Review from last chapter: "Syaoran! What are you doing? Run. Get out of there." shouted Kyoya as he attempted to stand again before Fye gently pushed him back down. "What does he think he's doing?" thought Kyoya as he stared wide-eyed over at his older brother worry evident in his eyes. "He doesn't know how to fight with that kudan thing and he's going to stand up to one of the top fighters in this world. Does he have a death wish or something?!" Syaoran completely ignored Kyoya and stood tensed, waiting for Shogo to make the first move. "Looks like I finally found myself a worthy opponent." said Shogo. Everyone was now staring at the pair, unsure of what was going to happen next, but they all knew that it was going to be something worth watching.
~ Episode 3: Sword of Demon Destruction ~
No one dared to move a muscle as they stared at the duo about to fight on the bridge, well, everyone except Kyoya. "Syaoran, are you nuts? He will crush you to pieces!" he yelled.
"Don't worry." said the boy in black. "Mostly the gangs are just bullies who like to beat up on everyone else, but Shogo's gang's different see. They protect us from the other gangs and they'd never hurt anyone weaker than they are. We people who aren't in Shogo's gang look up to him. He's the best leader there is." Kyoya glanced over at the boy then back at his brother. "Whatever you say kid, but I still don't trust him. Besides, even if I did trust this Shogo character, Syaoran doesn't know how to work these kudan thingies. He's as good as a gone fighting this gang leader." he thought as Shogo spoke.
"Ready kid?" With that the water kudan sucked in what looked to be water, then, after forming it into a ball of blue energy, shoot it at Syaoran. The energy shot at Syaoran at a fast speed, but before it reached him, Syaoran's fire kudan lept into the air and blocked it. The collision of these two kudan caused a strong wind to appear threatening to blow everyone away. Fye, Kurogane, and the boy all grabbed onto something, but Mokona, who was sitting in Fye's arms, was tossed about and fainted. Kyoya reached over and covered Sakura. He opened his eyes and looked over at the others and that's when he saw it. There was another boy in strange clothes, who was glowing a blue color, standing in front of the boy in black. "Who is this kid?" he thought before the wind died away. He looked down at Sakura to make sure that she was ok before immediately turning his attention back to the fight on the bridge. Much to his relief he saw that Syaoran was still there and, as far as he could, was unharmed.
"So you said your name was Syaoran right?" said Shogo as he looked down at Syaoran. "Well, I gotta say Syaoran, you're not half bad." Suddenly everyone could hear the distant sound of police car sirens coming closer. "Shogo, it's the cops!" yelled one of the men in the gang. "That sucks, things were just starting to get interesting. You know the drill boys, scatter. See ya kid. I'll be looking forward to our next battle." Shogo said before he turned and jumped of the wretched bus, while making his water kudan disappear. After the gang had disappered Syaoran's fire wolf kudan changed into a ball of orange energy and melded painlessly into Syaoran's chest. Syaoran stared in amazement at his chest before he suddenly remembered why he was on the bridge in the first place. "Sakura." he gasped and hurried back to the others behind the car.
"Wow, Syaoran that was great." said Kyoya when Syaoran knelt next to him held the feather in his head, ready to give it back to Sakura.
"Thanks Kyoya." he replied. He then held the feather in front of Sakura's chest and golden glow appeared around it as it melded into her chest. Once it was completely gone Sakura let out a slight breath. Syaoran and Kyoya let a small, relieved breath of their own. Syaoran reached out and pulled Sakura toward him, till she was leaning against him. "Hey look at that. Her body's starting to feel warmer already." he said.
"Really?" excitedly asked Kyoya as he reached out and touched Sakura's cheek. "Yeah, you're right."
"Well that's a bit of a relief at least." said Fye who was kneeling in front of Syaoran holding an unconscious Mokona in his arms.
"How's white?" asked Kurogane who was also kneeling in front of Syaoran.
"Oh, that explosion just knocked the little creature around a bit. Just a fainting spell that's all, nothing you should worry yourself over." said Fye with a smirk on his face.
"Yeah, like I'd really be worried." replied Kurogane.
"Course not Kurgie. Anyway, it's our new friend over there I curious about." Everyone looked over at the boy in black and saw another boy standing next to him. This boy looked just like the other one, except instead of wearing black he had on a little black and gray hat with a gold circle in the middle and a tassel hanging from it. He also was wearing a reddish-brown and gold tunic with the yin and yang symbol on the front. Underneath this he had white pants and black shoes. This boy, when he saw everyone looking at him bowed politely before he turned into a glowing blue ball of energy and disappeared into the boy in black. The others stared in mild shock at this and Kyoya let out a tiny gasp. "Oh, I'm sorry if he shocked you. Don't be scared." said the boy.
"You mean that thing was your kudan?" asked Syaoran.
"Yes."
"So, you've got one too." stated Kurogane.
"Hey what's your name kid? You never told us." said Kyoya.
"Oh I'm sorry. My name is Masayoshi Saitou."
"There you guys are, bout time we found ya." Everyone turned in surprise at the new voice that just spoke. They had been so involved in their conversation that they had failed to hear the speaker approach. The person who spoke was a tall man with brown hair, wearing an light orange shirt with a brown jacket, had on brown pants and shoes. "One guess on what the guy's favorite color is." thought Kyoya as he noticed how much brown this guys was wearing.
"And who are you?" asked Kurogane.
"The name's Sorata, Sorata Arisugawa and this, this is my lovely wife Arashi." said Sorata as he gestured to the lady standing by his side. She had long black hair and was wearing a white shirt with a black skirt.
"So, why are you looking for us." asked Kurogane.
"We know that you guys are not from this world and that you need a place to sleep. So, we've come to take you guys back to our place."
"How did you know that?' asked Syaoran a bit surprised.
"We've had dealings with the dimensional witch too and she told us to look after you." replied Arashi. Syaoran looked back at the others. "So what do you think?" he asked.
"I say let's go. They'll have food and I want to get off this hard, broken up ground." said Kyoya.
"I don't see the harm in it. They seem nice." said Fye. Syaoran nodded and turned toward Kurogane. He sighed before saying, "Alright. Jus' don't blame me if we are killed in our sleep."
"Hey, now that's the spirit grumpy pants." thought Kyoya as he rolled his eyes.
