Chapter Eleven
The Little Details

Syaoran didn't go back to the park when he left Sakura's house. He was too restless to sit a tree all night. There was too much to think about. Sitting made his mind numb, but walking helped clear his aura.

The last thing he wanted to think about, however, was his latest conversation with Chaos. But it was hard to simply put it out of his mind.

She seemed to have been hinting at something. Something was hovering between her words… Some meaning that Syaoran didn't quite understand.

One thing that did leap out at him was Ruby Moon's insinuation that Sakura was as good as dead. The thought sent the last of Syaoran's confidence to the wind.

"I've already begun the series of chain reactions that will lead, inevitably, to Sakura's death."

What chain reactions? As far as Syaoran could see, nothing major had happened in Sakura's life. The most exciting thing that had happened to her was getting tutoring lessons with the new math teacher. And, despite all the bad vibes he got from Mizuki-sensei, she didn't seem so harmful to Sakura's life. Her free time, maybe, but not her life. People didn't die from taking extra math lessons.

But there was something Syaoran was missing, some tiny detail he was overlooking…

Why hadn't Chaos ended it back in the park? There wasn't much that Syaoran could've done if the tree fell right then. Chaos must have known that.

The only conclusion Syaoran could come up with was that either Chaos was waiting for a specific moment in time to kill Sakura, or she couldn't bend the rules enough to make the tree fall right then. Maybe it was some combination of the two.

Syaoran rubbed his face. This was all his fault. If he hadn't made the stupid decision to come to this plane in the first place, Sakura wouldn't be in trouble and Syaoran would still be floating around in his house, unseen and unnoticed.

A few unpleasant emotions washed over Syaoran right at that moment. The first one he finally recognized as guilt. It was a pulling sensation in the pit of his spirit that turned his aura into a black hole out of which happiness could not escape. He had felt the same emotion a few times before, like during those long nights he had spent holding his head in his hands wondering what in the world he was doing here. How he had suddenly come to realize this emotion was beyond him— maybe he had just spent too much time around the Living.

The other bad feeling, however, was still unidentifiable. It didn't have a name, so Syaoran just called it "the ripple." It was like a pebble was tossed into the center of his spirit and the emotion amplified as the ripples washed over his aura. It wasn't so much as a bad feeling as an unpleasant one and it happened every time he thought about anything relating to his mission or Sakura.

With that, a new series of "ripples" disturbed his being. Syaoran did his best to shrug off the feeling, but it was getting harder and harder. The emotion was stubborn and didn't want to leave.

Syaoran didn't even realize the sun was rising until he felt himself spilling out on to the spiritual plane. Had he really been walking all night?

A presence faded into view before him. Syaoran's initial instinct was to prepare himself for yet another conversation with Chaos, but the cool, calm aura was like an instant disarmament.

"Yue!" Syaoran said, running up to the winged man.

"Hello Syaoran," Yue said, stone faced as ever. "Good to see you aren't in a tree this morning."

"Huh?" Syaoran said. "Oh, I just felt like I needed to walk a little."

"But it also means that you don't feel completely hopeless, even after what Chaos told you last night," Yue said.

"You were listening?" Syaoran asked.

"Of course," Yue said, crossing his arms tightly. "Just because you can't see me, doesn't mean I'm not there."

Relief washed through Syaoran. It was a huge weight off knowing that Yue was always hovering around him.

"Where have you been?" Syaoran asked. "It's been days."

"I'm sorry Syaoran, but this situation is keeping me very busy," Yue said. "Sunrise is a very hectic time for me. There's a lot to get done."

"I wish you were around more often," Syaoran said.

"Well, I'm here now," Yue said. "And now is all we have."

The words seemed final, rather than just some random phrase Yue pulled out of nowhere. Syaoran wanted to press him for more information, but their time together was limited and there was other stuff to talk about.

"Yue, did you know me before I died?" Syaoran asked spontaneously.

"I knew this would come up, living with mortals," Yue said. He seemed annoyed.

"But did you?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes," Yue said after a moment's hesitation.

"Did I really die from an illness?" Syaoran asked.

"Yes," came the hesitant reply.

"But the night of that slumber party, when that one girl was talking about how the house was haunted," Syaoran said, speaking slowly. "You told me it was all a myth, that no boy had ever died from an illness in that house."

