Cardcaptor Sakuragi – Chapter 2

Takeshi and Fly: The troubles of catching the first card

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El Huesudo II: Welcome! Today, we present-

(telephone rings)

El Huesudo II: Oh crud. The phone has been ringing and we all have been terribly busy, so much that having Chapter 2 already done was a lifesaver.

Sekhmet: The true problem is that the fact that it was written before the reviews means...

Horus: That we didn't follow their advice-

(telephone rings again)

Horus: Will someone destroy that thing already?

Enigmae: Hey Life god, come here, you miscalculated the taxes... AGAIN!

Horus: Oh no...

(Horus runs!)

Anubis: Anyway, reviewers, we promise you we'll listen to your very appreciated comments next chapter.

El Huesudo II: Yukimi the Ice Goddess, yumichan808, and Crayon Eater Aya, thanks for it all. We promise to do our best.

— And... — commented Mortos, popping from his office — Is this way of dialogue really distracting? —

"Well," said Enigmae, hanging the phone and running to the other one, "people often use this one."

— Yeah, I find it really annoying sometimes — he added.

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Symbols:

— Dialogs —

'Character narrating'

"Character thoughts"

Sound FX!

« Recording, PA »

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— So this is your room, eh? —

Takeshi had taken Tera-chan to his room. She could see that it was a very tidy room to be a young boy's. He had anime posters all around the walls, several manga books, a TV set with a videogame console, a desk with a PC on it, a book case with lots of more manga, some school books and even an encyclopedia, and at the side, his bed, the only thing in the room that wasn't tidy. Not made, with Takeshi's PJs on top of it, and a Discman.

— My oh my, Takeshi, so this is your room. Now tell me, where would a cute little stuffed animal fit in this room? —

Takeshi thought it out. It WOULD be weird for him to have a plushie in his room. So Tera-chan would have to hide somewhere.

— I can't allow being seen somewhere in this room, but I don't see any hiding spots in this room. I think you'll have to tell anyone who asks that someone gave me to ya. —

— True. And I bet the Clow book can't be seen either... —

— True. ...And now that you're talking about it, do you have, by any chance, an inkbottle and something to write with? —

— Hello, this is 1998. We have disposable pens that carry their own ink inside. —

— ...Wha...? Please show me one! —

Takeshi grabbed one, untapped it and gave it to Tera-chan. Tera-chan observed it in awe, as she had never seen something like it ever.

— Wow... How do you write? —

Takeshi handed her a small piece of paper and she flew with both things to the desk, and started writing in Cyrillic.

— Wooooow... This rocks! —

Then she went back to her initial thought.

— But the ink is way too solid to be used as I want to use it, and you have to press to write... That will damage them... Do you have something more resembling inkbottle's contents? —

Takeshi gave her an extra fine tip marker. She opened it and nearly fainted.

— Whoa, duuuuude... This stuff makes you flyyyyy... ...owww... my head... ...the paaaaain... —

Takeshi quickly tapped it and turned to Tera-chan.

— You alright? —

— Kid, what do you put in that "marker" thing? It may be dangerous, ya know! —

— Oh, maybe I should use it then. —

He wrote some stuff in Japanese and showed it to Tera-chan. Tera-chan could easily see how the ink slowly ran through the paper.

— Yep, this is perfect. Now, grab the Windy card, please. —

He grabbed the book, opened it and took Windy out.

— Now — said Tera-chan — see that blank space that isn't glossy in the bottom part? That space is made for the Card Captor to write on. They have to write their names with their own hands so the card trusts and obeys them. Otherwise, when released, they'll escape. —

— Oh — said Takeshi. — So I write my name on it? In Hiragana or do I have to use Kanji? —

— No, kiddo, you have to write it in English. Any kind of English will do. —

— It's that... — and then he blushed, as if embarrassed. — I don't really know to write my own name in English yet. At least not correctly. —

— Okay... Let me write it. —

She grabbed the pen and the paper, and wrote "TAKESHI". Her calligraphy was remarkable, even if she had to grab the pen like a giant broom.

— Oh, so that's how it's written. —

— Now, write it down on the card. And be sure not to just scribble it. You have to draw the letters, not simply write them. —

He started writing. His calligraphy was even better than Tera-chan's.

— ...Wow, you write better than me. Well, I have to grab the pen like a mop and struggle to move it, so... —

She then stroke a flaunting pose.

— Officially, I write better than you! —

She then turned to Takeshi, who wasn't listening to her at all.

