SEASON OF WINTER
Part One v2
By: Lau-kun
Disclaimer: A/N at end. CCS©CLAMP and this fiction is ©2005 by yours truly. So if you even dare steal it or use it w/o permission, a pack of white wolves with steel fangs will eat you... ALIVE. And for those who wanna sue me, I don't own CCS (along with a few copyrighted things mentioned in this fiction) coz if I do, Eriol would be off with Tomoyo by now. (Okay... that's putting it mildly... XD)
Feedbacks are always welcome... even cruel ones. And I would really like to mention, first of all, VampirePeaches for beta reading this fiction! Woohoo! You did a marvelous job! You really made my day, seriously! Thanks a bunch, Vampy! C3 This goes to YOU... and to all my reviewers and readers! Hugs and kisses! A/N at end... C3
Winter
Marked by lack of Life, Warmth and Cheer.
They say that regrets always come particularly at the end of things. It doesn't come at the beginning, or the middle; but always at the end. It comes when someone passes the state wherein that someone cannot do anything anymore to remedy the situation. It comes when we know we cannot do anything more to change the course of our lives.
And as for Tomoyo...
The only regret she had at that moment was failing to tell Sakura-chan her feelings. Tell her how glad she was meeting the best, best friend in the whole world. Tell her how nice it had been that Sakura-chan considered her closer than any blood sister would...
But she didn't regret not telling her, she's the one whom she loves best... with all her heart.
Emptiness came in and consumed her. The warmth and light of the beam came closer to the proximity wherein it had already invaded the darkness, clothing her vision. Then, not knowing exactly when, she was suddenly aware of calmness and comfort, surrounding her like a very protective embrace. It was somewhat odd, but she had somehow felt a puzzling similarity whenever she was holding Sakura-chan to give comfort to... or vice versa.
Very puzzling indeed, since she never knew she could feel it elsewhere other than with the person whom she loves best. What more, it was in the presence of danger. But then, as she tightened her eyes to brace herself from the pain, she was suddenly aware she was calling out for someone to save her... deep down, she was calling out for someone to save her.
She realized she wanted and needed someone to save her.
She needed someone who would save her from danger and the constant feeling of emptiness she had been concealing for... her thoughts stopped.
Emptiness? Concealing?
And that was enough to slap her self back to consciousness.
She suddenly realized that the feelings of calmness, comfort and protection were being emitted, not by the energy wave of their opponent but, in fact by the same person who bore the rich scent of musk, filling in her nostrils and—
"Daidouji-san..." and a deep, soothing male's voice, "Are you alright?"
She was left to wonder when her arms had slid around his waist for support.
"Tomoyo-chan! Yue-san!" she heard Sakura call out, immediately making Tomoyo's head snap up to the man, holding her in his arms.
"Eriol-kun!" Then, Sakura added, gladly.
Tomoyo just stared at him, eyes locked at his bespectacled pair of blue, comparable to that of a pair of dazzling sapphires — or whether she was in fact, gaping, she wasn't really sure at the moment since her brain had most likely been reduced to a pathetic pulp, somewhere, in a different dimension.
Hiiragizawa smiled worriedly at her. He gave her the same encrypted smile she used to see back when they were still in elementary, only, the smile that he was currently giving her rested more on the worried side, rather than the familiarly gentle one he uses whenever his eyes rest upon Sakura-chan. "Daidouji-san?" he asked again.
Tomoyo immediately pulled away and nodded, not trusting herself to speak since she had a horrible feeling it would come out as a squeak.
Hiiragizawa understood her in a glance — how he did, she'll never know — then cocked his head to look at Yue, holding up a shield to protect them. "Thank you, Yue-san..."
Yue merely glanced at him over his shoulder, wearing a sort-of smug expression that bordered on acidity and — well, the normal Yue-san look would do, description terms.
"Tomoyo-chaaaan..." bellowed Cerberus, darkly. Tomoyo turned and found herself a couple of inches away from Cerberus, making a funny face that could be described as someone who had been smacked, dead on the face, by a frying pan; with a sort of accusing streak. She could tell he almost had a heart attack. "Why pull a stunt like that, huh, Tomoyo-chan? You SCARED us..." A single bead of sweat trailed down her head, exactly at the loss of explanation.