"Very well, thank you so much for your offer Sorata and Arashi, we are most grateful." said Fye as he stood and faced the couple. Everyone began to stand up and get ready to leave. Kyoya tried to stand as well, but was stopped by Fye's voice. "Don't stand Kyoya. Remember, you're not suppose to walk until we can give look at your injuries." Fye handed Mokona to Kurogane, who took the creature with an unpleasant grunt, and knelt in front of Kyoya. "I just have to carry you to the house." Kyoya looked at Fye and was about to protest when he caught sight of Syaoran who was staring at him in concern. Kyoya sighed and put his hands around Fye's neck. Then, with the help of Sorata, Fye stood up and the group, along with Masayoshi, made their way to the Arisugawa residence. After a few minutes they arrived at their destination, but before they entered the building Syaoran turned to Masayoshi and said, "Thank you for all that you did for us."
"Me, but I didn't do anything."
"That's not true." replied Fye. "You were the one who warned us about the battle that was going to take place."
"And you helped us find shelter." added Syaoran. Masayoshi face turned a pink color and shook his head while he timidly said, "Oh, well then, you're welcome, I guess." Syaoran, Fye, Mokona, and Kyoya smiled at him, while Kurogane gave grunt and scoff as he walked through the front door. The others followed and just before they went inside Kyoya, who was still on Fye's back, causual waved his hand at Masayoshi. "See ya later kid." he said, then disappeared through the font door. Masayoshi stared after the group, his mind still on the battle between Syaoran and Shogo. He was in awe at how well Syaoran had handled his kudan. "I'll see you Syaoran." he said. "You were so cool out there." With that he turned and left, Syaoran the idol that Masayoshi now looked up to. Inside the building Sorata guided everyone to one of their spare rooms. Arashi quickly set about fixing the bed on which Syaoran laid Sakura. She also quickly prepared an extra bed onto which Kyoya was placed. Syaoran sat down next to Sakura and watched as Fye began to check Kyoya's injuries. "Well." stated Fye when he was finished looking over Kyoya. "It looks like the injuries aren't that serious. Your side has a good size bruise on it that will make it hard to move for a while and your right ankle is only sprained. You should stay off of it the rest of the day and tomorrow. After that, you should be go to go." Kyoya stared up at Fye's smiling face and a smile of his own appeared. "Thanks Fye." he said. Kyoya looked over at Syaoran and could see the relief in his eyes that his injuries weren't too serious. Syaoran then lowered his gaze to look at Sakura. Fye sat down next to Kyoya and just slightly in front of Kurogane, who was also sitting down. Mokona quickly jumped into Fye arms as soon as he was settled. Behind them were two medium sized windows that over looked the city. The sun was quickly setting and the fading rays filled the room with an orange glow. Sorata and Arashi sat down as well and Sorata began to explain how they knew that the group of six would be arriving. "Before we were married my wife was a shrine priestess. That was years ago and she's still as beautiful as the day we met. Arashi may be married and retired now, but she's retained all her spiritual powers, that's how she predicted you guys would show up in our world. This little boarding house is how we support ourselves now and we have plenty of extra rooms so please just make yourselves at home."
"It's very kind of you two to take us in. Thanks." said Fye.
"Yeah, but sorry, I still don't understand. Why would you two go out of your way to helps us like this?" asked Syaoran.
"Well it's a long story. In short, let's just say we owe a whole lot to the dimensional witch. So, we fully intend to look after you guys for as long as you are in our world. With on catch." said Sorata and he looked straight at Kurogane as he continued speaking. "Try to seduce my sweet Arashi and you'll be sorry you ever came here."
"Hey." protested Kurogane. "Why are you looking at me when you say that?"
"I'm joking, I'm joking." said Sorata who had a smile on his face, but that smile made Kyoya a little uneasy. "It looks as though he's hiding something sinister. I wouldn't put it past him to seriously injure or kill Kurogane if he does mess with his wife." Kyoya looked over at Kurogane. "But if he did the journey we must go on will of whole lot nicer not having this sour puss tagging along."
"He's joking." repeated Mokona.
"But really, you'll be sorry." continued Sorata.
"Look what's your problem with me buddy." demanded Kurogane.
"Do you want the short list or the long list and would you like it alphabetically or in order of significance." thought Kyoya.
"I think I'll go make some tea boys." said Arashi as she stood up and left the room with Sorata following close behind. The room instantly became quite. This was the first time that the group of six had time to actually get to know one another, but the problem was that no one could think of a good topic to start with. Kurogane stared out the window at the darkening city, his mind traveling back to his home country. Kyoya carefully lowered himself down onto the bed, his bruised side protesting the movement. The moment his head touched the pillow he realized how tired he really was. He guessed that it had something to do with all the running he had done back at the ruins and all that had happened to him in the past 4/5 hours. Kyoya felt his eyes closing when a voice startle him. "Oh, look at that, her cheeks don't seem as pale do they." said Fye as he stared down at Sakura.
"I guess it must be from the feather." replied Syaoran.
"Guess so." said Fye. "Well that's one memory fragment down but what about the rest. How will we find them all." Kyoya turned his head toward Sakrua's bed, the conversation peaking his interest.
"I'm not sure." sighed Syaoran. Mokona jumped out of Fye's arms into landed in front of Syaoran. "Mokona knows how to. I feel them; the memory feathers when they're near by. I'll let you know when one is close so you just watch me. My eyes get super big like this." Syaoran suddenly found himself inches away from Mokona's big purple eyes as he demonstrate what would happen is a feather was near by. "It happened today." continued Mokona, going back to his original look and moving away from Syaoran's face. "That's how I found out."
"Well it was probably just from that feather that was stuck to Syaoran's cape Mokona." patiently explained Fye.
"No it was different. When Syaoran was fighting on the bridge that's when I felt it, another feather was close by." happily stated Mokona.
"Really? Are you sure?" asked Syaoran.
~ Flashback (from Mokona's POV) ~
There was another boy in strange clothes, who was glowing a blue color, standing in front of the boy in black. Mokona's eyes grew into huge orbs of purple as he was blown from where he sat in Fye's arms. Before he passed out he heard Shogo's voice. "So you said your name was Syaoran right? Well, I gotta say Syaoran, you're not half bad."
~End of Flashback (Back to normal POV) ~
"Shogo." said Syaoran as he also remembered the fight.