— DAMMIT, KID! Listen to me while I- —

— Tera-chan — said Takeshi — Why are they called Clow cards? —

— Oh. I'll tell ya: They're called after my master. My master was a very powerful female sorcerer called Li Claudia Margaretta Reed. She traveled through many places and learned all the secrets of magic, and the Clow cards are her masterpiece, as she combined both Eastern and Western magic to create them. Save 4 or 5 of them, which were created by students, all of the cards were created by Claudia throughout the years. —

— But then, wouldn't they be Li cards? —

— No, because Li was her Chinese last name, that here in Eastern countries, is put first. She wanted to use her name. —

— Oh. I thought that all English folk put last names in last place. But then, wouldn't they be called Claudia cards? —

— She didn't want to call them that, because it sounded too corny. So she took her name turned to Japanese, thing that I didn't understand in those days. The word then was Kuroodia. She cut it down to Kuroo and turned it back to English, resulting in Clow. And that's where the name came from. —

— Oh, an abbreviation. Like Tera-chan. —

— Well, that's another story, kid- —

She then looked out the window. She looked startled.

— What's the matter? —

— ...I sense Clow cards. —

— - — - — - — - ∞ O ∞ - — - — - — - —

Takeshi and Tera-chan got out to the roof, and saw that the sky was very cloudy.

— Wha...?— said Takeshi. — There was no cloud in the sky this morning! —

— It's the Cloud card — said Tera-chan.

— The Cloud? —

— Yes. It creates a cloud, as big as the caster desires or is allowed by its magic. Right now, as it's using Claudia's stray magic, it can create a very big one. —

Suddenly, Tera-chan noticed a wing slicing the cloud from above.

— Takeshi! Did you see that? —

Takeshi looked to where Tera-chan pointed, and saw nothing.

— Oh my god, it's gone... Wait! THERE! —

Now both could easily see the wing.

— That might be... Quick! Release! —

RELEASE!

Takeshi turned into Son Wu Kong mode, and had the staff in hand. With his eyes closed, he took off his glasses and handed them to Tera-chan.

— Take care of these — he said, now in a deeper voice.

— Takeshi? —

He opened his eyes and smirked with confidence.

— Both of them are cards, right? Well, let's go! —

He pulled out Windy from his pocket. He threw it in the air, and hit it with a tip of the staff.

— WINDY! —

"He already figure out the way to summon the cards? What is this kid?" Tera-chan thought.

From the card flew out Windy. Her hair was combed in 2 parts, each pointing to a side, and curled to the front. In her shoulders, connected by a fluff of some sort, she had wings, resembling dragonfly's.

Windy flew through the air and commenced a tornado. The cloud was pulled in.

— Now, Windy! Throw it in this direction! —

Windy stopped the tornado and made a gesture in Takeshi's direction, and Cloud was sent flying there. She was a girl, with very puffy, cloudy hair, a dress which neck and sleeves were clouds and that finished in a way it reminded you of the clouds, and she also wore checkered pants and elf-like shoes.

Takeshi quickly asked Tera-chan:

— Incantation to catch? —

And Tera-chan quickly responded:

Nanji no arubeki sugata ni modore! Clow card!

Takeshi repeated that line, and Cloud went from being in a worried state to a relaxed one. She became energy, and took the form of a card.

— Perfect. One less... —

Then they saw it. It was the bird drawn on The Fly card.

— ...one to go. —

Windy was still out, so...

— Windy! Grab Fly and bring it here! —

Windy tried to do that, but Fly detected her, and it flapped its wings towards her, blasting her off in the air.

— WINDY! —

Windy was falling...

— Return! —

Windy then became a card and flew to Takeshi. Takeshi grabbed it and then turned to Fly.

— That card... How can I catch it? —

— I don't know, kid — said Tera-chan. — With the cards you got, I doubt there's a chance... But I gotta say, that one's useful. —

Takeshi then used Cloud.

— CLOUD! Create a cloud for me! —

A cloud appeared in front of him.

— What will a cloud do to Fly, may I ask? —

— If my guesses are right... —

He hopped on top of the cloud and, weirdly enough, he landed on it, as if it was solid.

Tera-chan couldn't even say a word, as she was astounded by the card's use.

— Son Wu Kong flew in a cloud, remember? I thought that, if I was lucky, this would do nice, and it did! —

— Claudia-sama... — said Tera-chan — You're so screwed up... —

Takeshi, as if he was skateboarding, flew on top of the cloud towards Fly, and hit it with the staff.

