I won't start this long-overdue chapter with excuses about thesis work or being on a boat in the arctic or anything. What I will start it with is an important disclaimer: the opinions expressed by the characters in this chapter DO ABSOLUTELY reflect the views of the author. If you are healthy enough to get vaccinated, then get vaccinated. I don't own CCS or any of the characters, but I do have joint custody of Stephen- so get all your vaccinations, or Stephen will sneak into your house in the middle of the night and ask you politely to do it. He might even cry. Don't make him cry.

Also, enjoy the story.

12- Sakura and Flu Season

By the end of November, a cold chill had settled itself on Tomoeda, and Sakura found herself needing more and more layers during her morning commute. Icy sidewalks made rollerblading dangerous, so she was forced to walk with a slow, careful pace that required her to leave home earlier. That, compared to the waning daylight hours, brought a sense of melancholy to her routine that she couldn't quite shake. Her sleep had been off as well, so she was surprised when she found herself once again in a familiar dream.

"...it's you again…" she murmured, staring across at the woman in front of her. "What are you doing here? What was your message about last time-?" She stopped, her mind suddenly racing back to her experiences during the cultural festival. "...nine… were you warning me about the Muse Card? The nine parts? Is that the reason? But then why didn't you warn me about Babel…?"

The woman's blank expression reminded Sakura of the language barrier between them. If only she'd captured Babel, they might have a way to communicate! But now wasn't the time to worry about that. She stopped talking and instead motioned to the scroll that the woman was holding. The woman pulled out her calligraphy brush again and began to make careful strokes against the parchment. This time, Sakura waited patiently until the woman was finished and turned the scroll around to show off what she'd written.

There were two characters on the parchment, only one of which was familiar to Sakura. The first was something she hadn't seen before, or perhaps had only seen in passing. But the second, she recognized.

"Dye…" she murmured. "Dyeing… to dye something…? What does that first character mean? I don't understand-"

The dream landscape began to shift as Sakura felt herself nearing wakefulness. She reached out, still unsure of the purpose of these dreams.

"Wait! I don't get it! Are you trying to help me? Do you need my help? It doesn't make any sense-"

And with that, she found herself sitting up in bed, the sound of her own voice still ringing in her ears. She realized with some embarrassment that the woman hadn't even made an attempt to speak this time, and there she'd been, yelling at her in a foreign language anyway. Stephen, who seemed to have been awake, scampered over from the windowsill to hop onto the bed beside her.

"Sakura-sama, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just…" Sakura frowned, trying to conjure up an image of the characters the woman had drawn. "...I had that dream again. I think the woman is trying to warn me about the Warp Cards."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. Remember last time? She wrote the character for nine. Then, a week later, our culture festival was attacked by the Muse card, which had nine different parts."

Stephen's eyes lit up. "That's right! Perhaps it was a warning after all. Did she write something different this time?"

Sakura nodded. "I didn't recognize the first character, but the second was the character for dye. I'm trying to think of the cards that have something to do with inks or colors, but I'm at a loss."

Stephen placed a paw over his mouth as he considered it. "There is The Tapestry, however, that card is more on par with Muse in the way that it disrupts the production of artwork. A number of Chinese words can be written with the character for dye, some with nothing to do with art. If you say you didn't recognize the first character, perhaps it was fān yíhm, to influence… in that case, we could be dealing with The Puppet or The Hive, or even-"

"Whaaat are ya guys talkin' about first thing in the morning? Some beasts are tryin' to sleep over here!"

Sakura and Stephen both looked over to where Kero had poked his head out of the top of the drawer. Stephen spoke first, proving the answer in kinder terms than Sakura had prepared to.

"Sakura-sama and I were discussing the content of her dreams. She is concerned about what this woman is trying to tell her, and we are trying to reason through it."

"Dream?" Kero flew out from the drawer and over to sit next to them on the bed. "You had the dream again, did'ya?"

"Yeah." Sakura nodded her head. "Stephen and I are trying to figure out what the woman in my dream was trying to tell me. If you remember, last time she wrote the character for nine, and the next Warp Card to appear was the nine-faceted Muse. I think this woman is trying to warn me about the Warp Cards."

Kero crossed his arms. "But if that's the case, how does she know what card is comin' after you? What connection does she have with the Warp Cards?"

"I don't know." Sakura shook her head. "Stephen, was there anyone who had a powerful connection with the Warp Cards?"

"No," Stephen answered, "not beside myself and Chioni. And Chioni… well, she was a sorceress in her own right, but she wasn't powerful enough to have been reincarnated with her past memories following her death. So I don't know who it could be."

They all went quiet, a hum between them as they considered it. Sakura had been studying the Warp Cards recently, but having just woken up, her mind still wasn't working its best. Something about what the woman had written was bothering her, but she couldn't put her finger on it-

And then the alarm clock rang.

It startled them out of their thoughts, and Sakura grabbed it to silence it. "You guys can keep thinking about it," she instructed as she set it back on the shelf above her bed. "I need to get ready for school."

