Author's Note: Again, thanks to anyone who has reviewed and/or read this story, it really means a lot to get feedback on my work. Thank you all!

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Yon-ban: Ryu Shitsu Agete

Yue obediently cut the vegetables, his face even and unreadable. Sakura had always prided herself on being the one person able to see what her brother was feeling behind his mask of blue eyes and stern features, but now that Yue was in his body this ability seemed to have abandoned her. She gave him a wary glance, starting and turning hurriedly away when he caught it and looked back at her.

"Anou…Y-Yue-san?" He turned to look at her, still cutting. "Uh…what happened to Touya?" The Guardian was silent, as though expecting her to elaborate. Obediently the girl did so. "When he was screaming…what happened?"

When silence had reigned for several minutes—long enough for Yukito to rush into the kitchen and make off with an entire bowl of rice without either of them noticing—Sakura came to the decision that her Guardian was not going to answer her. He surprised her when he did at last speak, his voice quiet, sounding a little less human than Touya. "Yukito…found something," he said, falling into his habit of pausing periodically, which Sakura recognized as his way of showing nervousness. "I have kept it from him for quite some time, and he stumbled over it now that I am not there. It is too sad a memory for him to keep, so it must remain guarded." He stopped cutting and bowed his head, looking a little apologetic. "I tell you this only because you are my Mistress—Touya does not know what I asked him to do."

"Why would you do that?" the turquoise-eyed girl inquired with a hint of indignance. "It's Yukito's memory, isn't it? Why not let him keep it?"

"I told you," Yue replied. "It is…sad. He does not need to be sad. He was not made to be sad…" He trailed off, his sapphire eyes growing dark. "No, that is not why he was made."

Sakura had just decided to question the former angel further—he so rarely spoke like this, this could be her only chance to understand what had happened—when Yukito ran in, bouncing and happy as ever. "Sakura-chan! Tomoyo-chan and Li-kun are here to see you!" He looked at Yue for a moment, his smile fading slightly. When he spoke, his tone wasn't nearly as exuberant. "A-And Kero-san is here to see you, Yue-san." His voice hitched on the Guardian's name, as though he wasn't certain whether or not he should speak it.

Sakura bounded out to greet her friends, but Yue remained still. If Cerberus did indeed want to see him, he would seek him out. At this point, Yue wanted nothing more than to hide in the background, unnoticeable as a shadow and silent as the dark. He had hurt Touya, and he had hurt his mistress in hurting Touya. He did not need to be noticed, not now…

The Guardian continued cutting vegetables.

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Kero hadn't been inside for more than a minute before Yukito stepped back into the livingroom, Sakura in his wake. The little yellow creature looked at the silvery- haired youth and called out the simplest of all the spells he knew. "I summon thee, Guardian of the Clow, to appear before me." There was a flash of blue light, taking the form of feathery wings, which parted to reveal the angel. To Kero's surprise, the moon-pale figure stumbled, attempted to stand steady again, and then fell to the floor.

"Onii-san!" Sakura cried, rushing forward to help the white-haired being to sit up. "Onii-san, are you okay?"

Li Shaoran blinked, exchanged a confused look with Kero, and then turned back to the figure he had thought was Yue. "Onii-san?" he quoted. "Sakura, what—"

"I'm not Yue," the angel said sternly, his voice holding a note none of them had ever heard before. He sat up, though he obviously had trouble even doing that considering the fact that he placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder for support, and Shaoran and Kero stared in confusion while Tomoyo pulled out her camcorder and began filming—a predictably Tomoyo-esque act. "And I'll be happy to explain everything, but not until I get some sleep." He looked up at Sakura with what could have been gratitude. "Oh, thanks for helping me. You're pretty nice, for a kaijuu."

Now everyone started—Yue had just called his mistress a monster.

Tomoyo was the first to catch on, Shaoran barely a beat behind. "Touya- san?" inquired the sable-haired girl, cocking her head to one side.

Shaoran gaped. "Kinomoto-sempai?"

The moon angel nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, believe it or not." He sighed and shook his head, closing his eyes. "I don't know what happened, and neither does Yue…" He trailed off and looked around curiously. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Probably still slicing vegetables," Sakura replied, turning to look over her shoulder, her gaze directed toward the kitchen. She probably didn't notice the wave of confusion that passed over everyone's features at her words, but the air was rank with bewilderment. The thought of stoic Yue, silent antisocial Yue, slicing vegetables was laughable. And Yet Sakura said it in all seriousness.