"No, I simply asked you if you were disappointed that the story was presumably false," Yue said. "And do you remember your answer to me?"

Syaoran shook his head. It all seemed like such a long time ago.

"You said, 'I am what I am now,'" Yue said, his wings flaring slightly. "'What happened before now doesn't matter.'"

Syaoran shook his head. "I didn't know anything back then. Now it does matter. I didn't end up at that library for no reason and that memory of that woman… Yue, I think this is something really, really important. It's important to me and it's important to my mission here. I only need to know why!"

Yue looked off to the sunrise and mumbled, "So it's still just a mission to you."

Syaoran could barely hear him. "What?"

"Don't think your answers will come from the usual places," Yue said, speaking in a normal tone again. "I'm not the reservoir of information you think I am. I believe in you, Syaoran. I know you'll figure all this out before it's too late. Just don't let it get very much before too late."

"So I'm right," Syaoran said, working through Yue's cryptic words. "This is important!"

Yue nodded. "This may be the last time we talk for a while, so I want to say this."

He paused for a few moments and looked at Syaoran. Then he drew his arms tight around his chest and looked off into the sunrise, as if unable to look Syaoran in the face. "I… I feel that I must apologize to you. You don't deserve this. If you feel that you should hate me, trust your feelings. It would actually be more beneficial to both of us if you came to hate me."

"What?" Syaoran said, totally confused and a little wary. "Yue, I could never hate you."

"Just like you swore that you'd never grow to enjoy Sakura Kinomoto's presence?"

"She's just a nice person, is all," Syaoran said, feeling that unpleasant ripple in his aura again. "She's worth saving."

Yue nodded. "Absolutely. Goodbye, Syaoran."

"Good—" the Syaoran suddenly remembered why he wanted to see Yue in the first place. "Wait!"

He fumbled around, finally finding the tutoring consent form floating around in his rapidly solidifying aura. It seemed that anything touching him when he slipped into the spirit world consequently became a spirit object itself. "You have to sign this!"

"Sorry, Syaoran," Yue said, a bemused smile playing on his face, despite the supreme sadness in his eyes. "Spirit guardians don't normally carry around pens. These hands may look solid enough, but they're all for show."

"But then what can I do?" Syaoran said, feeling slightly panicked. "I need to get into that class. Something's happening in that classroom, I know it is!"

"You're on the right track, just the wrong station," Yue said as the sun began to wash out his presence. "You have a human guardian too, you know. Someone had to sign some forms to get you enrolled in school, after all."

"Clow?" Syaoran said, a little taken aback. "He won't help me. He told me to stay away."

"You won't know if you don't ask…" Yue said, finally being drowned out by the sunlight altogether.

Syaoran stood in the middle of the road, clutching the consent form in his solid hands. He felt a little dazed, but nonetheless headed in the direction of Clow Reed's mansion on Cherry Hill.

"I am warning you, Magician," Spinal Sun said to the back of Clow Reed's oversized chair, his tail twitching irritably against the hardwood floor. His ears lay flat and he bared his large, glistening teeth threateningly as he spoke. "If there is any further interference from you in this situation, you will regret it."

Clow calmly sipped his tea, enjoying the warmth of the roaring fire in the hearth. He made no gesture to acknowledge the panther-like creature's presence in his living room.

The doorbell suddenly rang throughout the house, echoing like a death toll. A strained silence stretched between both man and beast as they sat like stones.

As the doorbell rang for a second time, Clow's face broke out into an amused smirk and he raised his right hand into the air. The ghost of a feather pen appeared in his hand as he wrote "Clow Reed" in graceful, rolling script on empty air. The two words glowed brightly for a few moments before disappearing, much as the hand mark from a slap on the face takes awhile to fade away.

"Don't think this will go unnoticed," Spinal Sun said, flaring his butterfly wings in frustration.

"I'm sorry, Spinal," Clow said, still facing the fire and smiling serenely. "But I have debt to settle with an old friend. This is what he wants and I feel obliged to assist him."

"Keroberos is going against the Cycle," Spinal Sun said, rising threateningly off his haunches. "This is madness, Clow."