"So, Shogo's the one who has the feather." asked Kyoya from his bed. Syaoran looked over at his injured brother. "Or he knows where it is, or he might have had it then lost it during the fight." he said.
"Or one of his gang members has it." stated Kyoya.
"Intriguing. Maybe this will work after all." said Fye as picked up Mokona.
"So, we'll always know when a feather is near by. Well that's certainly a decent start." said Syaoran.
"Let the hunt begin." cheered Mokona.
"Yeah let's do it." stated Kyoya.
"Well, you can count me out." gruffly stated Kurogane. Kyoya turned toward him forgetting that his side was injured and gasped when his side angrily protested at being moved. He started at Kurogane in semi-anger and disbelief. "What, is this guy's heart made of stone or something." Kurogane continued speaking, ignoring Kyoya's stare. "The only thing I'm interested in is getting back to my own world. I didn't sign up for your little goose hunt. The rest of you can do whatever you want and I'm not going to get in the way, but I'm not going to help you either. Let's be clear on that."
"Wow. Heart of stone, selfish, has a one-track mind, is cranky all the time, is extremely unsociable. Man, psychiatrists would have a field day with him." thought Kyoya.
"Sure." replied Syaoran. "I realize this is my problem not yours. I'll be careful not to trouble you with it too much I promise."
"Yeah, well, we didn't want you coming along in the first place." bitterly thought Kyoya. He was surprised at how cold Kurogane was being. He had thought that even though Kurogane was tough and cranky, deep, deep down he really cared about things and people. "I guess I was wrong."
"You're so earnest Syaoran. I like that." stated Fye.
"Well, what about you then wizard. You gonna help the kid save his precious girlfriend?" asked Kurogane. Kyoya couldn't help the smile that formed on his face at the thought of Syaoran and Sakura being boyfriend and girlfriend. He knew that that's what Syaoran wanted but because of who Sakura is, Kyoya knew that Syaoran would never follow through with his feelings. He sighed. Love was such a complicated thing.
"Sure. I don't see why not." replied Fye. "I mean after all, my only serious goal is not to return to the world I came from and as long as helping our new friend doesn't get me killed, well it isn't as if I actually have anything better to do now is it. I'm at your disposal Syaoran."
"Thanks Fye. I really appreciate that."
"And don't worry, until we find that feather, I won't transport us out of this world." stated Mokona.
"That's great Mokona. Thank you." said Syaoran.
"What about you kid?" said Kurogane as he turned toward Kyoya. "Are you gonna help him too." Kyoya looked over at Kurogane as if he had gone mad, which in Kyoya's mind didn't take much for him to do. "You gotta be crazy to think that I would leave my brother and best friend. I'm staying and there isn't anything anyone can do about it." Kyoya stated to both Kurogane and partly to Syaoran for he knew that somewhere along this journey Syaoran would try to make him go back, if that was even possible. Kurogane didn't say anything in response except grunt. The rest of the night passed quietly. Kyoya woke up once during the night due to the pain in this side and slightly in his foot and noticed that Syaoran was still awake, staring down at Sakura. By the look on his face Kyoya could tell that he was remembering all the great time he and Sakura had shared together. Kyoya felt a new pain in his heart as he realized that, no matter how many feathers they collected, Sakura would never remember the memories that the three of them shared. Tears began to fill his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away as he gently rolled over and went back to sleep. Kyoya knew that he had to be strong, not only just for himself but especially for his older brother, with that in thought, he fell into a deep sleep. Kurogane was also still awake and watching Syaoran and as he drifted off to sleep his mind went back to the last time he was in his home country.
~ Flashback ~
"So you truly refuse to stop this flurry of reckless violence despite my pleas." asked Princess Tomoyo.
"All I want is to become stronger Princess, stronger than any other warrior who has ever picked up a blade. I can't do that sitting on my hands and I don't care how many lives I have to take. Nothings gonna stop me." replied Kurogane his face taking on a determine and semi-bloodthirsty look. Princess Tomoyo sighed and lifted two fingers up in front of her. "Well then." she said. "It seems there's no other solution." In front of her two fingers a red ball of what looked to be liquid suddenly appeared and from it red streams shot out and circled around Kurogane. "I am sending you far away from this world." continued Tomoyo.
"Don't you dare!" yelled Kurogane. He was surprised when a black hole suddenly appeared under him and the red streams pulled him down into it.
"You must go." said Tomoyo in a calm voice. "You will encounter many different people and many different worlds. I hope through all your travels you will come to know the true meaning of strength and so to that end I have no choice but to send you away, regardless of how terribly I'm going to miss you." She reached her hand up to her cheek to wipe away the tears that where there.
"What are you doing to me?" yelled Kurogane who was now half way in the hole. He flung his arms about hoping that it might help get him out.
"But before you leave." continued Tomoyo as if she had not heard Kurogane's desperate yells. "I still have one last thing to give you." She held both hands in front of her forming an O shape. From that there appeared a circle filled with a pattern made of fat lines. It shot toward Kurogane coming to rest in the middle of the red forehead guard that he always wore. "What are you up to now?" he growled.
"It's a spell. To help you learn." simply explained Tomoyo.
"Wait, what spell?!" yelled Kurogane before he disappeared into the black hole completely.
~ End of Flashback ~
Kurogane turned in his sleep and gave a grunt. Syaoran looked over at him and saw that his face was scrunched up. Syaoran guessed that he was having some sort of nightmare, but he kept quiet and went back to watching Sakura. Syaoran got the feeling that Kurogane wouldn't like it if he saw him when he was weak. "He seems to be the stoic type and doesn't like to talk about his feelings." thought Syaoran before he went back to his own thoughts. Kurogane then remembered what happened to him when he was falling through the dimension tunnel after talking with Yuko, the dimensional witch.
~ Flashback ~
"The purpose of the spell Kurogane." came the voice of Princess Tomoyo. "Is to prevent you from killing anyone unnecessarily." Kurogane awoke with a start from the light slumber he had fallen into when he heard that voice. He began looking around and growled as the voice continued. "Every time you hurt someone your own power will become weaker and you will lose a part of your strength." The voice then faded but Kurogane still looked around for it. "Where are you?" he asked. "Princess Tomoyo!" He came to the conclusion that she herself was not there but that she must have some how channeled her voice through the dimensional tunnel to explain what the spell was that Kurogane was now under. Kurogane suddenly felt something standing behind him, something big. He turned around and let out a gasp. There standing in front of him was a giant blue dragon with a small blue jewel on its forehead as well as two white lines.