Touya sighed again, ushering Sakura to release him at last. She rose to her feet and stepped back, leaving her brother sitting in the middle of the floor. He cupped both pale hands to his mouth. "Yue! Hey, Yue, get out here!"

A dark figure appeared in the doorway, drying off his hands on a dishtowel. "What?" he said evenly. His deep azure eyes scanned the room, moving from Tomoyo to Shaoran, then from Kero to Sakura, then finally landing on Touya. It was obvious he was avoiding the angel in particular—his wings took up so much space that he was hard to miss—and he averted his eyes quickly. "Well, what is it?"

Shaoran's eyes were wide. "So if he's Kinomoto, then you're…"

"Yue," the dark-haired boy replied nonchalantly. Too nonchalantly: almost as though suddenly finding himself in Touya's body was an everyday occurrence.

Or maybe, Kero thought, like he's enjoying this mess.

Which the Guardian Beast hoped fervently wasn't the case.

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Touya let out another sigh and shook his head. "For the last time, no! If I had any clue how the hell this happened I would have said so, all right?!" He sat back, holding a hand to his brow in the hopes that it might dull the splitting pain that still burned there. The pain that Yue had instructed him into making.

Surely he hadn't known what focusing on that particular note would have done; he wouldn't have put Touya into danger deliberately…would he? Touya felt a sudden cold leech through his heart. Yue could know what he had done, how he had let his fingers run over his—Yue's—body, without permission. Maybe it was revenge.

No—Yue wasn't the type to believe in revenge, Touya could tell that much by the way he had treated Eriol after his mission was complete. If Yue believed in revenge, wouldn't he have beat Eriol, or at least put him through the same intense pain Touya had just felt? Certainly, he would have…

Then Touya recalled who Eriol was, or at least who he had been. Eriol was a piece of Clow Reed—the darker half, yes, but a piece nonetheless. Yue, as far as Touya could gather from the way he spoke of the ancient mage, had loved Clow like a father…and perhaps something more, though that was simply Touya's own extrapolation.

He would never touch him with intent to hurt. Never.

That plunged Touya into a new depth of worry. If he loved Clow and wouldn't touch him, then the pain he had put Touya through was proof that he didn't care at all for the mortal boy. Touya closed his eyes to hide the pain that realization put him through, searching for something to steady him, something to denounce the thought.

"We're not so different after all, are we?" Yue had said that, without the slightest hint of malice. If he knew what Touya had done, wouldn't he have discovered it by then? "We are really very much the same. I…like…that thought."

He liked the thought of them being alike. Touya took heart in the fact that Yue, at least, did not hate him. And if there was no hate in him, then there was room for something else…assuredly, there was.

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Yue watched Touya, searching for some flicker of emotion to dance acorss his face, but the angel's expression was blank. What went on behind those amethyst eyes was a mystery to the Guardian, and he found himself wanting desperately to know. He had never cared what anyone was thinking before. No one except, of course, Clow. The thought of the mage brought a wave of sorrow, cold and deep enough to drown him if he let himself fall. No, now was not the time to remember his master, creator, and so much more. There was a serious situation going on right now, he had to keep pace with it. He couldn't let thoughts of a dead man pull him down…

Long dark hair cascaded down the man's back, reaching all the way to the floor. His dark eyes were bright as pale fingers worked their way through that hair, fingering each strand as though it was more valuable than the purest gold—

Yue shook his head vehemently to wash the memory away, feeling his heart begin to break all over again. He held a hand to his head, feeling the short dark hair that belonged to Touya, and was reminded yet again how much the youth resembled his creator. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin; tall and strong, ready to take on the world if the need arose. Ready to die for something he alone understood. Something that the one person who loved him more than life itself could not understand.

Something Yue still did not understand.

"Yue-san?"

He started at the sound of his mistress's voice, turning to face her swiftly. He caught a quick glimpse of Touya, who now had his eyes closed, his hands held together just in front of his tight-lipped mouth. He looked almost sad…

"Yes, Mistress?"

Her turquoise eyes were troubled. "Are you sure you didn't do anything last night? Cast some spell by accident?"

He felt a quick pang of indignance over the fact that she would think such a thing. He had been made long before her hometown even existed! He knew what he was doing. "I can assure you, I did no such thing. I woke up…" he paused, coming up with a quick excuse as to why he was awake in the middle of the night—with Touya there. "…to go out flying. I often do that while Yuki's sleeping, to assure that I do not upset his usual schedule and ease my boredom. I looked at Touya, made sure he would be safe while I was gone, and then I don't know what happened."