— Fight me! —

Fly turned around and threw another air blast, dissolving the cloud. Takeshi began falling.

— I'd SO like a Parachute card right now! —

Then he remembered.

— WINDY! Let me land safely! —

And so, Windy appeared and created an air cushion for Takeshi, who landed very safely indeed.

— Thanks, Windy. —

Windy returned to card form. Tera-chan appeared flying.

— Takeshi, that was very irresponsible from you! You could have died back there! —

Takeshi returned the staff to normal.

— ...Glasses, please... —

Tera-chan handed him his glasses.

— That card sure knows how to fight... —

— But... — Tera-chan looked puzzled. — Fly is a gentle card, it wouldn't be this angry normally... What would have happened? —

— Well, she didn't seem gentle to me- — Takeshi then remembered something, and got worried. — THE LAUNDRY! I haven't done it! If my sister gets home I'll be washing the car next weekend... —

He then ran through the street going to his house, shouting "AAAAAAAAAH!"

— Such a weird kid I had to find for the job, eh, Claudia? —

Tera-chan looked up to the sky, melancholically.

— Claudia-sama, are you sure that... —

— OH MY BLEEP!ING GOD! —

Tera-chan turned around and saw a guy, totally drunk, scared to hell by Tera-chan.

— It's an UFO! OH MY GOD IT'S AN UFO! This is... This is... —

Tera-chan was really worried. But then she got an idea:

— Yeah, I am an UFO, from the colonies on the moons of Jupiter, and I have come to tell you one thing: —

The drunk guy was listening closely.

— Stop drinking. —

Then she flew away, while the drunk guy shouted:

— Yes, milady! I'll do everything you say! —

"Drunkard", she thought.

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— Is this the last one? —

Tera-chan was struggling to carry a load of laundry in a basket.

— Yeah, it is, Tera-chan. Thanks for the help. —

Tera-chan left the basket on the floor. Takeshi was getting the clean load out.

— It's great that you have laundry machines in your era! You guys got everything automated. —

— Yeah — said Takeshi — Makes our life very easy. —

— And also makes humans very lazy — Tera-chan said. — As lazy as Claudia-sama or more. —

— Was your master lazy? —

— Lazy is a compliment for Claudia-sama. Most of the cards were created so she didn't have to do the chores! At least she dedicated all that time to reading and research, not like those "high bourgeoisie" children who did nothing all day! —

— "High bourgeoisie"? —

— Upper middle class in my era. Anyway, I still wonder why Fly was so aggressive. It's normally one of the gentlest cards, and almost never loses temper. —

— May it be another card interfering? —

— No... There's no card that alters mood... —

— Then she might have some sort of trouble... —

He then put the last load in. Tera-chan sat in the dryer, watching the insides of that "steel contraption" closely.

Hitomi then appeared at the door. Tera-chan was so scared, she got very, very tense.

— Oh, seems that you could get the laundry done after all. —

— Oh, hi, onee-chan — said Takeshi — Yeah, I got here earlier because of the incident. —

— What incident...? Ah, the abandoned house burning down? —

— Yep. —

Hitomi then noticed Tera-chan. She was so tense, she actually looked like a stuffed animal.

— And what's this, kaijuu? It's unusual for you to have stuffed animals. —

— Oh, Ayaka gave it to me. —

Hitomi observed Tera-chan very closely. She was actually interested in that stuffed animal thing. Tera-chan was very nervous, and was shaking.

— This thing is shaking. —

— Oh, it's that I put my uniform in the dryer — said Takeshi. — Must be the dryer working. —

Hitomi still observed Tera-chan.

"Kusooo, stop watching me, dammit! I wanna BREATHE!" thought Tera-chan.

— Onee-chan, do you know what are we having for dinner? —

Hitomi turned to Takeshi, letting Tera-chan breathe.

— Nope, Okaa-san didn't want to tell me. But she told me to bring Yuuki over. —

— ...Yuuki is coming over? —

Takeshi went red. Hitomi did all she could not to laugh.

— Yeah, she said that if tonight we were having a special dinner, she'd be here no matter what. —

Hitomi got out of the room, and remembered something.

— Oh, Takeshi, can you do my chores tomorrow? I have double-shift... If you do, I'll leave you duty-free this Saturday. —

— Perfect. —

Hitomi had turned her eyes down for a little time, but then left.

— I think your sister suspects of me, dude — said Tera-chan.