She hurriedly put on her uniform and dashed down the stairs to meet her father in the kitchen. He'd been out the night before with some friends from the university, so she hadn't seen him.

"Good morning, Dad! How was your dinner last night?"

Fujitaka looked up from the stove and smiled. "Good morning, Sakura. We had a lovely dinner, thanks for asking. Giorgios said that he hadn't had okonomiyaki since he'd been back in Japan, so we all went to that place near the park, around the corner from Twin Bells."

"I remember that place! That's where we went for Onii-chan's birthday this year, right?"

"Right. Since you're early today, I'll tell you more about it once we sit down to eat. Can you set the table, please?"

Sakura nodded, already getting to work setting out plates and silverware. "Sure thing!"

They dug into breakfast together, Fujitaka telling all about the jokes and mishaps of dinner the night before, particularly with the new professor from Germany who had never eaten okonomiyaki. Sakura's laughter mingled with her father's, and the kitchen filled with a sense of warmth. Once Sakura finished eating, she stood up and picked up her plate to carry to the sink. Fujitaka was looking at his phone and held up the weather app to show her. On it was a picture of clouds, overlain by the number -2° C.

"It's an especially cold one today. Be sure to bundle up before you head out."

"I will!" Sakura chimed.

Fujitaka looked at his phone again, comparing the time to his watch. He seemed to realize something and looked up again. "Say, Sakura, have you gotten a flu shot this year?"

"Huh? No, I haven't. Onii-chan and Yukito-san were working at the reception counter for the hospital downtown, so I heard they got theirs there."

"I see. We'll have to make sure you get one, then. I got mine at the university health center on Friday," Fujitaka replied. "Supposedly it's best to get them in October, but it's never too late. Giorgios works with a school here in Tomoeda, and he said they're holding a clinic at the school to make sure all the students have received their flu vaccinations. Are they doing something like that at Seijyo?"

Sakura shook her head. "I haven't heard about it, but I'll let you know."

Fujitaka nodded and picked up his plate to take into the kitchen as well. "I have a good feeling Seijyo will be one of the schools that Giorgios was talking about."

"A… good feeling?" Sakura asked, not quite sure what he meant. She hoped he would elaborate, but he just smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back.

Sure enough, Shimazaki-sensei announced during homeroom that the school would be holding a flu clinic at the nurse's office that week, and any student who hadn't yet received their shot would be excused from class to do so.

"They will be taking first-years tomorrow, and then again on Friday in case anyone needs extra time to get their parent's signature. Remember, don't try to leave class unless you have a signed form; you will be marked absent without an excuse. If you would like a form to take home, please raise your hand and Yamazaki-san will pass them out to you."

The class erupted with a buzz of conversation as Yamazaki stood up from his "class representative" chair and retrieved the forms. Sakura held her hand up and glanced back at Syaoran, who was more focused on the book he was reading than on what was going on around him. "Have you already gotten your flu shot?" Sakura whispered, and he looked up just long enough to nod back.

"Yeah. My mother is very strict about me having regular medical check-ups, so I got it when I visited the doctor last month."

"I see." Sakura turned back around in her chair, noticing that Tomoyo had her hand raised as well. "Tomoyo-chan? I thought for sure you'd have gotten it. Don't you have a nurse on staff at home?"

"No, no!" Tomoyo laughed, shaking her head. "We just have the bodyguards and a few maids."

"...just bodyguards and maids, huh?"

"My mother has been so busy with work lately, we just haven't- thanks, Yamazaki-kun- haven't had the time to schedule anything."

"You know, speaking of vaccines," Yamazaki broke in, as he handed a form to Sakura too, "did you know that the English word vaccine comes from the Latin word for cow? That's because the very first vaccines ever created were made from a cow disease."

Sakura's eyes widened, and Syaoran actually looked up from his book. "Really?"

"Yes! You see, In eighteenth-century England, dairymaids often contracted a disease from their cows, which they called cowpox. It wasn't a very severe illness, so no one thought much of it; that is until one doctor realized that everyone who caught cowpox seemed to be immune to the much deadlier disease smallpox-"

"Hey, Takashi! We need a form over here for Rika-chan!"

Chiharu's voice pulled him away, and he offered them a quick "I'll tell you more about cowpox later, after homeroom!"

Tomoyo giggled as she placed the form away in her desk, and Sakura shifted in her chair so that she was facing Syaoran again. "What are you reading this morning? It looks like an old book."

"It's one my sisters sent me." Syaoran turned it around to reveal handwritten Chinese text inside. "It's a genealogy of the Li clan going back to the Yuan Dynasty when they first settled in Hong Kong. I'm trying to find some people Stephen mentioned, a Li Xiaohe and a Li Lian, but…"

"No luck?" Sakura finished.