"Heat," a gender-neutral voice said simply. Everyone turned to face Touya, whose eyes were open once again, slightly wider than normal as though in disbelief. He brushed back a lock of snowy hair and faced them as well. "I remember heat. I-I don't know why I didn't remember sooner…" His amethyst eyes narrowed. "Yuki and I went to bed, talked for about an hour, and then fell asleep. Nothing for a while, then heat." His brow furrowed, as though puzzled with his own recollection. He had been pondering on this for hours, why should the memory suddenly come back now?

Shaoran's brow furrowed. "Did it start in your chest, then spread out?"

Touya nodded, bewildered.

The boy shook his head, biting his bottom lip. "That doesn't make any sense, though. It didn't work yesterday, or this morning, so what would make it react in the night?" his voice was low, more to himself than anyone else, but everyone listened anyway. He looked back up, meeting Sakura's eyes. "That's what happened when Kero and I were changed last year—an intense heat, almost painful, starting in the chest then spreading out. For a minute you're disoriented, then you get blasted into the other person's body…but the CHANGE didn't work, so why…?"

Everyone fell silent, the clock's ticking suddenly seeming very loud.

After several minutes without a spoken word, a loud beep rang out. Sakura sprang to her feet. "Oh—that's the timer! I'll be back in a minute." As she rushed out, Shaoran rose as well.

"I-I'll help, too," he offered, hurrying after the girl.

Touya fought back a rush of anger, knowing that he was completely helpless in this state. Even if he now had the magic to pound the boy into the dirt without ever touching him, it didn't do him any good if he couldn't even stand up for a more then a few seconds.

Finally, after several more seconds of silence, Tomoyo rose to her feet. "Come on, Kero-chan, we should help set the table." She walked casually out, setting her camera down on the mantle almost carelessly.

As soon as everyone else was gone, Yue relocated himself on the couch, leaving the thick armchair that Yukito loved so much for a seat closer to Touya. The angel shied away only a little, and would not look up at the Guardian.

Finally, after several seconds with sounds from the kitchen wafting in through the doorway, Yue spoke. "To-ya," he said, sounding genuinely upset, "I am sorry."

Now the moon-pale face turned toward him, catlike eyes betraying only a hint of surprise. Had he expected Yue to leave such a dark cloud between them? Of course he had—he didn't know how the Guardian saw him, after all. He didn't know that he was the only person Yue had cared for this way since Clow. He didn't know, and would likely never know. He saw Yue as an alien thing, something to be kept at a distance, never held close…Yue forced back his thoughts and continued.

"There is something that must be done, periodically, to insure Yuki's happiness," the Guardian explained, keeping his explanation carefully broad. "Because I am no longer there to do it, I needed you to. I know it caused you great pain, pain that will not have left you yet, but it had to be done. I am sorry."

Touya nodded simply. "All right."

"All right?" Yue mimicked, shocked at his acceptance.

"All right," the angel repeated, the faintest hint of a smile turning the corners of his mouth. Yue nodded, giving the pale figure the same slight smile, hoping Touya could not read the overwhelming relief in his eyes.

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Kero, through mouthfuls of food, apologized to the silver-haired boy seated on his left. Yukito pouted a little and replied with a simple, "I just hate when you do that." Sakura hid a smile at the broken conversation: the two of them sounded more like siblings than Kero and Yue did! "I mean, I know you really want to talk to Yue sometimes," Yuki continued, "but you really should try asking me to change. It's a lot more pleasant than having the transformation forced."

"I said sorry, didn't I?" the plushie-looking creature replied, following his swallowing of an entire cookie—whole. "I was worried about Yue, that's all."

Yue looked at Kero from the other side of the table with a faintly doubtful expression, but said nothing. Instead he returned his gaze to the bowl sitting before him—plain rice, all he was willing to touch at this point. Admittedly, he had eaten on occasion during the time he spent under Clow's tutelage, but it had been a long time since then, and he didn't know how much things had changed. He picked up his chopsticks expertly—Yuki knew how to use chopsticks, after all, so he did too—and lifted a small bite from the bowl.

The dark boy surveyed the tiny white grains for a moment before putting them into his mouth, chewing and swallowing. They tasted, he thought, a little bit like the water Clow had used to cast his spells, clean and untainted. He supposed it was from the boiling, but was uncertain.

He looked up and found that everyone was staring at him, all of them wearing varying expressions of surprise; all except Sakura, who looked oddly proud. "What?" he inquired indignantly.

They shared a quick laugh, then returned to their own meals without an explanation. Yue narrowed his eyes in annoyance and then sat up, picking up his bowl of rice in the process. "I'll be in Yuki's room," he said irritably, "where there's no one to stare while I eat."