— I really don't think so, Tera-chan. —

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— Itadakimasu! —

They all proceeded to eat. At the table were Takeshi, Fujiko, Hitomi and Yuuki, and the dinner was roast beef and salad.

— Wow, this is delicious, Fujiko-san! — said Yuuki, eating a little quick.

— Calm down, Kicchan, the beef isn't going to run away. —

— That would be saying I didn't cook it enough — joked Fujiko. The 3 laughed. Takeshi was occupied blushing and being nervous, as he was right aside Yuuki.

— Takeshi-kun — said Yuuki — Are you alright? Your face is very red... —

This just made Takeshi blush even more.

— No, it's... nothing... — he said, trying to hide his red face by taking a sip from his drink.

Hitomi was struggling not to laugh. Fujiko was as well, but was losing the battle, and let some giggles loose.

Takeshi continued eating, still trying to hide behind his glass. Yuuki seemed oblivious to the situation.

— And did you hear about the fire on the abandoned house? —

Fujiko and Yuuki focused on what Hitomi was saying.

— I heard something about it on the news — continued Hitomi, while sipping from her drink. — It says that the electric system was blasted. In the spot of the fire, they found a weird feather. —

— A... feather? — said Yuuki, while she grabbed more salad.

— Yes. White with a black inscription on it — said Fujiko. — They're examining it in the University. —

Takeshi listened closely to this.

— - — - — - — - ∞ O ∞ - — - — - — - —

— Tera-chan! Tera-chan! —

Tera-chan woke up.

— What, kiddo? There's dessert? Did you bring some? —

Takeshi explained the feather business to Tera-chan.

— Hmmm... I don't know really. Claudia once mentioned something about some feathers, and did some research about it, but she never told me anything else. —

Takeshi looked at the hour.

— Oh, it's late, I got to sleep. —

He slipped on his PJs, and got into bed. Tera-chan turned off the lights and got in bed as well.

That night, Takeshi had a dream. He was standing in a dark room and Fly was in the other side. Takeshi approached to it and Fly swung its wing at him, as if telling him to go away. But he noticed something wrong: Its left paw was colored oddly, red, when the rest of its body was white.

He then woke up. In 5 minutes the alarm clock would go off, so he turned it off, so Tera-chan could sleep a little better. He got in his uniform and went downstairs.

And it was a surprise to see Hitomi placing a plate with pancakes on his seat.

— Onee-chan? —

— Hello there, kaijuu. Want some pancakes? Or was your plan sneaking out of the house to hunt for human flesh? —

— Stop it, onee-chan — said Takeshi, sleepy. — I have morning service duty on school, and I have to do it by myself. It was a luck that my classmates didn't make so much trash as last time. —

— You sure have ecological sense, typical of a mononoke. Or is it that the kaijuu is too lazy? —

(Author's note: A mononoke is a spirit of the forest.)

Takeshi sat down and began eating his pancakes.

— Hey, onee-chan — said Takeshi — Why did you get up so early in the morning? —

— Oh, I have service duty as well. Plus, I got to pick up my new bike. —

— Oh. Congrats. —

Hitomi sat down with her pancakes and started eating as well.

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Takeshi and Hitomi went down the street. The cherry trees had blossomed, and lots of petals were floating down.

— Ah, this season — said Hitomi. — When flowers blossom, birds chirp and kaijuu mate. —

— ...What? —

— I noticed you were blushing madly last night. And it happens whenever Yuuki is around. —

— That's not true! I don't- —

— Ohayo, Takeshi-kun! —

Takeshi noticed Yuuki in the distance, and blushed.

— See what I mean, kaijuu? —

Takeshi wasn't paying attention to Hitomi, because she was looking at Yuuki.

— Yuuki-san! Ohayo! —

— Hey there Kicchan. Wanna go with me to get my new bike? —

— Sure! See you around, Takeshi-kun! —

Takeshi saw Hitomi and Yuuki turn around the street and walking away. Yuuki then turned around and threw something at Takeshi.

Takeshi caught it, and opened his hand to see. It was a small candy.

— Arigatou, Yuuki... —

And he continued his way, blushing.

He got to school, and was naturally empty.

He looked at his classroom's window and saw 3 classmates doing the morning service. That startled Takeshi.

— Wasn't I supposed- —

A blast of wind hit him, and he crashed against a wall. He got up and saw Fly right in front. And it was pissed.

RELEASE!

He transformed, and got his 2 cards out.