"Not even a footnote. It's so strange." Syaoran placed a bookmark and flipped back a few pages to where he'd put a sticker to highlight an important part of the text. "They're not the only ones, of course. It's written here that Li Zhixiong, Clow Reed's uncle, had two sons and a daughter. But neither of his son's names are recorded, and while his daughter is named, it merely mentions her marrying into the Tang family and gives no other information. Detailed accounts begin again with Zhixiong's grandson, Baoyi, who Clow Reed adopted and raised as his own. But Baoyi's wife isn't given a personal name either- it only says that her family name was Wu and that the two were married in 1896. It's so frustrating; I found a picture of Clow Reed with a child I don't recognize, and I still haven't figured out who it is-"

The bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom, and Sakura took it as a chance to break in. She hated interrupting him when he was so passionate about what he was doing, but he had a habit of talking quickly when he got excited, and she was having a hard time following all the unfamiliar names. "We have gym first period today, don't we? I guess we'd better go change."

"Oh, r-right. Of course." Syaoran shut the book, his cheeks tinged a little pink as he realized how carried away he'd gotten. Sakura offered him a reassuring smile.

"I'm studying the Warp Cards with Stephen, so maybe we could have a double study session after school sometime. If you draw a family tree so that I know who's related to who, I'll be able to follow along much better."

His expression brightened as he heard what she said, and he happily nodded. "I want to ask for Kerberos' help too. He would know more about this, particularly the areas where my family's records fall short."

"I'm sure if we offered him snacks, he'd be happy to give us any information we ask."

Syaoran rolled his eyes and muttered something about 'that glutton,' but he nodded and replied with a simple "thanks."

By the next afternoon, they gathered a study group at Sakura's house.

"Okay, Sakura-sama. I will describe the effects of a card and you must name the card I am describing. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Good." Stephen sat back on the table, flipping through the index cards in his paws. He finally found one that he liked and began elaborating on the notes. "The card I'm thinking of creates repetitive thoughts and actions. No matter what the victim does, they find themselves performing certain actions or motions on endless repeat, a cycle that they cannot break no matter how it may tire or injure them-"

Sakura finally clapped her hands together as the name popped into her mind. "Ouroboros!" she said.

"Yes, very good." Stephen beamed. "And the Ouroboros card is under the jurisdiction of-?"

That question left her speechless. "Um, that's… I guess… it would be Wrath, right? Repetitive actions?"

Stephen's ears drooped. "Try again, Sakura-sama. Remember, Wrath cards cause physical harm directly to their victims. A card that interferes with its victims' physical faculties would be-?"

"Oh! That's Sloth, right?"

"Now you're getting it!"

On the other side of the living room, Syaoran was hunched over a poster-size piece of paper on the floor, Kero hovering next to him and giving instructions and narration.

"Yep, that guy was a real jerk. I never really met him, but Clow Reed said he resented his older brother for being the one who would become head of the family. If only he knew, huh?"

"I'm not interested in the irony of the situation. I'm just interested in the relationships."

"This is important to the relationships! Ya gotta know the stories or this family tree is just a bunch'a lines of a page!"

"I want lines on a page, stuffed animal-"

Tomoyo burst into the room, carrying a tray of mugs. She had been at work in the kitchen making hot cocoa while Sakura and Syaoran studied, wanting to make sure that the two didn't push themselves too hard. "Everyone~! There's no point in studying on an empty stomach."

Kero leapt up from Syaoran's shoulder, lying directly to Tomoyo's side. "Hooray! It doesn't properly feel like winter without hot cocoa!"

"The temperature outside says otherwise," Syaoran grumbled, but he got up and accepted a mug from Tomoyo anyway. "Thanks."

"You two are working so hard. I wish I could do more." Tomoyo carried the tray over to the table and set it down next to where Stephen was sitting. "Here, Sakura-chan, Stephen. Take a break."

Sakura picked up one of the mugs and took a tentative sip, but she put it back down on the tray again and returned to looking at the notes on her index cards. "Dad is going to be home soon. I really should start dinner."

"We'll help you," Syaoran offered. "It isn't fair for you to cook alone, since you've invited us to stay too."

Tomoyo nodded "I finished my homework already, so there's no reason I can't help."

Sakura blushed, looking up from her card with a smile. "Thanks, you guys. Let's finish our hot cocoa, and then we can start with dinner preparations."

"Sure!"

By the time Fujitaka arrived home, Sakura and her friends had almost finished cooking. The kitchen was busy, each of them with their own set tasks, and the smell wafted all the way down to the entry hall. Fujitaka smiled as he entered, seeing all three of them working so hard.

"It's more lively here today than I expected. Hello Tomoyo-chan, Li-kun."

"Hello!" Tomoyo stopped cutting vegetables long enough to offer a wave from the counter. "Sakura-chan invited us to stay for dinner, so we wanted to help her cook. The hamburger steaks are ready to go into the pan, but I think there's a bit longer on the mushroom sauce."

"You should take your things upstairs, Dad," Sakura suggested, running over to give him a welcoming hug. "We'll call you when dinner's ready."