Sakura opened her mouth to speak, stopped then turned when she caught something within her sight's perimeter. She would've regarded it as a shadow lurking behind Syaoran-kun, but when said 'shadow' suddenly held up a sword right above her fiancé's head, she knew, it was utterly different. Her eyes widened. "SYAORAN-KUN!" She screamed.
Li pivoted and did a hopeless counter; already anticipating something to split his skull open...
But it never came.
He was only, briefly, aware of something red hitting his opponent, sending her a few feet back.
"My, my..." said a highly amused voice, "Your shooting skills have improved, Spinel." It was Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun.
"I've had target practices with Nakuru-kun..." Answered the Larger Version of the Plush Toy. "...Thanks." he continued, more or less, dryly, landing a second later beside Ruby Moon with unusual seriousness.
"Well..." said the hooded man, "It's nice to see you again..." He upturned a lopsided smile, emanating fondness — evil fondness — in all directions. "... Eriol-kun."
Golden light flashed around him, brightly.
A sudden surge of magical electricity filled the air.
As it is so, it was felt by everyone on the grounds — well, maybe with the exemption of Tomoyo, who regarded it as some nasty wind coming somewhere from the Arctic Region, or perhaps someone was holding out one of those humongous fans, even though it was December — standing firmly from where they were located and making assessments, whether either of them would prance that way or this way.
The wind made another blustering motion. Then, Sakura stepped forward, giving Raven and Cyrus a dose of her Look — which of course, was easily recognized by Li and Tomoyo since it was the one that she often gives whenever Tomoyo wiggles herself out of her plans for the weekends, or Li saying that spending the day with her onii-chan was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard off (last time he said that, Touya and Syaoran found themselves stuck in the maze card and when they got out, Sakura was smiling at them with a cheerful See? You didn't kill each Other inside the maze card so you CAN get along with each other! The two could only scowl and glare at each other even more, which was silenced by another Look that promised something more than the Maze Card) — "Who are you and why are you doing this?" Everyone could only guess where she had been hiding THAT side for SO long.
The black-winged beings stared at her for a while, then glanced at each other. Then, stared back at them again before finally spreading their wings to bullet themselves, straight up in the air.
Yue rocketed after them, and so did Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun in hot pursuit.
"Yue!" called Ruby Moon, throwing in a batch of her ruby shards after Yue's. "I wanna hit them as much as you do but we HAVE to be careful!"
Spinel was right beside her, blasting a few good rounds of his beam and was getting accurateat each and every shot. But somehow, their opponents kept on dodging it.
Yue slightly cocked his head to glance smugly at Ruby Moon, "I AM being carefull."
Ruby Moon sweat dropped, "You really haven't changed, have you?" she shook her head, "But still, we don't want to provoke them too much."
"I agree," said Spinel, "I'm not quite sure of their capabilities. Someone's blocking off their aura."
"Well, anyway..." Ruby Moon grinned, "... they don't look too powerful to me so what would it be?"
Spinel sweat dropped, "Oh, what great caution teller you are, Ruby Moon."
"That was BEFORE I took a good glimpse at them!" she argued then saw the black-winged beings halt. "It's now or never!"
And without a word more, Yue flew in front ofhis companions then poised his hands to aim a shot of his arrow towards the winged female...
"Be careful, Yue." warned Spinel, eyeing the beings suspiciously as they spun around. "Remember what they did to--"
The arrow was released at the same time that the beings fully faced them.
Distress could be seen in the face of the tiger, while his cohort simply followed the movement of the arrow aiming exactly for her chest. It was only half a foot awaywhen she immediately moved to catch it with her right hand, just in time before it even punctured a hole in her chest...
"--Cerberus..." continued Spinel, at a grim loss for words. His eyes weredoubling the size of saucers especiallywhen he saw the female disintegrate Yue's arrow...