"Where would the world be without madness?" Clow said, taking a long sip of tea from his little English cup. "Flawless logic leads to total insanity. The world can't handle perfection."

"The world may not be able to comprehend perfection, but the universe runs on a perfect balance between Chaos and Order," Spinal Sun said as if he were explaining quantum physics to a ten-year-old. "This balance has been disrupted and the very fabric of the universe is slowly breaking down—"

"Not breaking down," Clow interrupted plainly. "It's coming apart like someone is pulling at both ends of a delicate piece of thread. One of two things can happen to this piece of thread: either the pressure lets up, or it snaps in two."

"Obviously you are more in favor of the dissolution of time and space," Spinal Sun said bitterly. "Because this is where Keroberos and Yue are leading you."

"No, Spinal," Clow said to the fireplace. "I am in favor of lessening the pressure on time and space. We both know this pressure has been building for quite some time. The old methods aren't working as well as they used to. You are always working to slow the process, but something needs to come along to reverse the process— something that will keep the thread from snapping for generations to come."

Spinal Sun flicked his ears savagely. "You, Keroberos, and Yue are all being naïve with that idealistic outlook."

"We'll see soon enough. Give my regards to Ruby Moon, will you?"

Spinal Sun answered only with a deep, rumbling growl and disappeared in something that resembled a black hole.

Syaoran brooded on the steps to Clow Reed's home for a few minutes before finally getting up the courage to ring the doorbell. He waited several moments, but the house remained eerily quiet in the early morning atmosphere.

"Do magicians sleep?" Syaoran asked himself as he rang the doorbell for the second time.

As the chime echoed through the house, a light coming from the consent form caught his eye. Syaoran stared, mystified, as "Clow Reed" slowly spelled itself on the paper as if written by some invisible hand. At first the signature glittered gold, but as the sparkling died away, the ink faded to a mundane, official-looking black.

Admittedly, Syaoran was a little puzzled. But he supposed that if he had magic powers, he wouldn't bother to come to the door to sign a form either. Besides, Syaoran had gotten what he wanted and that was all that really mattered.

"Uh, thanks," Syaoran said quietly to the door.

He turned to leave, but then the door started to glow too. The same sprawling script appeared on the door one character at a time.

Don't make coming here a habit, the door read.

"I won't," Syaoran awkwardly promised the door.

And with that he slunk away from Clow Reed's mansion, hoping that he never had to see this place ever again.

"So you really don't mind, Tomoyo-chan?" Sakura asked, holding the phone with her shoulder as she pulled a cute pink skirt up around her waist.

"Why would I mind?" Tomoyo's distorted voice came from over the earpiece. "The more the merrier, you know!" She sounded particularly gleeful. "So you're getting over his creepiness, huh?"

"I guess so," Sakura said, fiddling with the fringe on her blanket. "He probably still thinks I'm a moron though, seeing as how I can't do math and I keep running into things. You should've seen how long it took us to cross the street last night. He looked both ways a million times and then dragged me across the road like he expected me to wander in front of a car on my own."

"I don't blame him," Tomoyo said, sounding amused.

"Hey!" Sakura said in mock anger, raising a fist to the air. "But he's really a nice guy. He must've run up and down that field like fifteen times to get my kite to fly. It was so nice of him. I just wish he would show some facial expression, you know? He looks so bored and serious all the time. If he'd just smile…"

"At least he's talking now," Tomoyo said. "That's an improvement."

"Yeah," Sakura said, fluffing her hair in the mirror. "And now that he's talking, I know why he's been staring. He used to live in my house. It must be weird to know the person who moved into your old house."

"I wonder why he moved out," Tomoyo said.

"I dunno. Maybe I'll ask him today," Sakura replied.

"Speaking of today, should I meet you two in the park, or should I drop by your house first?" Tomoyo asked.

"Why don't you just come by? We can head to the park together," Sakura said.

"Sounds good," Tomoyo replied. "I'll see you in about an hour then."

The door to Sakura's room opened and Touya stepped inside. Sakura threw a pillow at him, signaling she was on the phone and didn't want to be bothered. But he just caught it and acted like he didn't notice anything.

"Breakfast is ready," Touya said, throwing the pillow back onto the bed. "Come down and eat before you get grumpy. You know kaijuus get grumpy when they don't eat breakfast."