Fujitaka laughed and nodded, but as Sakura began to pull away, he stopped her, placing a hand on her forehead.

"...Dad?"

"Your face looks flushed, Sakura. Are you feeling alright?"

Now that he mentioned it, Sakura had been feeling a bit faint while she was working, but she'd just assumed she was tired from school and cheerleading practice. "I'm fine," she answered. "Just a little tired, is all."

"But you're burning up-"

"Ow!"

The yelp came from in the kitchen, and Tomoyo suddenly dropped the knife she was holding and raced for the sink. Syaoran turned off the stove and stepped back to help her. "Again? That's the third time. Don't tell me your hand slipped again?"

"I-it's alright," Tomoyo assured him, taking another bandage out of the package that was already sitting out on the counter. "I'm almost finished anyway."

"That's not the point…"

Fujitaka left Sakura's side and approached Tomoyo, examining her face too. "Tomoyo-chan, you look flushed too. May I check your temperature?"

"Yes, of course, but I'm not-"

"Same as Sakura," Fujitaka murmured before she could even try to say she was alright. "Let me get the thermometer from the first aid kit in the hall. Li-kun, how are you feeling? You look okay, but if you're feeling sick too, maybe you should sit down."

Syaoran was leaning over Tomoyo in concern, but he looked up at Fujitaka with a nod. "I feel fine. I'm just worried about Sakura and Tomoyo-chan."

They left the kitchen and returned to the living room so that a Tomoyo and Sakura could sit down on the couch. Sakura stumbled on the way there, and her father had to step in and help her so that she didn't fall over. Syaoran questioned them while Fujitaka went to get the first aid kit.

"It was while we were drinking the hot cocoa," Tomoyo explained when he asked when her symptoms had started. "My face felt hot, but I assumed it was because of the drink. It was making me nauseous, so I didn't finish it all, and when I stood up I was a little dizzy but not too much to stand…"

"I didn't start feeling bad until I started washing the rice," Sakura added. "All of a sudden my head started to ache and I got all dizzy, like the room was spinning. I just thought I was tired, though."

Fujitaka returned with the thermometer as she said this, handing it to Tomoyo first while he spoke in reply. "I heard what you said- you shouldn't have continued trying to cook if you were feeling sick."

"But I thought I was just tired-" Sakura protested, but Syaoran broke in before she could finish.

"Even so, being that tired means something is wrong. Don't ignore your body!"

"But…"

The thermometer allowed Fujitaka to confirm his suspicions; Sakura and Tomoyo's temperatures were 38.8 and 39 respectively. Syaoran sprang into action, hurrying back into the kitchen.

"I'll clean up," he volunteered. "You can call a doctor."

"Thank you," Fujitaka replied and then turned back to Sakura and Tomoyo. "I'm taking you two to the hospital. A fever this high developing so suddenly is too serious for us to ignore and try to treat here."

"But dinner-" Sakura protested, but Fujitaka cut her off, resting his hand on her arm.

"That can wait. My worry now is for your safety."

By the time Sonomi arrived, Sakura and Tomoyo had already been examined by the doctor and had been told that they'd be staying overnight for observation. Syaoran was sitting on a bench outside the room, but he stood up when he saw Sonomi and directed her into the room where the girls were resting.

"Tomoyo! Oh, thank goodness; I was so worried-!"

Tomoyo sat up and offered her mother a weak smile. "We're alright, Mother. The doctor said it's probably just the flu."

"It's never just anything if it makes you sick." Sonomi sat down on the bed next to her and reached across to hold Sakura's hand as well. "You too, Sakura-chan."

"The doctor prescribed them some medicine to ease the symptoms and reduce their fevers," Fujitaka explained. "She said that the best treatment for a viral infection like this is bed rest and plenty of fluids, so as long as their fevers have gone down by tomorrow, they'll be fine to go home. I'm sorry to worry you."

"Hmph. You could've told me more over the phone than 'I'm taking Sakura and Tomoyo to the hospital."

"I suppose I should have elaborated, but at the time I didn't know what was going on other than that their fevers were too high."

"But still…" Sonomi's voice trailed off as a nurse entered the room, saying she was there to take the patients' vitals. "We'll give you some room," Sonomi said, standing up and motioning for Fujitaka to follow her out the door. "I'd like to speak to you in the hall."

Syaoran wasn't sure whether he should stay or follow the adults outside. As much as he didn't want to intrude on whatever conversation Sonomi felt she shouldn't have in front of Tomoyo and Sakura, he felt awkward being the only one staying in the room. He slipped out into the hallway with Fujitaka and watched as Sonomi pushed the door closed behind them. Once she made it out in the hall, she seemed to lose her balance, slumping against the wall and having to prop herself up with one arm. Fujitaka immediately reached out to help her, but-

"Don't touch me!" Sonomi snapped, and then realized how loud she'd yelled. She blushed and lowered her voice, whispering back "I'm okay. It's just… it's been a difficult evening."