And to say that Yue, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun were shocked would be the gross understatement of the year, judging from the way they were looking at them, like they grew another head or something scarier than confronting a hungry vampire in broad daylight.
The female smiled crookedly at Yue.
And Spinel, being the only one who recovered somewhat from what he saw flew forward to try his shot. The white tiger moved to confront him. He didn't know the limits of his capabilities but he thought that it couldn't be half as bad, could it?
All that he knew was the tiger, apparently, had a lot to answer for after what he did to Cerberus, Daidouji-san, and Sakura-san. And without a single doubt — his eyes strayed to the female for a while — SHE had a lot to answer for almost killing the Li clan's head but had already made it a point to show inkling of how her powers worked when she caught and disintegrated Yue's arrow within a blink. How she did it, he'd never know; but as far as powers were observed — being exposed to it and all with Eriol — he knew one thing was for certain...
They're more than what they wanted them to think.
Settling for a firmer stance in midair, Spinel Sun established eye contact with the tiger and opened his mouth to release a radiance of ruby-colored light. He really didn't know the extent of his powers and so, he was taking this chance. And if he only saw those four horrified expressions coming from Cerberus, Daidouji-san, the cute descendant — as Eriol aptly called him — and Sakura-san, he may have had inkling of what he was up against.
Beams were released.
It was already too late for any action; and Spinel was overcome by his opponent's energy wave almost instantly, sending him riveting down the ground with a dangerous sounding thump.
A worried chorus of "Suppi!" and "Spinel!" was heard from below.
"Spinel!" Came Eriol's worried voice. He didn't bother asking if he was alright, since it would seem to be pretty obvious, judging by the size of the burn on the larger form of the plush toy's body.
"I'm okay..." he struggled to get up but failed. "I wasn't expecting something as powerful as that..." he turned to look up at the tiger. "I was careless..."
Ruby Moon couldn't decide whether she wanted to gape or let Yue yank her until she couldn't see straight. She was actually, positively, at the state of shock to even do something... anything. Yue's arrow was caught and disintegrated, without as much of a stir; then the other Larger Plushie overpowered Spinel Sun.
And the thought of actually considering them to be little less than harmful — she booted, there was a fine line between harmless, harmful and extremely harmful and Ruby Moon, considered them, at a glance, a little less than harmful which was stupid at all points, considering they CAN burn them to a crisp within a finger's snap or God knows how quick it can go — proved some fatally scary fact she wouldn't even dare cross. It was a little bit overboard for them to consider something fairly different but it HAD to be deliberate. Whoever their creator was — Clow or not so Clow — has a lot to answer for if they ask her.
Heavy silence hung above them.
Until, finally, one made a motion to speak.
"You should know how strong your opponents are before doing something deliberately..." The winged female's words faded, looking as if she was considering something — where in fact, she was since she was thinking of another word to put on so as not to piss off the group front and below from any offensive word that she may or may not throw at them. After all, they're unlike her tiger cohort who would easily bounce back a retort with a single glare; she bet they'd be more than glad to throw sharp objects at her until she became a multifunctional pincushion. "…Reckless..." That was the best she could think of.
And as if pulling her voice out from somewhere in the abyss of her diaphragm, Ruby Moon uttered her words clearly, throwing in icy glares all the way. "Don't worry..." She said with a dangerous pique, "We're already aware of it..."
She threw her a fond look that suggested something like 'Wuby Moon is a good widdle gurl'.
Yue and Ruby Moon skewered her in a glance. She was deliberately annoying them.
"It's nice to finally meet the four of you..." Grinned the tiger, earning a strange look from Yue and Ruby Moon this time, "We've heard a lot of things about you guys..." he said, more or less amiably, confusing the heck out of the two guardians who were half-gaping at him — well, at least, Ruby Moon ALMOST was; Yue just raised one perfectly curved eyebrow.
"From...?" Asked Yue, curiously, if that was some word to use. He was basically looking bored upon inquiry.
The black-winged duos miled fondly at him. "From Clow Reed." They chorused, somewhat nonchalantly as if the person whom they were talking to was just a favored storekeeper, living on the other side of the district.
