Chapter 2: Fight and Flight
It was morning. Ayumi was still asleep in her bed.
"Ayumi…" someone called. Ayumi stirred, but stayed asleep.
"Ayumi!" the voice called again. She woke up, but pretended to be asleep. She was reflecting on what happened the day before. She was asked by some Keroberos to recover what were "SAKURA" cards. That wasn't all; she actually captured a card, the STORM card. She opened her eyes. What she saw confirmed the yesterday. She was the yellow form Keroberos (She calls him Kero now) hovering above her. She groaned. "I thought it was all a dream!" she cried.
"Not to worry, Ayumi. The job isn't terribly difficult. You're starting off around the same grounds as Sakura, as she didn't want to do it at the start either. You'll be fine," explained Kero. Ayumi didn't think that was very reassuring, so she went down to breakfast. "Can you get me some as well, Ayumi? I'm hungry." Kero called after her.
Ayumi ate her breakfast with some difficulty. She had a very big question she needed answered. Who was Toya Kinomoto? Is he in some way related to this "Sakura" that left behind the cards? She needed to know. Tomoyo noticed her.
"What's wrong Ayumi?" she asked. Ayumi said there was nothing. After her breakfast, she took up a little piece of cake for Kero.
"Welcome back!" called Kero when she came back in. She gave him the cake.
"Now, I'll be going to school, and my brother will be too and my mother will be going to work." Ayumi said.
"Ok!"
Ayumi went out of her house and down the street. She felt that she didn't eat enough breakfast. So she went to the local bakery. She really likes the baker there, Yukito Tsukishiro. The job perfectly suits him, Ayumi thought, as Yukito eats about three times the normal amount of food any human eats. She bought three pieces of bread and headed to school. When she got to school, Umishi was waiting for her.
"I have something to show you Ayumi." She said. Then she pulled out a piece of artwork. "I drew this last night. I looked out my window and saw it." The artwork was Ayumi capturing the STORM card. Ayumi was in shock. She has just been caught capturing Sakura Cards! "Don't worry Ayumi," said Umishi. "I won't reveal that to anyone." Ayumi felt assured, and opened up her bag. Her surprises were not over. Kero jumped out straight after she opened the bag.
"Pwooar! Fresh air! I needed that!" he said.
"Kero! Why did you come?" gasped Ayumi.
It was then found out that Kero was lonely at home. The door opened and Mr. Li walked in. Ayumi quickly shoved Kero back into her bag, but Mr. Li had already seen Kero.
"What was that, Ayumi?" he asked.
"Oh, it's nothing." Ayumi replied.
"It wasn't "nothing", Ayumi. We don't play with plush toys…" Kero scowled. "…in class. Here, give it to me. I'll return it to you later."
Ayumi was crushed for the rest of the class. She was just starting to make friends with Kero, and now she just got him confiscated. What if a Sakura Card showed up now? Then she would be in trouble. She spent the rest of the day wondering.
Meanwhile, in a bush inside the school ground, Li Syaoran pulled out Kero from within his pocket and dropped him, but Kero managed to pull himself afloat.
"You shouldn't just jump out like that on people, Keroberos." He said. "Ayumi's secret can be very easily discovered, as you very well know from Umishi's drawing of last night."
"Hey, I needed fresh air. Anyway, who are you to call me a plush-toy?" responded Kero angrily. "I am guiding a new Card captor, and it certainly isn't you, kid!"
"Watch it, Keroberos, I am much stronger now, and you, unfortunately have no cards to support you to your original form, so you better do as I say," hissed Syaoran. "I am merely saying that you should keep a low profile. If anyone finds out that you are loose, Ayumi would fall into a big mess and Toya would have my neck. Okay?"
"What's all this noise?" Ayumi came looking for Kero and found her teacher and Kero talking. She looked on in shock. "Mr. Li, you know about Kero?"
Syaoran doesn't seem to know how to hide the fact. "I do, Ayumi. I am one of Clow Reed's blood descendants. Did you read the book I gave you yesterday? You read who Clow Reed was, I guess?" he asked. "I used to possess some of those cards you are trying to capture now. I'm going to keep out of your job, unless you really need it. Here, you can have Keroberos back, the plush toy." At this Kero scowled again, while Syaoran smirked.
Ayumi's head was in a spin by the time she got to Toya's sword-fighting dojo. Mr Li was a magician. Now she had to ask Toya the question. After a good day of training, Ayumi went up to her step father.
"Toya, can I please talk to you alone?"
"Why, of course," replied Toya. "What do you want to talk to me about? Your mother wants to remarry? Is it?"
"No." Ayumi said with disgust. She liked Toya, but doesn't want him to officially be her step father. Instead she went to the question. "Toya, I have heard many rumours about this sorceress named Sakura Kinomoto. Kinomoto, Toya. I wonder if she is related to you in any way." When Toya heard this, his bright smile disappeared in less than an instant.
"Who told you these rumours?" he asked darkly.
"Oh, I've heard them here and there."
"Well, I don't know where you got the rumours, kiddo, but I'll tell you the truth." Toya said so quietly that it was softer than a whisper. "Yes, I was related to Sakura. In fact, she was my little sister. This is the end of the matter. I don't want you to research it any further than what I have told you today. It is a subject that you need know nothing about. She disappeared about thirty years ago and I don't want you to talk about her in front of me. I'm still not sure, but something tells me that it was my fault that she disappeared. I don't want you talking about her. It pains me." Ayumi heard this, and decided to go no further. She sensed Toya's grief and despair already, and decided to leave the dojo and go home.
On her way home, however, Ayumi was hit by a sudden burst of wind. Her bag opened, and Kero flied out. "Look out, Ayumi, it's a Sakura Card!" Ayumi was scared. She didn't want to face another Sakura card so soon. "Which one is it?" she asked. Kero looked up at the sky.
"It's the FLY card, Ayumi," whispered Kero, and sure enough, after Kero named the card, a giant bird-like creature flapped its wings at them Ayumi and Kero, sending them flying. Ayumi, with her sword-fighting skills, was able to land on her feet, while Kero lands next to her. Kero tries to give her advice. "The FLY card is attributed to wind, so you should be able to use the WINDY card and capture it. In any case, we need to reduce its activity. The STORM card should be able to get it down. Get to it!"
Ayumi pulled out her staff. "The Key that holds the powers of the Stars! Show your true form before me! I, Ayumi, command you under our contract! RELEASE!" Her staff extended, and then she pulled out her STORM card. "STORM!" she cried. The STORM card summoned a storm which made the FLY card fly closer to Ayumi. "Wind, become a binding chain! WINDY!" cried Ayumi, and then WINDY was able to tie up the FLY card. "Return to the guise you are meant to be in! SAKURA card!" The FLY card was able to change back into a card.
"Oh my god, what a great picture!" screamed Umishi as Ayumi picked up the card. "Look, Ayumi! It's you!" Ayumi blushed. "Come on, Ayumi, use the card!" Umishi called. "Kero said it was the FLY card, right? So, unless I'm mistaken, you can fly with it right?"
"Yeah, that's right, Ayumi! The FLY card allows you to grow wings on the staff so you can fly!" said Kero. Ayumi agreed to give it a try. "FLY!" Wings sprouted on her staff, and she was able to fly. Umishi looked on with awe and started to draw.