"I'm sorry," Fujitaka replied. "You're right. I should have said more than I did. It's natural you'd worry, considering that this is... the same kind of thing that happened with Nadeshiko…"

Syaoran felt his stomach churn as he listened to the conversation, feeling awkward and out of place with the current subject. He cleared his throat, saying "I'm going to go get something to drink!" and bolted down the hall before Fujitaka could say anything else.

Maybe Yue was right about him always running from his problems, but it worked.

He stopped once he made it around the corner and walked casually toward the vending machine as he caught his breath. As he dug into his pocket for his wallet, he heard a familiar pair of voices approaching from around the other corner. By the time he plugged in the number for the can of green tea, the couple had rounded the corner and met him face to face.

"-it's true, Chiharu. Cowpox is part of a whole family of viruses that include horsepox and monkeypox-" Yamasaki stopped mid-sentence as he made eye contact with Syaoran and suddenly jumped back. "Whoa, Li-kun! You startled me!"

"I was just standing here. You're the one who wasn't paying attention to where you were going."

Chiharu peeked around Yamazaki's shoulder. "Oh, it really is Li-kun! What are youdoing here?"

"Oh, I, uh…" Syaoran glanced down at the drink can in his hand. "Sakura and Tomoyo-san have the flu. I helped Sakura's dad bring them here to make sure everything was alright-"

"Sakura-chan and Tomoyo-chan too?" Chiharu gasped. "We're here visiting Rika-chan!"

Syaoran froze. "Sasaki-san? Is she…?"

"She has the flu too," Yamazaki explained. "It's ironic, 'cause she just got her flu shot today."

"Sakura and Tomoyo-san too," Syaoran replied, tossing the can between one hand and the other. "I know the vaccine is supposed to take two weeks before it's effective, but the timing of this is odd. Did either of you get the vaccine at school?"

Chiharu and Yamazaki shook their heads. "You didn't either, right, Li-kun?" Yamazaki asked. "You didn't take a flyer yesterday."

"Right. I got mine a couple months ago. I guess that's why I didn't get it, even though I've been hanging out with Sakura and Tomoyo-san. Still, it's odd that it's specifically the ones who got the vaccine at school…"

"Right?" Yamazaki nodded. "I've seen two others from the student council and one from the drama club here. They both got the vaccine today at school, and they both have the flu now."

So it's just the kids who got it at school, huh?

Syaoran clutched the can of tea close to his chest and turned on his heels. "I-It's getting late, so I have to go! See you at school tomorrow!"

"Li-kun…" Chiharu's voice called after him, but he didn't respond, and he heard a weak "...okay, see ya…" as he ran back down the hall. Fujitaka and Sonomi were still talking outside, but they seemed to have calmed down, and the nurse exited the door as Syaoran arrived.

"You two are the parents, right? You're free to stay as long as you need to. If you need any help, please let us know-"

"Tomoyo? Sakura-chan?" Sonomi pushed her way through the door. "How are you feeling?"

"We're okay." Sakura's voice called through the door.

"Li-kun, Tomoyo's mother will stay here with them for a while, so I can drive you home," Fujitaka said. "I really appreciate your help tonight."

"Huh? I-I didn't… I mean… it wasn't…" He blushed but finally nodded. "Y-you're welcome. Thanks for the ride."

After what had happened earlier, Syaoran didn't try to make conversation in the car. Once Fujitaka dropped him off at his apartment, however, he grabbed his phone to send a quick text to Kero.

[Something strange is going on. Keep a close eye on Sakura.]

…

When Sakura awoke the next morning, she could feel a deep ache in her whole body. It hurt to move even a little, just to shift position in bed, even. She groaned as she sat up, feeling a hoarseness in her throat, and Kero flew over with a cup of water balanced in his paws.

"Hey there, kiddo. Ya feelin' alright?"

"No…" Sakura choked out once she'd taken a few sips. "Everything aches and I feel like my throat is closing up. Is this what the flu is…?"

"I'm afraid so." Kero patted her on the head. "It's been a while since the nurse came by with that medicine. What was it- every six hours?"

Stephen flew over from his perch by the windowsill. "Kerberos is right. It has been almost six hours. I am not surprised that you are feeling so unwell."

"Can I getcha somethin' else to drink?" Kero asked. "Some more water or some juice, or somethin'?"

"What if someone sees you?" Sakura asked. "If I need anything, I can ask the nurse-"

There was a knock on the door, and Fujitaka peeked his head in. "Sakura? Are you awake?"

Kero dropped the cup back on the nightstand and dove underneath it, and Stephen disappeared back into Sakura's bag.

"Dad? Good… good morning." Sakura began and coughed. "Sorry, I'm still…"

"Don't worry. The doctor said it will take a while before you start feeling better. In the meantime, the best thing you can do for now is rest." He opened the door and stepped in, carrying a cup of juice with him. "The nurse said that she'd bring your medicine soon, so I brought you some orange juice."