And if they expected them to be shocked, they were disappointed.
Their looks bordered more on confusion and incomprehension rather than the anticipated shock of the year as they had imagined in their minds.
"What do you mean, from Clow Reed?" Yue narrowed his gaze at them — as if his intimidating looks weren't enough to shoo away an army of zombies.
It was female who considered the thought for a while. "Hmm..." she said, pursing her lips. "I don't think it's our call to answer that..."
"Oh?" Ruby Moon arched an eyebrow.
"But don't worry," said the tiger once more, flapping his wings in a way that warned them they were about to do something. "This won't be the last time we see each other..." They turned.
"Until next time..." and with those final words from the winged female, they flew off.
Ruby Moon and Yue considered following them but found it impossible since they suddenly disappeared in thin air within the span of a blink. They were left to stare at the place where they 'poofed' away then looked at each other, stared at the place again then glanced at each other once more...
"I don't know about you..." Ruby Moon said, still occupied with the thoughts in her head. "But I think they just told us they're going to cause more trouble."
Yue huffed at her, looking immensely bored. "Is that a fact..."
"I'm mighty impressed..." The winged female said, hovering to and fro in midair as she observed the ground's sudden outburst of cheerful music and voices and things, ten minutes after their encounter had occurred. "Even though I knew we had the upper hand, the Li boy certainly had his share of the beating if it wasn't for — er — several distractions..."
From a few yards away, Nakuru was busily glomping Yukito and Li. Then engaging Sakura and Tomoyo in a bone-crushing hug.
"And Ruby Moon and Yue weren't half as bad either..." she smiled brilliantly.
"Cerberus and Spinel Sun too..."the tiger nodded approvingly, "Even though I certainly gave them quite a start..." He grinned. His master patted him, gently, on the head.
"Giving them quite a start is good, Cyrus..." said the hooded man, "It's exactly what I was hoping for..."
"You knew this was coming?" blinked the throw rug.
"Of course he knew, you klutz..."The femme stated, obviously trying to irritate the tiger, named Cyrus, to the tips of his white tail. "Why make us this way if he didn't?"
"HEY!" It worked, obviously, "I'm not the one who almost ate dust a couple of minutes ago!"
"Well, I didn't get much of a chance to display my magical capabilities now, did I?" she smirked at the overly annoyed tiger; veins were visibly swelling out of his head and — if possible — through his helm. "At least I didn't have to flaunt it much to make them realize the fact."
"Grr...Ifyou'vebeensomodestthen," He paused for breath and momentum, "WHYDIDYOUCATCHTHEARROWWITHYOURBARE HANDS?" growled Cyrus. "And you really had to disintegrate it..." he huffed. "Some modesty you have there..."
"Really now, you big chunk of fur ball..." she retorted, dryly. "Do you expect me to wiggle around and dodge the arrow when I can just as well stop the entire hullabaloo by catching it?" She narrowed a comical gaze at her companion. "...And can you please do something to stop your drool from coming out of its proper place? It's disgusting..."
Cyrus turned crimson. "IT'S NOT!"
"Sure, fine..." she waved her hand dismissively, holding all the intentions of pissing her companion more than he already was at the moment. "Whatever..."
Cyrus was ready to bite another comment, but his master had enough grace in him to stop their continuous bicker-blabber. "Okay... that's about enough."
They ignored him.
"Why don't we give it a rest and call it a day?" he added, mildly, with amusement tainting his voice.
They ignored him some more.
The reason why he kept some grace in him to stop their pointless argument was mainly because they would probably end up biting each other's head like the previous bickering sessions they've had in the past — if he was lucky, that is. And if he was not, he had to eventually stop one of them from blasting off in fury, kicking boulders or rubble on the way — if he was lucky again, and if not, well, to put it mildly, the worse so far was the one that occurred in the Grand Canyon.
