By SibylSofiana
~o~o~o~o~o~o Chapter EightAbout Hanyaan and Pink Auras
That new substitute teacher really complicated things.
Xiao Lang gave her another glare when he thought she wasn't looking, although he knew it was probably useless. He knew that she knew that he didn't trust her one bit, anyway.
One probable reason why he didn't like her at all was because there was a connection between her and Kinomoto Touya. THAT guy was definitely NOT one of his favorite people. Kinomoto Sakura wouldn't tell him what happened to her at the Shrine the day he captured the Return Card, but he had his suspicions.
Stranger still, that teacher always seemed to be around when things happened. Like when she rescued them from the Maze. Like that time at the ice skating rink. Then the strawberry farm where they got locked up in the materials room.
And there was that Sleeping Beauty fiasco –
No, best not think about it!
Just the thought of the humiliation made him slightly red in the face. But he just knew she had been behind it!
Well, he would just have to keep his eyes open.
He snorted as he watched the girl at the desk in front of him. Kinomoto had her chin propped up on her hands and was dreamily watching the teacher.
Not that she understood half of what Mizuki sensei was saying, he thought disgustedly.
"...given the value of y, what would be the value of x? Li Syaoran?"
Mizuki sensei's calm voice intruded on his thoughts. Xiao Lang did a quick computation in his head before standing up and bracing his hands on the table.
"25."
"Very good, Li-kun! And for the next problem..."
Mizuki sensei actually winked at him before she turned around, to his annoyance. In his irritation, he glared at the back of the head of the girl in front of him.
Even if that bird-brained Kinomoto was in schwweeet mode, he could tell his glare was getting to her.
"Hoeeee!"
~o~o~o~
A few days later, he found himself in front of Kinomoto's door. It was a bit early for a Sunday, but he had promised Tsukishiro-san he would go watch the archery contest.
"Li-kun!" Kinomoto Sakura had opened the door.
"Ohayo..." Xiao Lang rarely smiled, but he couldn't help himself from giving a small twitch. Kinomoto was excited today, her aura flashing so VERY PINK (in bold capital letters) that it was infectious. But then again, she was always excited at something, if that aura was any indication.
Beside her, the calmer violet aura he had come to associate with Daidouji soon manifested itself.
"Ohayo, Li-kun." As he nodded a greeting, Tomoyo turned back to Sakura. "Here, Sakura-chan, let's split up the bento boxes..." But before she could finish, Xiao Lang picked up the package.
"Ano, Li-kun, it's alright I can carry..." Sakura protested, but he shook his head.
"I can handle it." And that was that. Well, she was providing the lunch, he could at least help in carrying it.
~o~o~o~
As they were riding on the train, Xiao Lang felt a sudden dip in Kinomoto's aura. He turned to follow her gaze out the window.
She was looking at the Tokyo Tower with a strange expression on her face.
He felt uneasy. The Tower had figured in his dreams lately – ever since that Teacher came, to be exact. All the more reason he didn't trust her.
Did Kinomoto have the same dreams?
Sakura's bag opened and out came the miniature version of the Sun Guardian. It was not saying much, thank Clow! But that in itself was a strange thing. It was also looking out the window and muttering to itself.
Xiao Lang looked back at the Tower. I had better keep my eyes open.
~o~o~o~
Tsukishiro-san was really good in the archery competition. But THAT teacher was also good, Xiao Lang thought grudgingly as he sat watching the event beside Kinomoto and Daidouji.
It soon became clear that these two would face each other in the finals. After successive draws, the match was finally settled as the redheaded teacher missed the target center by a hairsbreadth. Tsukishiro-san had won!
Kinomoto Touya was a handy cook – he had to hand it to the guy, Xiao Lang thought admitted reluctantly. Lunch was a feast, and he was definitely hungry. He hadn't wanted to bother Wei with breakfast, so he just made himself some hot chocolate before heading over to Kinomoto's place. Before he wolfed down his meal though, he made sure to inspect his lunch thoroughly. He wouldn't put it past the guy to poison his lunch. Even if THAT guy wasn't around, you never knew.
"I wonder where Kero-chan is..." Kinomoto was asking Daidouji worriedly.
Hunh. The Stupid Plushie was definitely acting strange since this morning. And now with a veritable feast just his for the asking, he just disappeared. His loss, Xiao Lang thought vengefully as he speared another shrimp.
Inevitably, Kinomoto stood up to look for him. When she got back though, she didn't only bring back Keroberos, but also THAT sensei.
He couldn't figure out how they all ended up walking together, her included. If that wasn't enough, a dreamy-eyed Kinomoto was beside him with that sickeningly PINK aura emanating from her as she occasionally looked back at her two favorite persons behind them.