— WINDY! CLOUD! —

Windy advanced against Fly, and a cloud appeared at Takeshi's feet. Takeshi took his glasses off and put them in his pocket.

But then he remembered he was using the uniform. He couldn't be seen with the uniform, or people would suspect of all the alumni!

He decided to take off his shirt then, as the shorts looked like any other normal shorts, and had no insignia. By doing that, he noticed the huge amount of hair he had.

— I really am Son Wu Kong in this mode. —

He threw the shirt to the bushes, and launched himself against Fly.

Fly was trying to blast Windy away, but she knew better now, and dodged all the attempts. Fly moved away and struggled not to be trapped in Windy, but it hadn't seen Takeshi coming.

Takeshi lifted his staff up, as to attack Fly, but Fly dodged. Windy noticed it was distracted and taking advantage of this she bound Fly, now trapped and unable to escape.

Takeshi approached and put his hand on its head, and Fly stopped struggling.

— Calm down, I just want to help you. —

He noticed it had an arrow stuck to its left leg. But it was no normal arrow...

"Could it be a..."

Nanji no arubeki sugata ni modo-

Takeshi couldn't finish the incantation, as the arrow became energy and got off Fly's leg. It went back to be an arrow and shot itself at Takeshi, which barely avoided it, getting a cut in his right arm. The arrow turned around and tried again, but Fly blasted it away, so it fled on the other direction, disappearing in the sky.

— That definitely is a card... Maybe... —

Fly made weird moves to call for Takeshi's attention. It was as if it was saying "Hey you, I'm right here, ripe for the taking! Don't fool around and catch me!"

Then Takeshi reacted and caught Fly.

Nanji no arubeki sugata ni modore! Clow card!

Fly was caught, and Takeshi got the marker out of his pocket, putting his name on the card. Now he had 3 cards!

— Now, to school. —

He returned to the bushes, went back to normal and put on his shirt. He was still thinking of the Arrow Card, but right now just one mystery mattered: What had happened so he didn't have to do service?

He was coming out of the bushes and bumped against Terada-sensei.

— Oh, sorry... Oh, ohayo, Terada-sensei! —

— Ohayo, Sakuragi-kun — said Yohko. — Why are you here so early? —

— Oh, it seems that you forgot I had to do morning service today — he said.

Yohko then remembered.

— Oh shucks! I totally forgot. Oh well, as you were actually willing to do it, I lift the punishment from you. —

— Thanks, Terada-sensei! —

— Now go get ready for class. —

— - — - — - — - ∞ O ∞ - — - — - — - —

— So, Tomoki, what was what you wanted to tell me? —

Tomoki took off his camera.

— Last night I was getting home from the technician, where I left my camera to get it fixed, I was testing it on the road and guess what happened. —

Takeshi looked at the window and saw what was recorded. Him, as Son Wu Kong, landing and shifting back to normal, and talking to Tera-chan.

« Takeshi, that was very irresponsible from you! You could have died back there! »

« ...Glasses, please... »

« That card sure knows how to fight... »

« But... Fly is a gentle card, it wouldn't be this angry normally... What would have happened? »

Takeshi couldn't believe his eyes. He was discovered. And not only that, he was FILMED.

— Can you explain the meaning of this, Takeshi-kun? — said Tomoki, with a naughty grin on his face.

Just then, Tera-chan popped out of Takeshi's backpack.

— Well I'll be damned, but that's some incriminating stuff there, — she said.

Takeshi freaked out.

— TERA-CHAN! How... Get back to the house immediately! We're supposed to keep- —

— Oh forget it kid — said Tera-chan. — This kid here got us on tape, so I think he deserves to know the truth. —

Takeshi couldn't find anything to say.

— So you're the paparazzi, huh? What's your name? —

— Amamiya Tomoki. What's yours? —

— My name is Amaterasu. But this kid here calls me Tera-chan. —

— Oh my god — said Takeshi. — Why me...? —

END OF CHAPTER 2

El Huesudo II: Did you like it?

Sekhmet: If you liked it better than the first chapter, then we can celebrate with champagne.

— Because — added Mortos — it's exactly the same format and style... —

"That drives you nuts while reading the dialogs..." That was Enigmae, almost getting inside a box. "By the way, sweetheart, where's the stapler?"

— I got it in my desk — answered Mortos.

Anubis: Well, at least this story isn't in chatspeak.

Horus: Like this conversation.

Anubis: Because then, they'd have removed it by now...

El Huesudo II: Don't be conformists, we have to write our best for the readers. Well, people, see you soon!