Cyrus was definitely ready to deform the magnificent centuries' deal of artwork, courtesy of Mother Nature, when she "accidentally" pricked his behind with her katana to give him a slight push off the cliff. She claimed she was just worried about Cyrus' flying ability, considering the fact that he hibernated for a VERY long time, starting off from Clow's death until just about a few years back. She was showing pretty much all of her sharp teeth, all the way in an attempt to wash her hands clean in the light of feigned purity in thoughts and innocence.
"Stop it you two." He spoke again in all due lightness, though strong and firm with finality.
His guardians made a low-sounding huff but did as they were told.
Kero-chan was making a ruckus in the living room — a loud, growling ruckus in the living room as Yukito tried to lessen the pain of his burns. "PLEASE be gentler..."
Yukito smiled cheerfully. "I'll try my best." He picked up a cleaning agent and applied it on the guardian beast's wounds.
"Ou-Ou-Ou-Oucccchhhhh! YEEEOOOOOUUUCCCCHHHHH!" yelped the plush toy, gritting his teeth and stomping his paw in the process to force the pain away. "Yukito-san..." he breathed heavily in an attempt to calm himself from the pain. "Why, in heavens, do you call these things—" he winced, willing his self to stop yelping hysterically. "—GENTLE?"
If he weren't so cocky, spoke Yukito's other self in his head, he never would've ended up like that in the first place.
I don't think anyone expected them to be that powerful, Yue-san, said Yukito, defending the groaning plush toy. Besides, we also could've been in his place if she hadn't been so modest about her magical capabilities. Yukito was obviously referring to the female who had caught the arrow effortlessly, as narrated by a very hysterical plushie patient.
It's different, snorted the moon guardian. He's still recklessly cocky and overconfident.
And Yukito thought, not for the first time, it's a pity he could never skewer his other self no matter how much he yearned doing it for the past years.
Kero-chan let out another yelp of pain, earning a distasteful look, this time, from Spinel Sun who was at the moment, being treated by Tomoyo in his best of behavior. "There..." said the iolite-eyed lady; tying the last loose bandage on the black plush-toy's miniature body. "Are you feeling better now, Spinel-san?"
"Hai..." answered Spinel, "I would be able to regenerate with the help of the sun. But I can't stop wondering..." he paused at a running thought. "If he was able to inflict this kind of damage then I can say his powers maybe more than what he cares to show..." he tried to move his bandaged limbs then looked up at Tomoyo. "Anyway, thank you for lessening the pain, Daidouji-san."
"No problem..." Tomoyo smiled, fighting the urge to grab and cuddle him as she had often seen Akizuki-san do — well, gentler to some extent, at least, since along with the brisk cuddling of the moon guardian, she had also witnessed how Spinel's color dangerously paled. "Although I'm a bit curious... why didn't you let Akizuki-san tend your wounds?"
Spinel made a motion to speak but was rudely interrupted by the irritating high-pitched trilling of someone at the doorway; connecting the kitchen and the living room.
"—We brought some caaaaakeeessss and teeeeeeeeeeaa for everyboooddddyyyyyy!" Nakuru happily bounced in the room; well, actually, she was hanging on Touya's back as the poor man carried a tray of cakes. Fujitaka carried tea and Eriol carried some excess plates that wouldn't fit on either Fujitaka or Touya's tray, along with Spinel Sun's food.
Sakura and Nadeshiko followed them closely for assistance — well, Nadeshiko floated closely and Sakura apt for assistance.
Another idiot bounded in... Yue sounded bored. Yukito yearned to hit him with a mallet.
"And Fujitaka-sensei and Eriol made something special for Sup-PI-chaaan toooooooo!" she trilled once more, earning a Look from Touya that bordered between annoyance and hopelessness.
Spinel's eyes narrowed at his co-guardian then turned a straight-faced 'you-see' look at Tomoyo. "Would you trust someone like her with your wounds?"
Tomoyo sweat dropped. She thought it best to leave it as that.
"You're just being mean, Suppi-chan!" Nakuru jumped away from Touya, — much to his relief — stuck out her tongue, then rested her hands on her hips. "The last time YOU had an accident back in England, I was the one who fixed YOUR wound!"