It was starting to get the customary reaction from him, and he felt Kinomoto cringe under his glare. He didn't know why it irked him so much. Seeing her aura so brilliantly directed at other people made him uncomfortable. He always seemed to be on the defensive, somehow.
"Oh no! Where are the bento boxes?" Kinomoto's voice interrupted his thoughts. "I must have left them by the archery dojo. I'll have to get them..."
Sighing, he turned back with the rest of the group as Daidouji ran after her.
Then all thoughts stood still as the earth moved violently from under their feet.
Earthy!~o~o~o~
After a fierce battle, Earthy was finally captured. And that was the end of it -- Earthy was the last Card in Clow's collection. Xiao Lang didn't know how he felt about the whole thing. Should he be relieved it was all over? Or would the next battle be between him and Kinomoto?
He dusted himself off and looked at her. They had been through a lot, both good and bad. As he thought about it, he knew he wouldn't fight her. Not if he could help it.
He watched her as she twirled around excitedly, her auburn hair flying across her face. And then she was heading towards them laughing. She was proud of herself, he could see it in her eyes.
The funny thing was, he was proud of her too.
"I'm so happy, Li-kun!" Those brilliant green eyes were flashing at him, and he found himself blushing again.
"Ah." He managed to say, and looked straight into her eyes. "You did a good job."
Her answering smile did something to his insides that he didn't want to delve into yet.
In the meantime, he was still wondering how Daidouji managed to get them both into costume. Apparently, aside from bringing the vast array of Sakura Card Captor costumes, her van had also stopped by his apartment to pick up his ceremonial robes.
"You have to wear something special when you're doing something special!" exclaimed Daidouji with an almost-manic gleam in her eye. The girl was scary. "Did you write your name on the Card, Sakura-chan?" she asked, still filming.
"No, not yet," Kinomoto shook her head and took out a pencil.
"Once you write your name on it, all the Cards will be sealed," intoned Keroberos, who had transformed into the Sun Guardian during the battle with Earthy. Strangely enough, he was standing beside Mizuki-sensei, who was looking at Kinomoto gravely.
"Kero-chan, Li-kun also has some Clow Cards. So who's the real owner of the Cards?" Daidouji asked curiously, even as she filmed Kinomoto writing down her name.
Xiao Lang had been quietly listening to the exchange, and when Daidouji asked her question, he quickly glanced at Keroberos. He HAD been wondering about that. The Cards couldn't obey two Masters – one would have to prevail. But who would decide that?
If it were up to Keroberos, it was obvious who the Guardian favored. Much as he was reluctant to fight Kinomoto, he wouldn't relinquish his captured Cards easily, especially on that Guardian's say-so. Besides, Keroberos didn't seem to have the power to compel him to give up his Cards.
That would leave the Moon Guardian.
"There!" Xiao Lang was distracted from his thoughts as Kinomoto waved the Card with a flourish. "It's a Sakura Card now!"
He was about to speak when he felt the wind pick up.
Something's wrong, as he suddenly felt the wind grow in intensity.
"What's happening?!?!" He could hear Kinomoto shouting. The ever increasing gusts of air blew past the courtyard, scattering the leaves fiercely, that Xiao Lang had to cover his eyes."The Last Judgment..."
Xiao Lang whipped his head to stare at the Teacher, but was then distracted at the sight of Tsukishiro-san rising up into the air. Before the battle with Earthy, Kinomoto had made him sleep, and he had been lying on a bench under a tree. Up until now.
Tsukishiro-san was glowing so brightly, and wings suddenly appeared, engulfing him entirely, much like when Keroberos transformed. Xiao Lang could only gaze in awe.
And then the wings spread open, and Tsukishiro-san nowhere in sight. Instead, a being with long hair trailing around his body was looking at them with baleful, silver eyes.
Xiao Lang gasped.
It was Yue!
~o~o~o~
Authors' Notes:
Really intended to end this chapter with the Last Judgment, but the telling turned out to be a little longer than expected because of some insights that had to be made by Xiao Lang. So we had to cut the chapter into two – but it makes our job easier as the next chapter is practically done, with just a few details to put in.
It was probably bad to end the chapter with the same ending as Chapter 7 – the "YUE" thing. If we had to start over, we'd probably change 7's ending as "SAKURA" or something. Ah well.
Hi, June6 and Hoshi-chan! Some S+S moments for you :p
To sweet-captor, lilli-lil and Daught of the Forest, hope you liked this one!
Kawaii-syaoran, we also love Syaoran! [Sibylsofiana's Extra-special Triple Whammy Super Hug to Syaoran!] Heheheh, just wait till you get to the very last chapter! (Mmm, Chapter 13 or 14 probably, depends on how much Eriol annoys Syaoran in the next chapters, hahaha!