Sakura glared at him as he wandered back down the stairs. "I've gotta go Tomoyo-chan. I'll see you here around 11:45, right?"

She hung up the phone and stalked downstairs. "I really need to get a lock on my door."

The kitchen smelled like flour and eggs. Sakura's father sat in the breakfast nook, reading the newspaper and sipping his coffee. Touya was loading pancakes onto his plate. Sakura sat down and inhaled the smell before diving in herself.

"These are so good, otou-san," Sakura said, stuffing a few bites in her mouth.

"I didn't make them," Fujitaka said, smiling. "It was Touya's turn to make breakfast."

Sakura swallowed and then grabbed her throat. "Gah! They taste good enough, but it's like swallowing broken glass!"

Touya grinned. "I made the ones with the glass shards just for you."

"How are your lessons going, Sakura-san?" Fujitaka asked Sakura as she stuck her tongue at her brother.

"Pretty good," Sakura said, pausing to drink some of her orange juice. "But I still would've been lost if not for the boy from school helping me."

She thought of Syaoran, and then remembered what he had told her the night before.

"Oh! Guess what?" Sakura said, brimming with excitement. "There's this new boy named Syaoran who transferred to our school. He's really good at math and helped me out yesterday with an assignment. He's kind of creepy and he stares at me a lot, but then he told me that he used to live in our house. What a coincidence, huh? Maybe I should invite him over so he can see the inside again."

Touya and Fujitaka exchanged doubtful glances.

"What?" Sakura asked, wary of their weird reactions.

"Sakura-san, no one had lived in this house since 1951," Fujitaka said.

"Yeah, didn't you see this place when we first moved in?" Touya asked. "It was practically abandoned."

"But… why would he lie about that?" Sakura asked, feeling downhearted.

"Well… maybe he did live here," Touya said. "Maybe, you know, he's homeless."

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. That would kind of make sense… He was always in the park, didn't carry anything to school (he borrowed a pen from Yamazaki every morning,) and never talked about his home-life. Maybe he really was homeless…

"No, he couldn't have lived here," Fujitaka said, breaking Sakura's thoughts. "The city did weekly maintenance on the house. They also checked for squatters."

"Tomoeda isn't known for its bums, either," Touya said, shrugging. "Maybe he just got this house confused with another."

"Yeah…" Sakura said, but she didn't think so. Syaoran didn't seem to be the kind of person who got anything confused.

Sakura mulled it over as Touya and Fujitaka made conversation about school and work. They rarely had time to talk anymore, so weekend mornings were spent catching up on each other's lives. Sakura usually joined in, but now she was simply too disturbed and distracted by what she'd just been told.

There was still half a pancake left on her plate, but she didn't feel like eating anymore. She got up and wandered over to the sink to wash her plate.

The thing was that Syaoran didn't seem to be the person who'd lie, especially over something so stupid as to pretend that you lived in someone's house when you never did. Syaoran didn't seem like the pathological liar type.

So there had to be some other explanation, something that would validate Syaoran's claim that he lived in this house at one point and still make perfect sense.

Sakura nodded to herself. That was all there was too it. And the more she became friends with him, the closer she'd come to the answer. She just had to be patient and let the answers come to her. Besides, the stupid little details of Syaoran's life didn't matter that much. She still really wanted to be friends with him.

"I'm off!" Sakura yelled from the kitchen, planning to wait outside for Tomoyo. "I'll be back in time for dinner!"

"Don't forget that it's your turn for dinner tonight," Touya said, bringing his plate into the kitchen. "You have to make up for your late tutoring lesson last night."

"I didn't forget," Sakura said casually, even though she had, in fact, forgotten about it entirely. "I'm going to pick up something on the way home."

"I want dumplings and rice!" Touya yelled after Sakura as she headed for the front door.

"I'm the one making dinner! I'll get whatever I want!" Sakura yelled back as she swept out the door and down onto the sidewalk outside the house. "Sheesh. Someday I'll—"

"Crush him under your foot, right?"

"HOE?" Sakura jumped, looking around for the echo to her thoughts.

She found Syaoran leaning against the stone wall that separated the yard from the street. He was just as blank-faced as ever, but his eyes were just a little bit wider than usual as Sakura took deep breaths and tried to calm herself.