"And I wonder whose fault that was." Spinel snorted, then glared accusingly at Nakuru. "And thanks to YOU, I was OUT for a WEEK!" he bellowed. "And if it weren't for Eriol, I would've been DELIRIOUS for a month longer!"
Everyone stared. Then turned to Eriol who was putting up a ridiculously cheerful smile on his face, utterly too obnoxious for Li and Touya's liking, "He was electrocuted so I had to draw out the remaining electricity charges in his body to stop any internal damage."
Everyone winced, save for Eriol, Spinel and Nakuru.
"Why was he electrocuted?" Asked Tomoyo suspiciously; wary of the looks that Eriol and Nakuru had been putting up.
The cheerful smile on Eriol's face rivaled the cosmetic smile of a clown.
Tomoyo was even more suspicious; she turned towards Spinel.
"Nakuru fed me a whole packet of those chocolate-coated nuts," he began, throwing a very accusing glare at Nakuru-kun as if he was currently experiencing everything in rewind. "I was drunk and somehow landed on the chandelier, and God knows what happened back then."
She tried to wash her hands clean by looking innocent. "He probably thought the electrical wirings were colorful sugar sticks so he bit into them," Nakuru offered.
"And YOU'RE accusing ME of being MEAN?" snapped Spinel.
Nakuru grinned, whence Tomoyo noticed she had been showing a lot of her sharp white teeth in the process.
Everyone could only stare.
Spinel took note, after swallowing one of his cookies, of the changes in everyone in the living room. It was expected, of course, but one of them eventually stood out and earned the plush toy's undivided attention. Why wouldn't he? For one, her aura had been screaming a few unlikely things to those who knew exactly how to read it properly. And other than that, while he was having a little chat with her, Spinel could feel the coldness of dull silver and blue emanating from her, mingling intensely with the chilly winter air of Japan that somehow reminded Spinel of England's weather just before they left: lacking life, warmth and cheer.
Well, it is after all, winter in the northern hemisphere.
And the Winter Season, he concluded, suits Daidouji-san pretty well.
He turned his observing eyes around the room then bit into his cookie, a little less enthusiastic about it this time.
Has it been thirteen years already?
The calm steady look on Daidouji-san's face was still there. Along with the same ready smile that looked almost too knowing for her age. And if Spinel didn't know any better, he would most probably think nothing much had come upon her, other than her physical features that had already matured. Believe him or not, Spinel thought those thirteen years did her incredible justice, physically. And as Nakuru commented earlier, along with a fatal bone-crushing hug, Daidouji-chan changed a LOT and is VERY PRETTY and she bet she has suitors and boyfriends and would let Nakuru meet aaaallll of them. He fought the urge to snort — more on the thought of remembering Nakuru's ways of unconsciously squeezing the life out of people by blocking their circulation and seizing oxygen from their physiological pathways —, hoping all the while, he wasn't making any weird faces.
Spinel just BET Daidouji-san had a boyfriend... lots of them. Because basically, boyfriend to Daidouji-san meant a boy, and a friend fused into one logical bind that settled on nothing more but mere friendship: A guy friend... a male friend.
And that was JUST that.
"We felt Clow Reed's presence..." Announced the Li as he took alternating Looks between Hiiragizawa, and Cerberus who was, at the moment, trying to score on his plate for more servings of cake. "Mind sharing a few deductions, Hiiragizawa?"
Eriol heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure if it's intuition or not," He smiled up at Sakura and saw Li-kun puncture his cake — where Cerberus' little dirty hand was getting at — to keep the plush toy away. "But originally, I plan on staying here for vacation. It just so happens that this came up and so..." he paused. Spinel noticed Eriol taking a casual sideway glance at Daidouji-san. He filed the information away for his talk with Eriol later. "I followed the presence and arrived at the same time with Yue-san."
Yukito blinked. "But if it's Clow Reed, then..." he blinked again, throwing an inquiring look at Fujitaka-sensei and Eriol.
Touya filled in that part for him. "Wasn't Clow Reed reincarnated into two people? One being him—" He threw an annoyed look at Eriol. And received a smile. "—And the other would be..." His words faded.