~ End of Flashback ~
Kurogane awoke with a start and could tell that it was now morning by the sun streaming in through the two windows behind him. In front of him Fye and Mokona were still asleep. "Just a dream." quietly said Kurogane. A voice off to his right made give a small gasp. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" asked Syaoran.
"It looks like that kid didn't sleep at all last night. I bet he stayed up and just stared at his girlfriend all night. How sentamenal." scoffed Kurogane to himself. Another noise in front of him caught his attention as Kyoya began to wake up as well. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and he let out a painful grunt as his face scrunched up in pain. Kyoya looked over at Syaoran and gave a tired smile. "Good morning Kyoya. How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?"
"Yeah, yeah morning to you too." said Kyoya and Kurogane got the impression that he was not much of a morning person. "I'm feeling better than yesterday. My ankle doesn't hurt as much but my side is still sore, which kept waking me up throughout the night."
"Yeah, I noticed that." stated Syaoran. Kyoya looked at his brother. "I hope that he got some sleep last night." he thought. He then turned his gaze to Kurogane . He gave him a small smile but Kurogane just grunted and looked out the window. "Good morning to you too Mr. Moody." huffed Kyoya to himself. As the morning moved on not many words were spoken except when Fye and Mokona woke up and wished everyone good morning. The conversation started after everyone had had a good breakfast, courtesy of Arashi.
"So, Sorata." said Fye. "You never told us the name of this dimension."
"We are in the Hansin Republic and my I just say that it is the best place to live if you don't count the warring gangs. So what are you guys going to do today?" asked Sorata as they sat around the table.
"We're going to look for Sakura's feather." said Syaoran.
"Alright. Do you have any idea of where to start looking?" asked Arashi.
"As a matter of fact yes. Mokona sensed a feather at the bridge we were at yesterday." said Fye.
"That's good. At least you have place to start. I though you were going to have to start just randomly walking around the city looking for clues." stated Sorata. After a few minutes of silence Syaoran spoke. "Well, I guess we'd better get started." They all got up as Sorata spoke. "Why don't you guys borrow some of my clothes?"
"What? Why?" asked Kurogane.
"So, that you guys don't stick out as much." replied Sorata. "Don't get me wrong." he quickly went on. "I think your clothes are great but, even though this city is used to weird things what with people's kudans and all, they might find your appearance to be strange. By borrowing my clothes you'll be able to blend in more and not get stopped by every stranger you meet."
"That does sound like a good idea. Thanks for the offer." said Fye.
"Are you sure its no trouble?" asked Syaoran.
"No trouble at all. I'm glad to help in any way that I can." said Sorata. A few minutes later everyone had changed clothes except for Sakura, for she was still asleep. Syaoran, Fye, Mokona, Kurogane, Kyoya, Sorata, and Arashi made their way outside. Syaoran was now wearing a light blue and white short sleeve short that had drawstrings hanging from the collar. His pants were a bluish-gray color and he had on black and gray sneakers. Fye had on a white long sleeve shirt with blue around the edges. He had on gray pants with a black belt what looked like black loafers. Kurogane had on a black short sleeve shirt, dark gray pants, and brown boots. Kyoya, who was standing/leaning against Arashi for balance had on red and white short sleeve shirt, blue pants, and black and blue sneakers. "What'd I tell you guys, you look great and in those clothes you won't stand out so much walking through the city." said Sorata.
"We're gonna get started now if that's ok." said Syaoran.
"I'll stay with Sakura and don't worry I'll take good care of her." said Arashi.
"I really owe you guys." replied Syaoran.
"Come on Syao." said Kyoya. "Can't I come with you guys; I promise to take it easy."
"No, Kyoya. You need to stay here and rest. Your ankle is still hurt as is your side." firmly stated Syaoran.
"Syaoran is right Kyoya." confirmed Fye. "You need this day to rest your injuries."
"Oh, ok." sighed Kyoya, realizing that he was fighting a losing battle.
"Sorry Kyoya." said Syaoran when he saw how bummed his brother was. He walked over and put his hand on Kyoya's shoulder. "Maybe you can come with us tomorrow if your injuries have healed enough."
"Yeah, sure, whatever." said Kyoya in a dejected tone. Syaoran looked at Arashi silently pleading for help to cheer him up. She smiled understandingly and said, "You know Kyoya, I'm going to need some help watching over Sakura. I'm not going to be able to give her the constant care she needs due to chores that I have to complete. It would mean a lot to me and I'm pretty sure Sakura as well if you could help me look after her. What do you say? You want to help?" Kyoya knew that she was just saying this just to give him something's to do so he wouldn't get bored but he didn't care, he would do what ever it took to help Sakura. His face lit up and a smile spread across his face as he looked over at Arashi. "Sure I'll help you." he said.
"Great. I really appreciate it." she replied. Syaoran mouthed thank you and Arashi gave him a big smile and nodded her head. Syaoran then moved back over to Fye and Kurogane and Sorata placed a small pouch that looked like a frog. "There's lunch money, just promise to share." he explained. "You guys have some fun together in the city 'k."
"Yeah we'll try. Thanks Sorata." said Syaoran as he put the pouch in his pocket.
"Hey, how come the kid gets to hold all the money." demanded Kurogane.
"I don't know, Syaoran just seems to be the most reliable." said Sorata.
"What's that suppose to mean." demanded Kurogane which cause Mokona to give a small laugh.
"You wait here for me Sakura. I promise I'll find that feather no matter what." said Syaoran as he looked up at the windows of their room. With that the quartet of feather hunters set off down the streets. Kyoya waved the hand that wasn't holding onto Arashi over his head and yelled, "Good luck you guys. I hope you find it. See you later tonight." Once they were out of sight Sorata turned to his wife and Kyoya and said, "Well, I'm off to work. I'll be back around 4:30."
"Ok. Wait, your tie is a little crooked. Let me fix it for you. Kyoya, will you be ok if I let go?" said Arashi.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." Arashi nodded and moved over to her husband, who was wearing a blue suit, and fixed his red tie. "Have a good day at work." she said as she kissed his cheek.