"Sorry," Syaoran said, staring. He leaned forward a little. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Sakura shook her head. "You didn't," she lied. She paused. "Wasn't I supposed to meet you in the park?"

Syaoran shrugged. "I was in the area… Why? Is it a problem?"

"Nope," Sakura said, smiling to reassure him. "We just have to wait for Tomoyo-chan."

"Okay," Syaoran said, shifting his position against the wall. Sakura put her back against the wall and clasped her hands in front of her.

The late morning air was very brisk and crisp. The grass by the sidewalk had a fine sheet of frost on it. The trees were bald and pale, but set against the clear, bright-blue sky, looked clean and elegant. A chilly breeze rolled down the sidewalk, making Sakura wish she'd worn pants instead of a skirt. She looked at Syaoran sideways. He was still dressed in his school uniform: a light-blue blazer and black pants, neither of which did very much against the cool weather. He seemed a little underdressed for the cold, but didn't even flinch as the frigid air ruffled his hair and his jacket. It was as if the cold air passed right through him.

"I wish we would've had this breeze last night, huh?" Sakura said, laughing a little.

"Yeah…" Syaoran said.

Sakura glanced at him sideways some more. Something was different about him this morning, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. He just looked a little bit more… lively. Despite the cold expression and the emotionless eyes, it was like he was actually experiencing the world instead of just drifting through it.

"Good morning everyone."

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said, turning around to find herself looking directly into a camcorder lens. She laughed. "Still working on your project, huh?"

Tomoyo smiled brightly and peeked over the camcorder's eyepiece. "Yes. And I feel like I'm going to get the perfect shot today. Everything's coming together nicely."

"You'll let me see it when it's done, right?" Sakura said anxiously. Tomoyo really did know how to make an interesting film. She always had such an interesting angle on things. Sakura never saw the world in quite the same way as Tomoyo did.

"Of course I will," Tomoyo said. "But I hope you'll be able to see it for yourself all on your own."

"Hoe?" Sakura said, mostly to herself. Tomoyo had been saying stuff like that a lot lately. What the heck was she talking about?

"Good morning Reed-kun," Tomoyo said, training the camera squarely on him.

"Morning Daidouji," Syaoran said quietly, fidgeting a little under the lens.

Sakura grinned. He acted the exact same way that Sakura did when she first encountered Tomoyo's obsessive hobby. Eventually she got used to it, though. Syaoran probably would too. He just needed some time to adjust.

"So, shall we go?" Tomoyo said, lifting up her arm to emphasize the basket on her arm. "I brought lunch."

"Okay," Sakura said, setting off down the sidewalk. "Let's go eat in the park."

"Not the park!" Syaoran yelled in his quiet way.

"Hoe?" Sakura said, a little surprised. "Why not?"

Syaoran looked a little lost, but sounded determined nonetheless. "We… we were just in the park. Let's go somewhere different."

"How about the picnic tables outside the ice cream parlor?" Tomoyo suggested. "The park is kind of out of the way anyway."

"Sounds good to me," Sakura said. "Okay, Reed-kun?"

"Yeah," Syaoran said. He seemed almost… relieved.

They headed towards downtown with Tomoyo leading the way, walking backwards with her camcorder trained mostly in Sakura's direction. She and Syaoran walked for the most part side by side, until Syaoran began to fall behind just a little.

"You look well today, Reed-kun," Tomoyo said after a while. She focused on him.

"I do?" Syaoran said, sounding surprised.

Tomoyo managed to nod while keeping the camcorder rock steady. "Yes. There's color in your face today."

Sakura could have hugged Tomoyo. So that's why Syaoran had looked different. She chanced a glance back to him and realized that's exactly what she had been unable to put her finger on. Syaoran's usually pale skin was several shades tanner today. Tan skin like that suited him such better.

"And there wasn't color before?" Syaoran asked, rubbing his face unconsciously.

Tomoyo shook her head. "This is the first time I've seen you looking so healthy. Were you feeling ill at all before?"

"Not really," Syaoran said. He seemed to want nothing more to do with the subject.