Everyone stared at Fujitaka-sensei, expectantly. A big bead of sweat trailed down his head; sure he was being sentenced to death or something close.
"I-Is there..." he choked, "something wrong?"
I think they're asking if you happen to know anything, Nadeshiko explained happily.
Fujitaka looked at her, confusedly. "Not that I'm aware of... really." He cleared his throat and recovered from his momentary shock. "Hiiragizawa-kun mentioned something about Clow Reed leaving his memories to him..." He brightened up, "I guess I'm pretty clueless to everything that has been happening."
Nadeshiko giggled. Fujitaka gave her a questioning, blank look. Nothing... she answered.
Silence followed as everyone considered his statement.
True enough, Spinel thought, no matter how creepily similar Eriol and Fujitaka-sensei could be in a sense, he isn't the type of a person who would engage in some magical hullabaloo, thus, gaining the less puckish side of Clow and all. So, Spinel guessed Clow Reed must have willed Fujitaka-sensei to lead an ordinary life — minus the magical abilities part — to take better care of his family; of Sakura-san and Touya-kun; and even Nadeshiko-san when she was still alive.
And as for the one who caught Clow's puckish side... well — he turned a Look at Eriol — everybody's yet to find out...
"But perhaps..." Fujitaka-sensei spoke once more, picking up the teapot for refills. "Perhaps, Clow Reed left something for Hiiragizawa-kun to figure out..."
Eriol suddenly looked burdened. "He certainly did a good job keeping it away." He tried not to grumble.
Fujitaka-sensei nodded, understandingly, then sipped on his tea.
Whatever it is, said Nadeshiko, smiling cheerfully as ever at Eriol. I'm sure Clow Reed wouldn't mean to hurt himself more than he wouldn't mean hurting either Sakura-chan or Tomoyo-chan...
Sakura was wearing a far-off look in her eyes for a brief while then snapped back, putting on a small smile. "Okaa-san's right..." she said, "We just have to be extra careful in dealing with them next time..." she paused then smiled at Eriol. "But I'm sure... somehow... everything will be okay in the end... you don't have to worry."
"I'm sure it would, Sakura-chan…" Tomoyo injected with that pretty masked smile of hers; which Spinel felt the need to scrape and shred to pieces with his claws then claim, afterwards, that he just wanted to see — out of idle curiosity — if something was beneath it. And pray that his innocent looks would be enough for everyone to absolve him. Really. It was not actually like Spinel at all to have such invading thoughts but considering the circumstances she had been dipping herself into for God-knows-how-long, he couldn't help but feel a little sad for Daidouji-san. Such a lovely and kind person shouldn't be allowed to suffer for her entire lifetime.
He saw Sakura-san agree with a cheerful nod.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Nakuru-kun suddenly spoke. "Maybe for Sakura-chan..." Nakuru nodded, emanating an air of confidence and cheer. "But IIII'm not entirely sure for EVERYone..." Her voice implied skepticism — cheerful skepticism — that pinpointed to a magnetic pole, somewhere in the living room, like a compass.
And Spinel wondered where, exactly, North was. Maybe HE should have another talk with Nakuru-kun later with Eriol.
Everyone stared at her.
"What do you mean, Akizuki-san?" asked Yukito, blinking rapidly. It seems, he can't fathom the unusualness of a person like Nakuru-kun, who seem to only think about having fun and causing trouble to, basically, anyone who comes within fifty feet of her perimeter, saying something as serious as that.
"Oh..." Nakuru grinned. "Nothing much, really." She took her fork then stuffed a piece of cake in her mouth.
Spinel wondered what Nakuru was implying when she said that. It was a rare moment, actually, but not so rare as to see Nakuru so set in doing things the way a normal person would — though she was far from being dubbed "normal" as far as the word "normal" could be defined. He was still wondering when he took a cookie and aimed for his mouth. Then, upon switching on a position that somehow made him notice Nakuru-kun stealing a quick glance at Daidouji-san, the cookie, which he originally aimed for his mouth, was shoved under or perhaps, on his nose instead...