"I will. See you guys later." Sorata flung the brown handbag he was carrying over his shoulder and walked down the street.
"Well, I guess we'd better get inside on start on the day." said Arashi as she lead Kyoya back into the house. "Where you would like to go?" she asked.
"Can you take me back to my room. I want to sit next to Sakura in case she wakes up."
"That's a good idea." They made their way to the room where Arashi helped Kyoya down to the floor next to Sakura's bed. "I'll be near by doing chores so don't be shy to call out if you need anything alright."
"Ok, thank you Arashi."
"You're welcome Kyoya." she said as she left the room. Kyoya gingerly moved until he was in a comfortable position and stared down at Sakura. "I hope you wake up soon Sakura." he thought and out loud he said, "Don't worry Sakura we'll find all your feathers. You'll have your memory back in no time."
------ On the streets ------
It took Mokona, Fye, Kurogane, and Syaoran quite some time before they were able to find the bridge that they had arrived on the previous day. They went up and down countless streets and crossed countless roads until, mid-afternoon, they finally came to their destination. "Well, we finally made it." said Fye.
"Took us long enough." huffed Kurogane.
"Can you sense the feather Mokona?" asked Syaoran. Mokona jumped from Fye's arms onto the railing of the bridge and shut his eyes tight, concentrating really hard, his ears sticking straight up. After a few minutes, Syaoran spoke again. "Any luck yet?"
"No, I don't feel anything." sadly said Mokona, his ears falling back down.
"Thanks ok." said Syaoran.
"So, you could feel the feather right here yesterday, but today there's nothing? How strange, I wonder what that means." said Fye. "What do you think Kuro-puu?"
"I warned you to stop calling me that." he demanded.
"Temper, temper." tisked Fye.
"Moron." growled Kurogane, but a girl walking on the other side of the bridge caught his attention. He let out a gasp when he realized that the girl looked exactly like Princess Tomoyo. His eyes widened and he stammered, "That…looks like…"
"What looks like what?" asked Fye in a curious voice. Both he and Syaoran were now staring at Kurogane for it was the first time that they had heard his voice sound so confused and lost.
"That's her, yeah it's gotta be her." he said but he was more talking to himself then to the other three. He suddenly broke into a run, determined to catch up to the girl. "And he's off." stated Fye.
"What's she doin' here? Never mind that's not important now." thought Kurogane as he ran through the streets ignoring the looks from those he was passing. He thought back to the last time that he had seen Tomoyo and that she had told that the spell he was now under was to help him learn. He scoffed, "Help me, that's a laugh. I'll catch her and I'll force her to undo it." With that he rounded the corner and disappeared from the sight of Fye, Mokona, and Syaoran.
------ Arisugawa Residence ------
Kyoya sat next to Sakura's bed, only getting up to eat lunch with Arashi and the others in the boarding house. As he made his way back to his room he noticed that his ankle was already starting to feel better. He smiled, "If it keeps healing at this rate then I'll be able to go out with Syaoran and the others tomorrow and hunt for the feather, if they don't find it today that is." he thought. A few hours after lunch had ended, Kyoya felt his eyelids become heavy and his body jerked back and forth as he struggled to keep himself from falling asleep. "Why am I so tired? I didn't have that bad of a nights sleep." he thought. Then he remembered all of the running that he had done back in Clow Country.
~ Flashback ~
He jumped out of his hiding spot and began to make his way to the chamber entrance. He didn't care that he could be killed, his mind was only on one thought, get to Syaoran. As he ran he was vaguely aware of Toya calling out to him, telling him to stop and get back to his hiding place but by that time he had made it past the wall of soldiers and entered the chamber. As soon as he did he began to call out to his brother, "Syaoran! Syaoran!"
"Hold on." said Syaoran to Sakura who was still laying unconscious in his arms. The substance began to completely surround them but just before it did Syaoran heard a voice call out, "Syaoran!!" Turning quickly toward the noise he saw Kyoya running at full speed toward him. "Kyoya!" he shouted. "Stay back!" Even though he was over joyed to see that his little brother was alive he didn't know what was going on and didn't want to take the chance of his brother getting hurt. But Kyoya didn't stop, in fact, he ran faster and jumped through the substance into the middle of the circle and stumbled forward into Syaoran where he fell to his knees completely exhausted. When Syaoran saw him fall he quickly knelt down himself and pulled his little brother closer to him with one arm while keeping the other firmly around Sakura. This was the last that Yukito saw before the substance completely encircled them and they disappeared.
~End of Flashback ~
"That's got to be it. I've never run that fast or hard in my entire life. I guess I just pushed my body a little to hard yesterday." he thought as he fought off another tired spell. It was at that moment that Arashi poked her head into the room to see if he needed anything. Her face was worried of a second as she saw him swaying but then she noticed his eyes fighting to stay open and she knew that he was exhausted. She smiled warmly as she announced her presence. "Kyoya." He jerked his head over to look at her as she walked toward the bed. "Why don't you let me sit with her for a while. I'm all done with the house chores and it looks like you could do with a nap." she said.
"Well…" He looked up at her and her warm smile and was about to object when another tired spell suddenly hit him. "Alright. I guess I'll just rest my eyes for a minute." He carefully stood up being careful of his bruised side and with a little help from Arashi made his way to the other bed in the room. "It looks as though your ankle is feeling much better." said Arashi as Kyoya laid down on the bed.
"Yeah, it feeling much better. If it keeps healing this fast I'll be able to go…hunt…for…the…feather…tomorrow." he said as his eyelids shut and sleep claimed him. Arashi pulled the covers over him and made her way over to Sakura, where she knelt, picked up the book she had placed on the ground when she helped Kyoya up and began to read.
------ Back on the Bridge ------
"Where do you think he went? Should we find him?" asked Syaoran. He was worried that they had split up and that they wouldn't be able to find each other again. "But then again, I'm pretty sure that Kurogane is more than capable to find his way back to the house by himself." thought Syaoran.
