Warnings, disclaimers, Kero's got opinions and he's not afraid to think them...

Sorry for the long wait, but I had two possible plotlines to fit the circumstances I have in mind, and half a dozen ways to go about writing them. That mess has finally been sorted out, though, thanks to summerstarr.

To-ya: a nickname for Touya, used by Yukito. English speakers can't hear the difference, but it's a syllable shorter.

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Ch. 3 - Resonance

It hadn't taken much convincing for Yukito to stay the night. Attuned to the sounds of the house as Kero was, he was clearly able to hear the two teenage boys bidding Tomoyo goodbye, eating dinner, doing homework, bathing, going to bed, all while he meditated on the Cards.

And he was clearly able to hear the two NOT fetching the air mattress for guests.

It's about time, Snowbunny, Kero thought to himself smugly.

But the sounds of the two climbing into bed faded away without so much as a telltale squeak or rustle, and Kero sighed. Stupid, repressed angel.

He went back to studying the new Cards, trying to at least categorize them. If he could. Yue was always so much better at this - not that Kero would ever admit that, but he sometimes needed the answers shoved in his face.

This difficulty wasn't due to a lack of intelligence or power on Kero's part. Rather the opposite, in fact. Kero's own power blazed too brightly to find any but the strongest matches with himself - rather like trying to see a candle flame in the middle of a bonfire - so in most cases, he was reduced to guessing based on the Card symbols. Unfortunately, this left Kero doubly blocked.

The first block was in the forms of Clow's creations, which were more than simply shapes. There was a reason that Yue was human-shaped, and Kero was not. Clow had created Yue to master the arts of humanity, as he had created Kero to embody the more basic urges. Kero would always be best at following his instincts: choosing Cardmasters who wouldn't abuse the power (as in, those he liked and trusted right off the bat), fighting, eating, throwing tantrums, playing, sleeping, and so forth. Yue, though, would always be more skilled with human reasoning, behaviors, and other subtleties that eluded Keroberos (he'd learned repression stunningly well, for example).

As if that wasn't enough of a stumbling block, though, there was a second one in place. Symbolism required information, as well as an ability to follow, have, and interpret abstract thought. All of these were ruled by the Moon, embodied in Windy, Dream, Illusion, and other Cards.

In light of this, it was amazing that Kero was able to categorize even a single Card: The Mask. He'd only managed to do so after about an hour of finicky examination of every line in the image, to make sure there was nothing drawn there that could possibly contradict the card's name, thus placing it under Kero's command (there wasn't). But this Card was one Yue would've considered 'obvious'. The others were not. They had Kero's fire in Yue's colors, symbols that may or may not be what they seemed, names that would fit under either's rule, etc.

Kero barely managed to suppress a strained, half-hysterical tantrum (wow, all these months of hiding from Touya paid off!). Not that he thought there was much chance of waking Sakura, but best not to risk it. He flopped back onto the desk, depressed and starting to develop a headache, when he noticed soft sounds within the house.

One of the boys was up and about. A door creaked; the upstairs toilet flushed. Footsteps approached Sakura's door, paused, and a silvery glow pulsed under the doorframe, moon-cool magic washing out with it. The handle turned, and Yue peered into the room, face as blank as ever.

Kero waved him in, hiding his relief.

"I've been staring at these things all night," he groaned, stretching, "and I have no idea which of ours any of them really ARE." Though he had a few guesses. "Ya take a look at them."

Yue shut the door silently behind him, and crooked his fingers at the Cards. (That annoyed Kero just the tiniest bit - Yue had hands to do delicate movements like that. Kero had stubby paws and no opposable thumbs. ... Although he was able to do just as much with his back paws as his front, whereas Yue's feet were barely used even for walking, so there.) The Cards flew over and lined up before the angel, and he plucked one from the air: the second from the left, The Mask.

"This is a Moon card," Yue said instantly (instantly! grr!), tracing a finger gently over the face Kero couldn't see from this angle.

"That was the only one I was sure of," Kero admitted. Only the red color of the hair had been any indication that the Card might not be Yue's, and even that didn't entirely count. Red was the color of a lunar eclipse.

Yue turned the farthest right Card - The Destroy - to face Kero. "Not this one? It's yours." Kero made a face; he didn't want this Card. It had to be evil. "It is yours," Yue pressed. "Fire and most destruction are yours."

Well, it COULD'VE been Yue's. Black and purple weren't Sun colors. (Spinel Sun did NOT count.) "I guess it's too hot for ya," Kero said gracelessly. Yue sent the Card flying back to him, and Kero gestured it into the book. "So now I've got Create and Destroy." And Yue had Erase. Funny, how that worked out.

