Moonlit Reflections

Chapter Four

Breathe in, breathe out. Keep breathing, keep focused. The actions were almost automatic.

Place arrow.

Pull back.

Aim.

Let go.

THUNK!

True to form, the arrow landed in the brightly lit circle that was the centre of the target. With a sigh of relief, Yukito lowered his bow. It was always a tense time for him during competitions. He was always so afraid that he would suddenly lose his skills, failing himself, his friends, and most of all Touya. Silly? Yes. But that was his way.

Smiling at his success Yukito left the stand for the next competitor. It was a knock out competition where each competitor had three shots. The winner would go onto the next round, while the loser would immediately be dropped out of the competition. This one was the semi-final. If Yukito won, which was likely, he would face the winner from the other draw. The youth gave some thought to who it could be. From what he had heard Morimitsu Shiroi was a viable option.

Shiroi was new to the scene but had already won two of the more prominent competitions. Yukito had never met him but heard of him from various friends. It would seem that Shiroi would be serious competition for Yukito. He was looking forward to it.

There were no doubts about it. Tsukishirou Yukito had won the semi-final, and by a large difference in points too. The boy in question smiled as he accepted the congratulations from his opponent. Even though he had won only a few minutes ago, his mind was already on the next competition. He did not know who had won but he knew whoever it was would put up a good fight and that was really all that Yukito wanted. Normally he would never be so competitive but it was most likely due to Yue's influence. It was full moon in two days and Yue was growing in power.

"Yukito!" A soprano voice called. The young man turned and found Sakura waving cheerfully at him. Behind her were Tomoyo, Fujitaka, and Touya. All of them were smiling at him with various degrees of pride. What was even more shocking was the presence of Daidouji Sonomi. That was a surprise in and of itself. Yukito barely spoke to the woman but perhaps her attendance had something to do with Sakura, Tomoyo, and Touya. They were all family after all.

With that thought in mind Yukito smiled at all of them, including Sonomi in his welcome. "Ohayou minna-san. What are you doing here?"

Sakura was the one to answer. "To see you win of course. Tomoyo-chan even brought her camera along to capture the moment." On cue Tomoyo held up her ever-present camera.

The pleased smile, which appeared for a few seconds, turned into a quizzical frown. "But I didn't tell you where I was competing. How did you get here?" At the innocent question Touya grinned while Fujitaka and Sonomi turned red, and Sakura and Tomoyo giggled. Yukito certainly couldn't understand the reaction his question had caused.

Touya took it upon himself to explain when it became evident that no one else would not, or could not, answer. "Your fanclub knew so we asked them. They were more than happy to guide us provided that we copy the tape for them. But on the way we got lost. Drove around for nearly half an hour before we decided to ask a local. Turned out the competition was about five kilometres back. By that time we were totally lost. Had to bribe a truck driver to guide us here."

Yukito blinked. "Quite an adventure," he quipped with a smile. With a faint smirk on his face Touya nodded. Yukito would have said more but stopped when Touya's eyes shifted to something behind him.

"Excuse me, are you Tsukishirou Yukito?"

While Yukito turned around, everyone else's eyes moved to the boy standing behind Yukito. "Er, yes. Do I know you?" Yukito asked, his eyes showing his bewilderment. The youth in question smiled. He brushed back his long brunette fringe revealing sky blue eyes. He held out the same hand for Yukito to shake. The hand was slender and small, looking as equally fragile Yukito's.

"I'm Morimitsu Shiroi. I'll be your opponent in the finals. I just wanted to wish you luck."

Recognising the name, Yukito shook the youth's hand firmly. "Oh, right. Good luck to you too. I have to admit I'm a little nervous. I've heard some stories about you." He said this with a smile but it was the truth. He was nervous about facing the boy. Shiroi didn't look very intidimating but his skills with the bow were already legendary in the archery world. Many of Yukito's colleague had versed the youth and all had lost. They all talked about this new competitor with awe and no little amount of respect. Now Yukito would finally see what was so special about Morimitsu Shiroi.

"I've heard a lot of things about you too. Maybe I'm the one who should be nervous?" A slight lilt of the voice made the statement into a question. When Yukito blushed in embarassment lush lips curved into a secretive smile.

Yukito blinked.

For a moment Yukito could've sworn that he had seen that same mocking smile somewhere before. It was strange but the smile and the speech pattern seemed familiar in the way that both Eriol and Fujikata were familiar; a nostalgic memory that his mind could not seem to grasp no matter how hard he tried. But Yukito was also just as positive that he had never met this young man in his entire life.

Deciding that he really should get more sleep, Yukito shrugged and smiled at Shiroi. "Well, it's been nice to meet you. Good luck again."

"And to you as well."

They watched the boy walk away confidently, subjecting him to various degrees of scrutiny. If Shiroi noticed he didn't react. "He's very friendly," Sakura noted as they watched the boy walk away.

"Yes," Yukito agreed, still wondering why this feeling of reminiscence plagued him.

"How is he?"

"Better than I thought he'd be. He looks happy."

"Did any of them recognise you?"

"No, not at all."

"Good. And did you set the spell like I told you?"

"Of course."

"Always the obedient one aren't you?"

"I live but to serve."

"Excellent. I think we can leave them to it. It should take them a while to find the solution, even with that British boy's help. Now, shall we search for your brother?"

"If you wish."

A/N

1. I hate this chapter so much. Too short and too messed up.

2. I've still got no idea where to go with this. My voices aren't helping me very much. sigh