"Kurgy does his own thing as he's so keen on saying." replied Fye. "I think the three of us should concentrate on finding that feather." It was at that moment that Mokona jumped off of Fye's shoulder back onto the railing of the bridge, his face intent on something that was in the air or a feeling, whichever one you want to choose. "What did you feel something?" asked Fye. Mokona then jumped into the air and began to quickly float away from the bridge, all the while humming to himself. "I guess I haven't gotten the language down. You think our guide picked up the scent?" said Fye. They both quickly ran to catch up to the quickly moving Mokona. Before to long Mokona came to rest in front of a restaurant and happily chirped, "Something in this place smells delicious." Syaoran stared up at Mokona in surprise as Fye said, "Well, I suppose we did skip our lunch." at the same time that Mokona chanted, "Time to eat, time to eat, Mokona's hungry." They stepped into the restaurant and were greeted by the owners, who looked exactly like King Toya and High Priest Yukito. Syaoran's eyes grew big he stared at the pair in amazment, momentarily losing his voice. "We'd like a table please." said Fye.
"All right. How many will you have in your party today gentlemen?" asked Yukito.
"Um there are three of us thank you. Well, uh, two plus this little beast, I guess." replied Fye the ever constant smile on his face.
"Two it is. This way please." said Toya. Before they moved toward the table Syaoran suddenly found his voice. "Your Majesty, what are you doing here?" Toya turned around and looked at him in shock and curiosity. "Huh, what'd you just call me?" he asked.
"Um, your Majesty." replied Syaoran, but before anything else could be said Yukito spoke up. "Um, if we could please follow me to your table now please." Fye and Syaoran looked over at him. "I don't mean to be rude." he continued. "But you are blocking the door and there are customers trying to get in." That seemed to get everyone to move away from the door and when they were seated at the table and after Yukito took their order, Toya continued speaking as if they had never been interrupted. "Trust me, the only title I have is pancake chef." he said as he prepared their orders.
"The rest of your food should be out in a minute you guys." stated Yukito as he moved away to help another customer with their order. Even though they had told Syaoran that they were not who he thought they were, he just couldn't take his eyes off them, especially Toya who was serving them. "It's so weird to see the King like this and serving me of all people. I just can not get over it." he thought.
"Your Majesty, hey." said Fye. "I take it you recognize these men."
"Yeah." simply stated Syaoran still staring at Toya.
"So, they have parallels in your home world, the young king and his adviser I'm guessing." Syaoran finally stopped staring at Toya and now stared at the table remembering the last time he saw the king and the high priest.
~ Flashback ~
Syaoran finally was able to make it out of the chamber and immediately started to look around for help. However, his attention was caught by one of the black soldiers running at him with it's claws of metal ready to strike. Syaoran gasped but before he could do anything a man jumped in front of them and cut down the soldier with his thick black sword. "It took you long enough kid." said the man and Syaoran knew by the voice that it was King Toya.
"It what?" gasped Syaoran.
"Is she going to be ok." asked Toya not taking his eyes off the battle field.
"I'm not sure." said Syaoran.
"That's not the response I'm looking for." Toya replied as he slice through another soldier that tried to attack them.
"Those wings…they were the manifestation of her spirit." explained Yukito
"What?! Her spirit?" said Syaoran.
"The very core of who she is. All of her memories from birth to present have left her now and worse, they haven't just escaped her, they've left this plain entirely. They're gone." Yukito continued to explain.
"Her memories." said Toya who spared a quick glace behind him at the others.
"So, what happens now? Isn't there anything I can do to help her!" asked Syaoran who's eyes filled with worry.
"Yeah kid. You're her chosen. Save her." said Toya as he gave Syaoran a small smile.
"I will." replied Syaoran as he stared Toya straight in the eyes.
Toya looked out of the mass crowd of black soldiers that where in front of him as he stood up. A smirk spread across his face and determined look came to his eyes as he said, "I'll handle these guys. They won't get past me."
~ End of Flashback ~
Toya's voice was what brought Syaoran out of his thoughts. "Pork and onions ready to go, I hope you like it." he said as he placed the pancake on Syaoran's plate.
"Well the dimensional witch said this might happen." said Fye and Syaoran turned to face him. "She said that we need to be care because traveling to different worlds can more more difficult than we can imagine. She said that every land has its own dangers and beauties and that we will have to rely on each other. She told that we could run into people that we recognize from our own worlds that live completely different lives on another, but they will not know us. You may have known them back in your home world but they aren't the same people here. They have different memories and personalities. In truth only one part of them is the same in this world."
"What part?"
"It's their essence Syaoran. The most basic element of their whole being; the source of their life."
"Their essence? Wait, you're talking about their souls right?" asked Syaoran.
"Something like that." replied Fye.
"It's all so strange. Do you think maybe Kurogane found someone that he recognized from his world too?"
"That's one possibility. Now enough talking and let's eat." announced Fye as he began to partake in his pancake. Syaoran also began to eat, but he was thinking about what Fye had just told him; he was trying to make sense out of it all.
------ In a mall somewhere in the city ------
Kurogane stood in the middle of a mall, his shoulders hunched over in defeat. "I lost her. How the heck did she get away?" He was so wrapped up in trying to figure out which way the girl who looked like Tomoyo went that he failed to notice that people around had started to run away. What did catch his attention though was a voice from behind him. "Hey you!" demanded the voice. Kurogane looked around and notice that he was now standing all by himself so the voice must have been referring to him. He turned around and noticed that the mohawk gang from the fight on the bridge yesterday were all standing behind him. "Yeah, I thought it was you." said the voice which was coming from the round, short, pink haired leader of the group who's name was Kunio. "Must be my lucky day you showin' up here on our turf all by yourself. Saves us the trouble, now we won't have to go looking for ya."
"Look." said Kurogane, a little tired and annoyed at being disturbed at the moment. "I got no beef with you or your gang. Now get lost." huffed Kurogane in a calm voice.
"I don't think so stranger, cause see we got a beef with you." continued Kunio completely unaware that he was getting on Kurogane's nerves.
"Oh really." replied Kurogane not even bothering to look at the short leader.