NOT.

"So what about the rest?" Kero asked, not wanting to dwell on the fact that he couldn't foist Destroy onto Yue.

Yue replaced Mask in the air, and took down Thief. He ran his hands lightly over the Card in silence for a long moment, fingertips tracing the image. "I would have to see this one activated."

Kero blinked. That wasn't what he'd expected Yue to say. "Why? Kitsune, mystic gems, scrolls... knowledge and secrets are your Cards!"

"Stone and material possessions aren't," Yue countered, "nor are beasts and wards. This Card's affinity will have to be determined by its behavior - it may be a smash-and-grab type of Thief, in which case it's yours." Kero stuck his tongue out at Yue, who ignored it to take down Sight. "Mine," he said swiftly.

That meant one Card for Kero, two for Yue, one uncertain, and one left. If they were lucky, Swift would be Kero's. The deck was going to end up unbalanced as it was, but if the last Card was Kero's, at least there would be no chance of a 4-1 inequality.

Yue took The Swift, with its dark, wild-haired little man holding a swirl of violet-black fire, and once again ghosted his fingers over it. His eyes fell closed as his hands moved. Up, down, around, curling over and under in strange patterns.

Kero bit his lip. Another difficult one...

"There's something..." Yue murmured.

"Something?"

"It's very similar to Dash, and with the fire symbol..." Yue trailed off.

That didn't sound good. "With the fire symbol... what? It's mine?"

"I'm not certain. He's dark-"

"Dark!" Kero leapt to his feet, wings shoving him a full foot in the air above the desk before he'd fully righted himself. "I KNEW it! They're EVIL!" Yue clamped a hand over Kero's mouth; he'd nearly shouted that last bit.

"Don't wake Touya!" he hissed, his voice a breathy, furious - for Yue - whisper.

"Mmph!" Can't breathe! Leggo!

Sakura shifted in her sleep, a soft sound that wasn't quite a moan escaping her as she moved.

"... Or the Mistress," Yue added, belatedly.

Ha! Watch my restraint, as I kindly DON'T torment you for that slip... if you let me go NOW so I can BREATHE!

Yue's hand fell, and Kero zoomed nearly to the ceiling, out of arm's reach. He gasped loudly for air, glaring at Yue.

See? See what you did? Nearly strangled me! See? SEE? Yue gazed coolly back at him, and Kero mentally supplied words for the expression. "If you wake my precious darling To-ya, you will have MUCH worse to worry about than a lack of air."

"Don't misinterpret my words," Yue said, his voice clipped. "I said dark, not evil. Clow's own power was that of the dark, though this isn't the same." A pause. "Taken alone, most of them have an almost overwhelming strength. I would judge them to be the equals of Light and Dark," he named the two most powerful Cards in the deck "or possibly of ourselves."

Kero's heart dropped into his stomach, and he fluttered to sink weakly onto a nearby shelf. "Each?"

"Thief, Swift, and Destroy, certainly. Sight is lower-level, below the elementals... special-level, like Mirror, most likely." Yue gestured, and a single Card flew to hover between them, facing Kero. It was The Mask. "This one's odd. Very little power - it's little more than a filter."

"Whaddya mean?" Kero grumbled. Yue had picked up a bad habit of lecturing when he DID choose to speak.

A look that was Yue's version of a sigh. "This Card wasn't designed to stand alone. It's been purposely created with almost no power, probably to minimize damages and accidental blocking of the other power when this Card is active."

"Ehhhh?" ANY Card could stand alone. They could be used together, certainly, but they magnified each other when they did so. "What's the point of havin' a Card with almost no power?"

"We will have to observe that," Yue answered, with infuriating calm.

"ARRRRGH!"

-

Somewhere that wasn't exactly a physical location, as humans understand it, a muscular purple being threw open a door. "Koenma-sama! Koenma-samaaa!"

A little boy, seated behind a desk far too large for him, didn't look up from the papers he was stamping. "What?" he muttered behind his pacifier. "I'm busy."

"We've- we've lost track of them!" the being gasped.

"Lost track of who?" Stamp, stamp, stamp.

"THEM!" And the purple ogre shoved a paper - two mugshots: a long-haired, redheaded teen and a smaller man with wild black hair - under the child's nose.

"YOU WHAT!"

TBC

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A/N's -

- hm, a somewhat dull explanation chapter. Oh well.

- elementals: Windy, Watery, Fiery, Earthy, Woody.