"Thanks, Dad."

Once the nurse brought Sakura's medicine and left again, Fujitaka sat down on the bed beside her. "They said they want to keep you and Tomoyo until this afternoon since your fevers aren't responding to the medication. Will you be alright here today by yourself? I called Touya to come check on you this afternoon after his classes."

"I'll be fine." Sakura nodded and then winced, one hand moving to massage her neck. "I just need to rest, right?"

There was a silence between them before Fujitaka spoke up again.

"I have to apologize," he spoke up again. "I should have made sure you got your flu shot earlier. They were talking about it on television this morning; there is an investigation going on into the batch of vaccines used at Seijyo. Apparently you and Tomoyo-san weren't the only ones brought into the hospital last night with flu symptoms. A large number of first-year students from the same school got sick with the same symptoms at the same time- and all students who received the vaccine at school."

Sakura stared, feeling her mouth hanging open. "Huh? All from Seijyo?"

"The vaccine was one that used a live but inert version of the virus. According to the news, they suspect that somehow there was a mistake and the version you kids received was actually infectious."

"That's… so strange…" Sakura murmured. "But didn't the doctor say that… it usually takes two days… for the symptoms to appear…?"

"Yes, I recall that. Perhaps it's just a coincidence. After all, the students who weren't receiving the vaccine at school probably had it beforehand, just like Li-kun."

"...right." Sakura looked down at her lap, her mind spinning. It might've just been the illness, but she had a bad feeling about all of this.

"Oh!" Fujitaka looked up at the clock. "I'm sorry, I have to leave now. But please, don't hesitate to call me or Touya if there's anything you need."

"I will. Thank you."

Once he left, Kero and Stephen peeked out again. "Sakura-sama, what is the matter? You seem distracted. Are you feeling light-headed?"

"Well, a little, but…" Sakura shook her head. "I was thinking about the cards we were studying yesterday. This strange, sudden outbreak seems like the work of the Pestilence card, doesn't it?"

Kero and Stephen glanced at one another. "Sakura-sama," Stephen began, "I would be the first to jump on the possibility of a Warp Card in our midst, but I fear this may really be a coincidence. After all, it is flu season, and influenza is an extremely contagious disease that would be transmitted easily within a school environment. Plus, the fact that all the students infected are the ones who received the vaccine at school makes sense when you realize that all those students were unvaccinated when exposed-"

"Hold up, buddy. I think she might be onta somethin' here," Kero interrupted, hopping over onto the bed. "Look at it this way- we've already lost two more cards to that teacher guy, and if we just ignore this situation, we might lose another. Maybe it's not a card. But would it hurt to be proactive?"

Stephen sighed. "Perhaps it would not. However, with Sakura-sama in the condition that she is, I do not want to risk hurting her. I want to be more like Sakura-sama in the way she prioritizes the wellbeing of her friends over everything else. Besides, Pestilence's intent isn't to infect as many people as it can, remember? Its job is to use make the general population more susceptible to illnesses that are already…" Stephen's voice trailed off. He suddenly let out a gasp and his eyes widened. "...that's it! This is exactly what the Pestilence would do here in the twenty-first century!"

"Whaddya mean?" Kero asked. "Usin' schools?"

"Not just that. Pestilence is meant to destabilize a population by making them susceptible to harmful diseases. By spreading illness through a vaccine, Pestilence could sow seeds of mistrust among the public about the safety of vaccines themselves. You heard what Sakura-sama's father said about the story being on the news." Stephen hopped up onto the desk as well so that he could stand opposite Kero. "I have researched the great advances in medicine since I was sealed away, and perhaps the most beneficial of all is the development of effective vaccines. When all those who are healthy enough to be vaccinated do so, it fosters herd immunity, which protects all members of the community. But when large enough portions of the population remain unvaccinated, herd immunity breaks down and vulnerable members of the community can suffer greatly as a result."

Kero rested his chin in one paw, thinking it over. "So what you're sayin' is, this Pestilence card is tryin' to keep people from getting their flu shots so it can help the flu spread all through the school, and maybe even the city?"

"Mass panic can be a powerful tool, Kerberos. Especially when there are children involved."

Kero turned back around toward the bed. "Sakura? What do you think about all thi- huh? Sakura?"

Both Kero and Stephen scurried over to the bed, where Sakura had fallen back asleep. Kero hopped onto the pillow and brushed some of her hair away from her face.

"The poor kid…" he murmured. "She needs to rest. It's not fair. Maybe we should let the teacher guy handle this one too…"

"No. We have other options." Stephen pulled Sakura's phone from the nightstand and opened up the text message screen. "Li Syaoran-sama might be able to investigate for us. I will send him a message."

"Wait! Let's call him! This is too much ta try to communicate in a text-"

"Alright, then. I am calling now."

"W-w-wait! That's too fast! I don't know what I'm gonna say-!"