"That's right." continued the oblivious Kunio. "We're gonna use you as bait. If we're holding one of his buddies hostage that flame boy will have no choice but to become one of us." He shot his hand out into the air and summoned his kudan, which had the shape of a gigantic tadpole but with spikes covering its belly. "If you didn't see it yesterday punk, but my kudan's a class one, the highest rank. So, unless you want to ride in an ambulance I suggest you come with us!" shouted the over confident leader. As soon as Kurogane heard Kunio activate his kudan he spun around ready for anything. After hearing Kunio's speech he stared up blankly at the kudan. "Does this guy honestly think that I will come with him just because he has a high ranking kudan. If he does, then he's got another thing comin'." he thought. Just then Kunio's kudan leapt into action and swung its long tail toward Kurogane who jumped out of the way at the last second. The place where Kurogane had just been standing and where the tail had hit the ground, the floor was now smashed in leaving a nice hole. Kurogane quickly ran behind a pillar but the kudan's tail came after him again hitting the pillar, this time instead of leaving a hole it sliced right through the pillar, cutting out a good sized piece. Kunio laughed out loud, "Starting to see what you're up against. My kudan turn each of its arms into a weapon as sharp as a blade. I call this technique…"
"Sword of the octopus." finished his right and left hand men. Kurogane ran this way and that dodging each of the kudan's blows. He could hear that Kunio was saying something but he could care less about what it was. "Does that guy ever shut up? Well, I guess I'll just have to shut him up myself, but how am I gonna do that." At that moment the tail came crashing down again and made him lose his balance. He fell and skidded a few feet away before the tail slashed out again this time coming dangerously close to his body. "Damn! That was too close. Come on think. How are you gonna defeat this thing?" he thought the fear beginning to show in his eyes as he realized that this kudan might get the better of him. The tail made another pass at him this time making a direct it hit to Kurogane's stomach and flung him up in the air. He landed on a pile of broken cement and stated, the fear now gone from his eyes, being replaced by determination and anger. "Coming at me when I'm unarmed. Pathetic weaklings. If I still had my sword they'd all be finished with one little warm-up swing." he firmly stated. He looked up to see that the kudan now had giant spikes coming out of its back and were being fired at him. He watched as the spike flew toward him and realized that it was to late for him to move. The spikes hit him dead on. "This is it, this is the end." he thought. Then a vision of Tomoyo popped into his head and he realized that he could not die yet, not until he got back to his country and his Princess. Suddenly, from inside of him there arose a fire and determination to live that he had never felt before. "There is no way in hell that I am going to die here and especially not at the hands of this pathetic weakling." he thought as he stood up in the smoke that was no surrounding him. He could hear the voice of the stupid Kunio still bragging. "How do you like that tough guy, I can use the spikes on my kudan as weapons too and that technique is called…"
"The flying sword atta…" began to finish the other gang members but the leader interrupted them.
"Hold it." he shouted when he saw that Kurogane was standing on top of the pile of wreckage made by the kudan. Kunio looked up in awe at Kurogane wondering how he was still able to stand up.
"Tell me you're joking." scoffed Kurogane. "You're gonna have to do a lot better then that." The kudan prepared to fire more spikes at him but Kurogane stood his ground as he spook in a fierce voice. "I'm not beaten so easily. You guys are wasting your time. See I can't die." Kurogane began to glow a blue color as he clenched his fists in fierce determination and anger. "Not until I see her again!" He then let out a loud growl as the giant blue dragon that had appeared to him in the dimension tunnel now appeared behind him looking down at the mohawk gang.
"What?! This guy's got a kudan too!" yelled Kunio. The rest of the gang look up in awe and fear at the dragon kudan.
"I recognize you." stated Kurogane as he also looked up at the dragon. "You're the one from my dream." The dragon let out a tremendous roar then turned into big, thick sword that had dragon claws on the hilt. "What's this?!" thought a semi-shocked Kurogane. "Are you tellin' me I should use that thing." asked Kurogane to his kudan. He got a roar in response but that was all he needed to hear. "I see." he said in understanding. "It would be nice to hold a sword again." With that he reached out his hand and grabbed the hilt, gave it a few swings in front of his body testing the weight and agility of the sword, then brought it into a battle position; he and his kudan sword were now one. His hands seemed to vibrate with the power and thrill of holding a sword again. His mind became sharp and ready for any kind of attack that they could throw at him and his eyes burned with a fire that was so fierce they were almost to scary to look at. Everyone could tell that by looking at his body that he was always meant to have a sword in his hand. "You wanna fight." he shouted. "You got one my friends." The leader's kudan shot more spikes him but Kurogane jumped into the air and with one swing of his sword not only made the spikes disappear but Kunio's kudan as well. Kunio let out a yell and, grabbing at his chest, fell to the ground. Kurogane stared down at the gang in triumph. "It was over befre it even started." he thought.
"Wow. I might have to change my approach." said Kunio to himself, the bragging tone completely wiped from his voice. "Hey, you've proven yourself." he said to Kurogane. "I'll let you into my ranks and we'll conquer this whole city together."
"Yeah, well don't hold your breath." said Kurogane. "I'll never join you or your gang. I only serve one person. Tomoyo." He rested the sword over his shoulder as he watched the mohawk gang run for it when they heard the sound of police sirens coming their way. Kuogane surveyed the surrounding area for the first time since the fight started and noticed that ground was a complete mess. Big chunks of it were piled high and many of the surrounding shops were destroyed. Even the skylight overhead was completely shattered. He gave a heavy sigh, deciding that he should also leave. After all he was a stranger and more likely to be thought of the one who made this mess than the one that defending himself from being attacked. As he began to find his way back to the Arisugawa residence he began to inspect his new blade. The main thing that he notice was that the blade itself not shape in the slightest. In fact he wasn't sure if it could cut through bread it was that dull. He figured that the energy that the blade held was the key to the blade. When in battle the blades energy reached its peak and would shot out streams of energy, which is what would cut through pretty much almost anything kudan or human, but mostly kudan. By the time he had figured all this out, and after asking many, many people for directions he was able to make it back to the Arisugawa residences just as the sun was half done setting. He walked through the front door and straight to his room, ignoring the looks he was getting from the other boarders that he passed. When he entered the room he noticed that Fye, Syaoran, and Mokona were back and were sitting around Sakura's bed along with Kyoya. They all looked up when he entered the room. They all stared in shock at the giant sword that was over his shoulder. "Hey." he said as he sat down in front of the window, pulled a sword-cleaning device from his original clothes and began to clean his kudan sword.
"Hey yourself." said Kyoya. "What up with the gigantic sword?"
