!"
Later after the meeting, Naoko, Chiharu, and the cat were walking out of the house. "That was very good of you, Chiharu-chan," she said after a few moments.
Chiharu suddenly stopped walking. "How did you know about that? I thought you were getting snacks!"
Naoko smiled. "I was. I got them and after I came back I listened at the door!"
Chiharu glared at her friend. Naoko was about to reply when she saw a small poster on a telephone pole. "Chiharu-chan, isn't that the cat?" Chiharu looked at the sign and noticed that sure enough, the cat in her arms looked exactly like the one on the poster.
The cat, intrigued by its likeness, put its face up near the picture. "It says his name is Puchiko," Chiharu said smiling. "That's a cute name!"
Naoko pointed at the sign. "It says that the cat's owner is at this address. We should give it back."
Chiharu was a little disappointed that she couldn't keep the cat, but glad that she found its owner. "All right, let's go right away!"
Naoko knocked on the door belonging to a brick red house. When no answer came, she knocked again. After the third knock, someone finally answered the door.
"Gomen, Gomen! I was busy." The door opened. Chiharu frowned when she saw who the cat belonged to. It was a young boy who looked to be about her age with short, black hair. A strange thing about this boy was that his eyes were squinted so it seemed that they were closed.
"He's a strange looking one. I can't believe that he owns this cat!" Chiharu thought bitterly.
The cat struggled out of Chiharu's arms, walked to the boy, and rubbed against his legs. "Puchiko! You found him?" the boy said, smiling happily.
Naoko nodded and said, "Actually, Chiharu here found him!" Chiharu kicked her friend. "Ouch. What was that for?"
Chiharu whispered back, "I don't want to talk to him!"
"You are just being stupid!"
The boy stared at the two girls and their silent fight. "Thank you for finding my cat," he said, breaking the tension between the two. "Takashi Yamazaki is my name. Please call me Yamazaki. Everyone does." Yamazaki smiled. "Oh that's right, your reward. I'll get it for you." He left the doorway.
Naoko rounded on her friend. "What is the matter with you? Can't you be friendly to strangers?"
"Well, why should I? He's being too friendly if you ask me!" Chiharu retorted.
Naoko sighed. Chiharu always got like this. "Chiharu-chan, you told me years ago that you disliked men, but you never told me why!"
Chiharu thought that her friend was not being entirely correct. She didn't dislike men. She hated them. She hung her head. "You just wouldn't understand, Naoko..." Naoko was about to speak again, but at that moment Yamazaki came back with something cupped in his hands.
"Here you are! I found this while rummaging around in my attic. I thought it might be a suitable reward." In his hands, he held a beautiful diamond necklace.
Naoko and Chiharu both gasped in delight, but Chiharu quickly caught herself. "Wow, it's so pretty! Are you sure we can have this?" Naoko exclaimed.
The boy nodded. "Of course. I don't have any attachments to it, and my father doesn't mind." He suddenly grinned. "By the way, do you know where diamonds come from?"
When Naoko shook her head, the boy started talking again. "Long ago, before life came to Earth, there were two goddesses who were in charge of creating planets. One was silver, and the other was gold. The two goddesses were put in charge of creating a new planet, bigger than all of the others that were created by them. When they heard how big it had to be, they started to cry. The tears fell through space. The tears of the silver goddess created the Earth and the tears of the gold goddess created the people!"
All throughout the story, Naoko paidrapt attention to what the speaker was saying and nodded her head while Chiharustared at her, amazed that anyone would swallow that sort of nonsense."But what does that have to do with diamonds?" Naoko asked politely.
"I'm getting to that. Some of the goddess's tears stayed on Earth and solidified into the soil. That's where diamonds are from!"
Chiharu couldn't take it any more. "You liar! Not a single part of that story is true!" she yelled.
To Naoko's surprise, Yamazaki started to laugh. "You caught me. Actually, you are the first to disprove my stories."
Lies you mean, Chiharu thought.
Naoko blinked. "You mean it's not true?"
"I'm afraid not." Yamazaki confessed.
Naoko looked slightly chagrined that she had believed him.
Chiharu didn't want to stay there any longer. "Come on, Naoko-chan, we have to go!" She pulled her friend away while Naoko waved good bye. The boy stood at the doorway waving with a slightly puzzled look on his face.
Naoko acted very annoyed toward her friend after that. "Can't you be civil?"
Chiharu didn't answer. She was too busy thinking about the strange boy. If he keeps telling lies like that, he'll get in trouble someday, she thought to herself.
Well, this turned out much longer than I thought it was going to be, so I'm turning this into a five part story. Gomen!
I now encourage you to e-mail me! Ja!