Syaoran came as soon as visiting hours started, sitting down with Sakura and Tomoyo to discuss what Stephen and Kero had told him. Sakura and Tomoyo had just received a dose of the pain medicine from the doctor, and were feeling a bit better than they had been that morning.

"You really think it's a card?" Syaoran asked. "I don't want to cause you unnecessary stress when you're sick like this-"

"It makes sense," Sakura interrupted and paused to cough before continuing. "With what Stephen said about the vaccines, it has to be something deliberate."

"I saw a news program this afternoon about the school vaccines," Tomoyo added. "They said that the company is being pressured to issue a recall of the vaccines being used in the schools. No announcement has been made yet, but a lot of parents are worried."

Kero was sitting on the side of Sakura's bed, his tail flicking back and forth as he thought it over. "If that happens, it'll be exactly what Pestilence wants. We've gotta capture it as soon as possible. Stephen?"

Stephen had been perched on the back of Tomoyo's chair and was absentmindedly braiding her hair while the others talked. He dropped the strands he was holding as he heard his name and jumped to his feet. "Y-Yes!"

"This is the part where you come in and tell us how to capture this thing, right?"

"Oh. Yes. Um. Pestilence." Stephen fidgeted with his paws. "Well, this is a tricky card because its essence is spread amongst all those it infects. That is an important weak point- that it becomes less potent the more people it infects- but it also makes the card very difficult to isolate."

Syaoran stood up so that he could pace back and forth while he spoke. "So what you're saying is, it's a lot like Muse in that the whole card needs to be brought together before it can be sealed."

"Precisely."

"But if it's split up between every person who's been infected, then it'll take way more time and energy to round up than Muse did."

"And I can't exactly run around the hospital in my condition," Sakura added.

"We'll have to rely on Syaoran-kun's help, then," Tomoyo said, nodding in his direction. "Perhaps he can go around and collect the parts of the card."

Syaoran shook his head. "That would take too long. Visiting hours would be over before I'd even made it to half of the rooms. Didn't they say there were over fifty students infected? And it would look suspicious if I were going to visit a bunch of people I didn't know."

"Plus it'd be hard to figure out which rooms are which," Kero added. "Ya might make a mistake and walk in on some old lady in a coma or somethin'."

Stephen hopped across to Sakura's bed, sitting on the foot opposite Kero. "Is there, perhaps, a Sakura Card that could sweep the hospital and round up the pieces of Pestilence for us?"

The room went silent. Sakura glanced around at the others as she considered it. Was there a Sakura Card that could go in her place? "I wonder… there are too many lights around for Shadow… and Silent might not be corporeal enough to round up the pieces… but what else…?"

The group went quiet again and stayed that way for what felt like an eternity, the silence only eventually being broken by a coughing fit from Tomoyo. Kero flew over to pat her on the back and offer a glass of water from the nightstand, and meanwhile Sakura gave a gasp of realization.

"That's it! Stephen, when Pestilence infects a host, it then transmits itself to others, right?"

"Yes, that is right."

"Then when we cough, we're exhaling the pathogens that Pestilence has created, right?"

"I… suppose…"

"Then I have an idea."

Sakura reached down to grab her bag off the floor and dug through it until she found the card she was looking for. With a whispered incantation, she transformed her key into a staff and held the card up above her head.

"Windy Card, disperse through the air vents and find Pestilence! Windy!"

The room filled with a gust of wind that blew papers off the tables and rattled the appliances. Windy's physical form appeared before Sakura and then turned to fly through the air vent. Despite the pain in her arms and hands, Sakura's grip on her staff tightened as she watched the vent stop rattling. Windy had disappeared, and there was no indication as to when it would return. Syaoran glanced at his watch, mentally calculating exactly how long they had until the nurse came around again. It wasn't long…

However, his worries abated as he felt a strong breeze from the vent once again. Syaoran stepped back, covering his face against the wind as Windy's form emerged from the vent. Between the card's hands, a cyclone held a buzzing swarm of tiny insect-like creatures trapped inside of it.

"Those are…" Tomoyo began, narrowing her eyes as she stared.

"...mosquitoes!" Stephen gasped. "The number one vector of communicable disease in the modern world! Pestilence has really stepped up its game…"

Sakura didn't wait to listen to his explanation. She had already raised her staff and cleared her throat to keep from coughing during her incantation.

"Card by evil's hand designed, reveal your power and form confined, reject the hold of evil's blight and draw your power from my light! SAKURA CARD!"

The pieces of the lit up and coalesced into the form of a card, flying over and landing in Sakura's hand. As the light from the card died down, Tomoyo sat up and put her hand over her throat.

"Wow… that's amazing! All my pain is suddenly gone."

"Mine too!" Sakura agreed. "That means everyone else must be feeling better too."

Kero slumped onto the table with a long sigh. "Thank goodness… I dunno what we would'a done if that hadn't worked."

"I had a few other ideas, but…" Syaoran began and then sighed. "I'm glad we were able to resolve it without resorting to anything illegal, though."

"Illegal?" Stephen choked.