"None of your business runt." Kyoya clenched his fists, his eyes began smolder. "Who does he think he is calling me a runt? That's even worse than calling me a kid. Yeah well, I'll show him." fumed Kyoya to himself, but before he could put his plan of revenge into action Syaoran place a calming hand on his shoulder and looked over at his little brother. His eyes telling Kyoya all that he needed to know and that was to calm down. Kyoya held Syaoran's gaze for a minute before he gave in and let his muscles relax. "But this is far from over Mr. Sullen-all-the-time." he thought.
"When did you three get back?" he asked in a short manner.
"We only just got back ourselves." stated Fye. "Kyoya here has just finished telling us what happened here while we were out." Kurogane spared a quick glance over at Kyoya and Kyoya gave him his best 'I'm-not-gonna-tell-you-anything' look. Kurogane gave a huff then went back to cleaning his sword. The gaze left Kyoya's eyes as he looked over at Syaoran and Fye. "So tell me what happened to you guys today and don't leave out any details." Syaoran, Fye, and Mokona all took turns retelling the story of their day. When they got to the part about the restaurant and Toya and Yukito Kyoya burst out laughing. "No way! Toya and Yukito running a restaurant and Toya actually made and served you pancakes. Oh that's to rich. Just wait till we get back home, I'm gonna tell them this story. I can only imagine the look on their faces, especially Toya." The other gave Kyoya a few minutes to get the laughter out of his system before they continued on with their story.
"So you were unable to find the feather then." said Kyoya, who sounded a little sad but also excited.
"Yeah. We'll just have to keep looking." said Syaoran as he looked down at Sakura.
"Don't worry we'll find it eventually." encouraged Fye.
"Yeah, I'll work really hard on trying to sense where it is. Don't worry, Mokona will find it." stated Mokona.
"Thanks for your help today guys." said Syaoran to Fye and Mokona. "It means a lot."
"You're very welcome Syaoran." replied Fye and Mokona nodded his animatedly.
"I also want to thank you too Kurogane." said Syaoran.
"Thank him, for what? The guy ditched you and ran off somewhere to get a sword because he's still sore that he had to give his precious sword to the dimensional witch." thought Kyoya.
"Yeah, whatever." huffed Kurogane. Everyone fell silent after for a few minutes after that till Kyoya broke the silence. "You know, this might sound mean and a bit selfish, but I glad that you guys didn't find the feather today." Everyone looked over at him as he stared down at Sakura's face.
"Oh, and why's that Kyoya?" asked Fye.
"Cause I want to help you search for it as well. I want to help Sakura in any way I can, which is searching as hard as I can for her feathers."
"I see." said Fye in understanding. "It was hard for you to stay here while we all went out to look, is that right."
"Yeah. I felt so useless just sitting here and watching here sleep."
"But you were helping just as much as we were." said Syaoran. Kyoya looked over at his brother. "Just imagine if she woke up while we were out today and there was no one here with her."
"That's right. Imagine how scared she'd feel waking up in a strange place surrounded by strange people, all by herself." added Fye. "Knowing that someone cared enough to stay by her side at a time like this would be a great comfort to her." A smile spread across Kyoya's face. "Thanks you guys."
"You're welcome Kyoya."
"But I still can't wait to start searching for her feather too." said Kyoya.
"Well, maybe you can come with us tomorrow if your ankle is feeling better." said Fye with his permanent smile on his face.
"Well, then that will be tomorrow cause my ankle feels almost completely better, I can even walk on it with it hurting and I can move my side without my bruise sending shots of pain through my body."
"Well, that's what it may seem to you but let me have a look at it just to make sure." said Fye as he moved over to Kyoya and began inspecting his ankle and side. He looked up at Kyoya when he was finished and announced, "Well, it looks as though you were right. Your ankle has healed enough and your bruise is healing nicely. I think that it's safe to say that you can come search with us tomorrow."
"Told ya." said Kyoya in joking tone. Fye's eyes sparkled merrily. "Yes you did. You know Kyoya. You heal fairly quickly."
"Yep. I always have. Even as a kid."
"Well, that's good. That means that you want get held back by injuries as much as the rest of us will, which means that you will be able to protect Sakura better when we are all injured." stated Fye.
"That's true Kyoya." said Syaoran, knowing that his little brother loved to protect the people that he was closest to. Kyoya smiled when he said this and sat up a little straighter. The room fell silent again for some time, each person caught up in their own thoughts. It wasn't until the sun had completely set did Fye ask Kurogane a question. "So what exactly happened to you today? You never told us Kuro-puu."
"Not much."
"He won't tell. It's a secret, it's a secret." chirped Mokona excitedly.
"So it seems and here I thought we were getting so close" said Fye.
"Oh yeah. What gave you that idea?" asked Kurogane.
"You do realize we're all probably going to be stuck with each other for a very long time." stated Fye.
"What's your point?" replied Kurogane.
"Well, learning how to engage in small talk might do you some good." simply said Fye.
"Uhhh, I'm gettin' some air." sighed Kurogane, who was exasperated with the conversation. As the hours went by each person slowly drifted off to sleep except for Syaoran who was watching Sakura in case she woke up. It must have been a little after 1:30 am did Kyoya suddenly wake-up from a dream that he was having. Before he could roll over and talk to Syaoran, for he knew that Syaoran was not asleep, he heard Kurogane's gruff voice. "Hey."
Kyoya was about to respond when he heard Syaoran voice answer. "What is it?"
"Go to sleep."
"But Sakura…"
"Just get some sleep kid."
"Yeah, I guess I ought to." Syaoran moved as that his back was now against the wall. "Sleep well Sakura. I'll be right here." he said softly before sleep over came him. Little did he know that Kurogane was not the only one awake and listening or watching him. Fye was also awake and the look in his eyes was anything but happy. Instead they held a look of great sadness and pain, but he soon drifted back off to sleep. Kyoya lay still on his side listening to the interaction between Kurogane and his older brother. "It almost sounds as if Kurogane is worried about Syaoran. Maybe I was wrong about him." he thought as he fell back asleep vowing that he was going to give Kurogane a chance from now on.
A couple more hours passed by, the only noise in the room was that of Kurogane's light snoring, until about 4:30 am when Sakura opened her eyes and sat up in bed. She slowly looked around the room till she stopped on Syaoran. She stared at him as if she was trying to figure out who he was, but the minutes passed, no recollection came. She just stared at him, her face looking as though it were in a trance. It seemed as if she could neither feel the cooled night air that filled the room or her deepest emotions. Her eyes were dull and lifeless.