"Ah! I'm sorry, Yue-san!" Sakura said hurriedly. "It's just so…so…"

"Weird?" Shaoran suggested.

Sakura shot him a dark look. "I was going to say something like 'good,' thanks." She turned back to Yue. "I'm just glad to see you adjusting to Touya's need to eat."

Yue gave her a level stare, then shrugged and sat back down. "It's not as though this is the first time I've eaten, you know," he said softly, regretting it instantly as the sound of four chairs being scraped across the floor broke the relative silence.

"HO-EE?!" Sakura cried. "I didn't know you'd eaten before!"

Shaoran shook his head. "Neither did I."

"Well I have," the Guardian replied shortly. "It's not such an amazing thing. Just because I don't need to eat doesn't mean I haven't done it." He shoved another bite of rice into his mouth, closing his eyes when he swallowed. "I don't need to sleep, either, but I do that often enough."

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Touya sighed. Or, more correctly, he would have sighed if he had been in control of his body. As it was, Yuki was eating breakfast and Touya was extremely bored. He couldn't taste anything, after all, and could only hear everyone's voices as though from far off; even so, he had listened intently for several seconds before deciding that they weren't going to talk about anything important.

So he busied himself with trying to understand Yue a little bit more, something he often found himself doing when still in his own body. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to see how the Judge had lived his life.

He noted detachedly that Yue had begun to eat, and that there was some sort of pseudo-argument going on in reply to that act, but paid it no heed.

What had Yue meant just then? Something to ensure Yukito's happiness… What could possibly make the boy happy that caused Yue so much pain? It was a question Touya feared he would never find the answer to, and one that he grew frustrated trying to understand.

No wonder Yue's so distant all the time, Touya thought. I'd probably stop talking to people too if I spent most of my life like this. He let out a silent sigh and let himself fade into much-needed rest, locking away all his uncertainties and questions for a better time—when he was awake enough to understand them. Of course, he added silently, with how complicated Yue is, I might never understand any of this…

He could still feel Yukito's presence, even as he drifted to sleep, and wondered if Yue did as well. Did he always have this constant feeling of being watched? Was he never really alone, or could he lock himself away somewhere in his shared mind for privacy? He pondered, hypothesized, and then fell asleep.

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Yukito blinked once and removed his glasses to rub one hazel eye.

"Yukito-san?" Sakura breathed. "Are you all right?"

He nodded, stifling a yawn. "Yeah, just really sleepy all of the sudden…"

Yue, after taking one final bite of his rice, set down his bowl and chopsticks, folding his arms. "To-ya is probably sleeping," he said, answering the unspoken question burning behind Sakura's eyelids. "He wouldn't know how to properly channel his emotions and sensations, so Yuki would likely be affected by his tiredness." He squinted slightly, thinking aloud, "I really must teach him the basics of living in that body…"

"Why?" Kero said suddenly, sounding faintly suspicious. Suspicious? Of his own brother? Things were becoming very messy indeed. "It's not as though he's going to be in there for very long."

Yue turned then, giving him a look so intense, directed only at him, that the Guardian Beast felt as though a cold wave had washed over him. The former angel's mouth turned up at the corners in a vague smile. "Maybe, maybe not. We should prepare him in case it does last longer than you hope."

Than you hope. Not longer than Yue hoped, longer than Kero hoped. The beast knew then and there than his initial thought had been correct—Yue was enjoying this. Why was a mystery, perhaps even to him, but the Moon Guardian was not unsettled at all by being in the mortal boy's body; he almost seemed happy to be in such a predicament. And that made Kero worry more for his brother than he had since the days after Clow Reed's death.

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Translation Notes:

Yon-ban: Number Four. Yon is four in most cases, though sometimes it's supplanted by the slightly older term, Shi, which also means four. (Phonetically it's also synonymous with death, so hospitals in Japan never have a Room Number Four. Weird, huh?)

Ryu Shitsu Agete: Wash it All Away. Actually, it's literally Wash Away Everything, but it comes out to mean about the same thing.

Anou: Literally, this means that is, but it works the same way as the English "Uhm…" or "Er…" Basically it's something to say when you don't know what to say. (I use this frequently in my own common speech.)

Honorifics (revisited): In this chapter, Shaoran calls Touya "Kinomoto-sempai," using an honorific usually confined to school relationships. I don't remember what it is that everybody's favorite Li brat calls Touya, so I went with this. Literally, it means you who came before, referring to an upperclassmen or person older than the speaker. The opposite is Kouhai, which means you who came after—underclassmen and younger people.