Open Your Eyes

By Ukyou

Author's note: It seems that a few people are a little confused. In the last chapter, Syaoran is thinking back to when he met this girl Kaori on a train. At the time, he was with Sakura. The pointless one-word messages from Sakura are just that: pointless. I was using this to show that there is a complete lack of connection between Syaoran and Sakura now, and this one time he's with Kaori, it's something he's been desperate to do - do something interesting with anybody.

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"It'll be like, well, we met that one day … but nothing came out of it." she said to me, her eyes showing some deep form of questioning. I'm sure she was just not sure anymore if this was the right thing to do.

"But I'll still remember you, I just don't remember us being together. I'll think I broke up with Sakura again … how will I know if I won't find you again?" I asked.

"Look at me Syaoran." she said, kneeling down right in front of me. For some reason, when I looked at her, I still had that feeling inside of me. Her eyes, still beautiful, glowed like raindrops bathing in an eternal sunshine. "Don't worry about it."

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Chapter Three - Kyoto

The minute we left Kyoto Station, Kaori decided to give me a whole tour of the city. I told her on the train that I really had nothing much to do, and it just came back and bit me in the ass.

"The thing I absolutely love about this city is that its so much more - traditional. I mean, they're bulldozing away historical Kyoto, but I figure that there's still a whole lot of old Kyoto here." she said, dancing in circles as we walked. "I love these old wooden buildings."

She twirled her hair around her finger as she walked, the sleeves of her magnificently huge jacket rolled up. Then, she suddenly stopped me as her eyes lit up.

"There it is! That's the store!"

Strange. She didn't tell me she was looking for any particular store at all.

It was an odd building, its sign was barely nailed on. It looked like someone had just picked up a giant pile of junk and dropped it in the middle of Kyoto.

Five seconds after making this assumption, I had my hand grabbed by Kaori and was immediately thrown into this building.

It was dark inside. Not a mysterious dark, but an old dark. It seemed like dust had built up so much in this building that the sun had decided to just run away. Small jars lined the shelves, charms hanging by strings.

Leaves that if grounded and mixed with water can make a paste will make you irresistible to women.

Charms that ward away evil demons.

A pill that, if consumed, will allow you to forget any memory you want erased.

These were all fake potions and such. The kinds of things that only an idiot would buy.

And there she was … buying something.

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Finally, Kaori's show.

The phone in my pocket rang again, so I checked. It was only a text message. Deleted.

Instead, I could feel the sharp edges of anticipation tapping the tips of my fingers. There were, surprising, many more people here than I had originally expected. Kaori had made her whole piano career seem like this whole disaster story. Everyone around me knew her name. There were others that could not stop talking about her. There were three other women playing piano that night, yet everyone was talking about this girl Kaori.

Then, when she came out, her awkward appearance had all but disappeared. There was no oversized coat, but instead, she wore a very elegant evening gown, the exact opposite of what I could imagine her wearing. Her face was something different too - refined, like a newly cut diamond. Her skin seemed as smooth and delicate as a thin shell of porcelain. She took a bow, and everyone in the room went crazy. She wasn't some low level nobody - she was a star. What a liar. It made me laugh.

When she told me she played piano, I thought that was all she did, but no. It turns out that she sang too, her voice was a feather playing in musical harmony. It was something so beautiful that you felt like you were wrapped in a warm blanket and you never wanted to let up.

Damn.

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When it was all over, I waited for her outside. Then she came out, wearing that giant jacket again. She had transformed again.

"I thought you said that your whole life as a pianist was a drag." I laughed. "Look at you, you're like, a star and you tell me that you're unpopular."

"I never said I was unpopular." She replied. "I mean, I said it was a drag - but that didn't mean it wasn't doing well, you know?"

"Well, then what could possibly be making it a drag?"

Then I heard my phone ring again. I took it out, ready to read another exhilarating one-word message from Sakura. Strangely, I had no new messages. I looked up to see Kaori checking her phone and laughing. It wasn't her usual laugh though. No, it was more a laugh of defeat. She muttered something to herself, something about someone not being there to see her.

"Yea, I guess I lied when I said I was single." she admitted.

"Don't worry, I'm kind of taken too."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"Wow." She looked down at the ground, twirling her hair around her finger. "Then I guess we're just natural born losers then, aren't we?"

"I guess so."

She then thought for a moment, and then pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. She walked over to a pole, put the paper against it and wrote on it. Walking back towards me, she held out the piece of paper.

"I'll tell you what. One day, if you ever lose that girl, just come to this address and find me, okay?"

"Okay."

"No, promise me."

"…fine, I promise."

"Good."

"Okay."

"So, I have to go now."

"Me too."

"Goodnight. I hope the show wasn't too boring."

"You've really got to stop doing that."

"I guess so."

"Okay."

I figured she had something she wanted to say, but before she could say them, those words got trapped somewhere and wouldn't come out. She looked at me for a second, then turned around and ran away.

Then I looked at the paper she gave me.

An address.

I folded it up and put it in my wallet.

Maybe I'd look for her one day.

Then I heard the phone ring again.

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Syaoran, have you ever seen a gasoline rainbow?

No, I don't think I have. I've seen rainbows from my garden hose though.

But those aren't accidental. I love it when I screw up and something beautiful comes out of it.

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Chapter Four - Reminiscence

It made me smile. Just remembering that crazy night when the rules were broken and the only constraint we could see or feel was the fatigue of our feet.

I'm flying down the highway and all I can do is smile about the girl I had promised. I mean, hell, it was a shallow promise on my part, but what if she was totally serious?

"I'll tell you what. One day, if you ever lose that girl, just come to this address and find me, okay?"

I pulled over and stopped my bike. I was in the middle of nowhere.

Her address was still in my wallet, having been smashed and crumbled with the usual mess that accompanied my money. She lived in Tokyo … so I guessed I was heading home.

Ah what the hell. I could use the trip.

So I turned around and headed back to Tokyo.

to be continued