"Ne..." uttered Nakuru, happily; unaware of the fact that Spinel Sun was half-gaping at her. "I wanna go to the amusement park!" she announced, returning to her normal chirpy self once more. "And I waaaaaanna go with Tsukishiro-kun and Touya-kun!"
Everyone could only manage to stare, unsure of what to think. While Spinel Sun continued to ponder a single thought in his cute little head...
If Nakuru-kun noticed, then Daidouji-san must be worse than he had anticipated...
And with that considered, he finally managed to shove the cookie down his throat, not on his nose...
Tsuzuku...
I want to read opinions and deductions about this fiction. Please review!
a.) Sorry for the long wait... Eheh... I have to read and re-read the story and see if the plot matches. I did, roughly, four to five drafts of this story already and constantly changing the way it was written. I'm not putting it up until I'm sure it's okay so... cough... slower in updating than usual. XD
b.) Iolite is a beautiful blue-violet gemstone. I couldn't quite decide whether I should settle for amethyst, lilac, violet or blue violet... and then I happen to come across birthstones in the net and stumbled upon this beauty here... (Whistles)... The color's just perfect. It matches Tomoyo-chan's eyes. Oh and for your info, Sapphire is the official birthstone of those born on September... and guess what? Tomoyo Daidouji's birthday is on September third (well... what do you know...) XD
c.) I know some — or most — of the characters are probably out of character but I'm having trouble keeping them "in character" because... XO ... these are people in their twenties already. It's hard to plop them on their twenties, then give them an attitude back when they were still in elementary... it's kinda complicated but I'm thinking under the light of someone growing at THAT particular age and I just thought it would be sort of... interesting — if not funny — to see when things switch... like Sakura would take care of Tomoyo in a way, rather than the other way around... BUT... XO... I managed to keep some of their elementary details in tact. Videotaping gigs... Li's blushing habit... Hiiragizawa's irritating demeanor... and a few twists later on... eheh... Plus, I found it irresistible to patch up Sakura-chan's kawaii naivety and occasional clueless state but really... for someone gifted with the power of foresight — and manipulation of goodness knows how strong those cards were — it's kinda hard to stay naïve and (especially) clueless to everything that happens around you. (Take/Note: She CAN see the future WHEN she wants to.) XD
d.) I know that the guardians aren't that susceptible to wounds and I can recall Kero-chan saying something about regenerating his energy from the sun but... I took the liberties anyway. C3 I explained in the story that Cyrus' powers are yards ahead and his creator thought about everything else... after all... he is — or was — Clow Reed! Kakakakakaka! C3 eheh...
e.) And lastly (and when I say "first of all", that means, first and LAST of all coz u guys are so special, especially my precious beta reader) Thanks to my beta reader, VampirePeaches! I love you so much I could just hug you! And to those who reviewed, my love goes to you too! XD You rock guys! XD ehehehe...
And Now... a special feature from the crazy, crazy author of this fiction...
(Drum rolls)...
LAU-KUN'S CORNER...!
(Thunderous applause)
Spinel: NAKURU knows MORE than she cares to show?
Me: Ask CLAMP... (Still typing) and besides... if it's not the truth, it's CLOSE... from my point of view at least.
Spinel: (Mumbles something incoherently)
Me: (Ball my eyes around) Aw come on, little guy! Just agree... (Continues typing)
Spinel: (blinks) I wasn't objecting..
Me: (Pouts) You were thinking it
Spinel: (Perches on my head) Nakuru may get on my nerves most of the time but she does have strong points...least of the time.
Me: er ...
Spinel & Me: (Hears several shrills in the background)
Touya: Get away you--!
Yukito: A-Akizuki-san--!
Nakuru: TO-YA-KUUUUUN! Tsu-KI-shi-RRROOOOOOO-KUUUUUUUUUN! (More crashing sounds in the background)
Me & Spinel: (Sweat drops)
Me: Eheh... I guess.. that's not one of her strong points... is it?
Spinel: (Deadpan) You really have to ask...
End!