"I said I'm glad we didn't have to resort to that-"

"Stephen," Tomoyo interrupted, "what other powers does the card have? Like, now that it's purified, what good can it do?"

"Yeah, come to think of it," Kero began, "spreadin' disease doesn't seem like something that can be used for good."

"Oh, but it isn't just that!" Stephen exclaimed. "It can both strengthen and weaken pathogens, meaning that if someone is sick, you can use the card to help them fight the illness."

Sakura took a second look at the card, a smile passing over her face. "A card that can cure illness instead of causing it, huh?"

"But it isn't a cure-all, I'm afraid. It can only help with communicable illnesses caused by pathogens. Diseases caused by genetic defects, deficiencies, or the body's own cells can't be fought using this kind of magic. And it can only weaken the pathogen so much; the body's immune system must do the rest."

"...ah. Right." Sakura's expression slowly fell, but she still held the card to her chest. "Even so, this card has the potential to do so much good. I'm so glad… it didn't fall into the wrong hands…"

Kero and Stephen jumped over, settling on her shoulders, Kero patting her on the head and Stephen nuzzling her cheek. Sakura closed her eyes, fighting back tears of relief.

Tomoyo looked over to Syaoran. "You know, now that we figured out what the card is, I wanted to ask you something, Li-kun."

"Huh? What's that?"

"This word…" She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and wrote on it large enough that he could read it from across the room. "...how would you write this in Chinese?"

"That?" Syaoran gave it some thought, walking over to her bedside and taking the paper from her. "The second character is the same- like this."

Tomoyo nodded and then held the paper up for Sakura to see. "Sakura-chan, is this the word that the woman in your dream wrote? You said that the second character was dye, so-"

"Yeah, I think that's it!" Sakura gasped. "That's-"

"Infection," Kero read. "Of course. The woman in your dream really was warnin' ya about the card! Before, with Muse, and now with this…"

"Yeah, it really is strange." Sakura crossed her arms and sat back in the bed. "I wonder how she knows… just who is she, anyway?"

"You said her magic made you feel floaty, right?" Syaoran asked. "Just like with Mizuki-sensei and Yukito-san. Whatever power she has, it must be similar to theirs. You can't let your guard down. She may appear to be on your side, but remember that Noboru-sensei also claimed to be working in your interest too."

"Right…" Sakura sighed, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. "I really do think she's trying to help me. If I could just figure out how to communicate with her, maybe I could find out who she really is and how she knows about the Warp Cards… how she knows about me…"

As the group spoke, Stephen had scurried over to the side table next to the window, turning his back to the group.

"...it couldn't be… could it?"

"To hear all of that happened to Sakura-san and Daidouji-san… I'm so sorry, Fujitaka. It must have been a difficult week."

Noboru set his glass down on the table, watching the ice clink against the sides. Fujitaka sat across the table from him, offering a reassuring smile.

"I'm just relieved that all the students have made a full recovery."

"Still, it isn't right that Sakura-san should be dealing with this sort of thing! She's just a child; it isn't fair to burden her-"

"What are you talking about?" Fujitaka broke in. "It's not as though anyone can control who gets sick and who doesn't."

Noboru sighed. "Of course it isn't…"

"You seem more worried about Sakura than I am. Is everything alright at school?" Fujitaka set his own drink down, staring at the table with a sigh. "I've told Sakura before to come to me when she's facing difficulties, but she's still the kind of person who would suffer in silence rather than feeling as though she'd burdened someone she cares about. Her mother was the same way. I sometimes wonder if the doctors could have caught it earlier if Nadeshiko had just admitted she was in pain…"

"Fuji-"

"Sorry! Sorry! I shouldn't say such heavy things to you!" Fujitaka waved his hands and relaxed back into his seat. "This is meant to be a fun outing."

As he said this, the waiter came by with bowls of soup for each of them. "Two tonkatsu ramen?" he asked, and Fujitaka accepted them with an expression of thanks. He began eating immediately, but Noboru stared at him from across the table. It took a moment for Fujitaka to realize it, and when he did, he set his chopsticks down.

"Giorgios? Is it too hot? Mine is fine-"

"It's not that." Noboru shook his head. "I just… I think it may not just be her mother that Sakura-san takes after."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to know that it's okay to say what you feel around me. To talk about work, about your children, about Nadeshiko… by censoring yourself around me, you're doing just what Sakura-san is doing to you. Perhaps you don't see me as close enough of a friend to be so open with, but-"

"That's not true!"

"-it's okay. If that's the case, then I want to do everything I can to be that kind of friend for you." Noboru reached a hand across the table and smiled. "You can trust me."

There was a moment of silence between them in which Noboru wasn't sure just how Fujitaka would respond. But finally, Fujitaka reached out and took hold of his hand, offering a smile in reply.

"Thank you, Giorgios. I do."

Noboru's smile widened, and he squeezed Fujitaka's hand. "I'm so glad!"

If only your daughter was this easy to win over.