To Syaoran's total surprise, the day passed uneventfully. After a quick lunch (which forced Syaoran to turn down all the food Tomoyo had made with an extremely awkward bit of conversation,) the group headed to the new trinket shop, Twin Bells. The owner was a very nice lady who gave Sakura and Tomoyo a small discount on whatever they bought. Syaoran couldn't believe how much time two girls could spend in a tiny little trinket shop! Over three hours and 2,000 yen between the two girls later, they finally emerged back into the sunlight.

"We'll be sure to visit again soon," Sakura said to the owner as they left.

"I'd like that very much," the woman said, smiling. "Be careful walking home, you three."

"We will," Sakura said.

"Goodbye," Tomoyo said, bowing deeply to the woman.

"She was so nice!" Sakura said, clutching her shopping bag close to her heart. "That was a great idea, Tomoyo-chan."

"I'm glad you had fun," Tomoyo said, smiling brightly. She turned to Syaoran. "I hope we didn't bore you too badly, Reed-kun."

Syaoran shook his head, his hands in his pockets. "I'm just happy to be tagging along. I didn't have anything else to do today."

"Well, what should we do next?" Sakura asked.

Syaoran resisted the urge to groan. She wanted to stay out? She should be at home where it was safe! Chaos could be anywhere…

"Well, hello everyone," a cool, cheery voice said from behind Syaoran. The words made his aura spark with annoyance. "Having a day out on the town?"

"Eriol-kun!" Sakura said cheerfully. "Hi!"

"Hello Sakura-san," Eriol said, smiling radiantly as always. The smile made Syaoran's aura flare madly.

Tomoyo ripped her camcorder away from Sakura to point it at the new arrival. "Good afternoon Hiiragizawa-san."

At the sound of his surname, Eriol's aura shifted as if it was been slapped. His outward appearance remained perfectly composed, but Tomoyo's formality seemed to have almost hurt him. What was that all about?

"Hello Reed-kun," Eriol said, turning to Syaoran, still smiling. Syaoran cringed a little. The smile cut right down to his core. "What are you all doing out today?"

"A shop called Twin Bells is having its grand opening today," Sakura said, pointing in the direction they had come from. "We wanted to see what was inside."

"And what about you, Hiiragizawa-san?" Tomoyo asked, gesturing to the folder he held in his hands. "Busy with school work?"

"Ah, yes," Eriol said, raising the folder for emphases. "I was doing more research for the family tree project. I find it all very fascinating."

"I love this project too," Sakura said. "It's a lot of fun finding out about my family history. There's so much I didn't know. My dad's been helping my out. We have a ton of family genealogy books lying around the house, so he's really happy that I'm using them."

Tomoyo nodded. "My mother too. Only, she's the genealogy book. She knows so much about our family history. She can trace herself back ten generations just off the top of her head."

"I'm glad you're enjoying the project as much as I am," Eriol said, practically beaming.

"Yes," Tomoyo said. "I'm glad you suggested it, Hiiragizawa-san."

"What?" Syaoran suddenly felt dropped into the conversation. "This project was your idea, Hiiragizawa?"

"Well, yes," Eriol said, looking humble. "We did something similar for school in England. However, it was Mizuki-sensei who suggested my idea to Kasugano-sensei. So you really should thank her."

Syaoran felt like his aura was freezing over. He turned his glare on full-strength at Eriol.

"Aren't you finding the project enlightening, Reed-san?" Eriol asked, his crystal-blue eyes and calm smile easily withstanding the force of Syaoran's glare.

"Very enlightening," Syaoran had to admit. "That 'information' you gave me before turned out to be helpful after all."

"I'm glad to hear that, really I am." There was a long moment where Eriol just stood there smiling while Syaoran tried to glare him into the ground.

"Well, I had better get back home to sort through all this data," Eriol said, drawing the folder closer to him. "I suppose I'll see you all on Moday?"

"Yep!" Sakura said cheerfully.

"Of course," Tomoyo said.

Syaoran just glared and remained silent.

Tomoyo followed Eriol's retreating figure with her camera until he was out of sight. Only then did she turn the lens back onto Sakura.

"Well, what shall we do now?" Tomoyo asked, slowly revolving around Sakura and Syaoran like a model photographer.

"I dunno," Sakura said, shrugging. She turned to Syaoran. "What do you think, Reed-kun?"

Syaoran only had one thought at the moment:

What in the world is going on here?