He was observing the town and the way they interacted with the cards. In any other city, the cards would have been forced to hide what they were, what they could do. Fight, for instance, never would have been allowed to improve their skills at martial arts with humans. Clow would have been too worried about her hurting the humans in question with her superior skills or just power.

And Sword never would have had the chance to be "friends" with Shigure Kintoki or any other sentient sword simply because while Clow was open minded, he never would have entertained the idea that Sword had a mind and could "communicate" with other sentient swords.

Humans might not be able to 'hear' what they were saying, but Hotaru could still tell that Sword was happy because it had made a friend.

Hotaru was rather shocked when Takeshi Yamamoto opted to help her clean the classroom, rather than join his friends outside on the baseball field. Then again, it was a small room and he was the star baseball player...he could afford to be late.

The two cleaned the room with a peaceful silence, right up until Takeshi broke it.

Hotaru patiently listened to him talk about baseball. It was clear he was asking for something other than advice on how to handle his baseball career in school.

He wanted someone to listen to him and help him figure out what to do with his life. He would always love baseball, that much was in his blood... but it was clear he was starting to have doubts about the team he was on.

It took her a moment to realize that it wasn't just a figurative rain cloud over Yamamoto's head... there was a pair of Clow Cards hovering over him making a figurative "cloud" into a real one.

Hotaru sighed in exasperation at the little sprites who were positively giggling at the Takeshi's confusion and slight amusement.

"Ahahaha... are these little guys friends of yours, Sawada?" he asked.

"Alright you two, Yamamoto doesn't need a cold on top of what he's going through. You don't need to make a literal rain cloud to show his mood."

The two pouted.

"Rain, Cloud, if you want to play that's fine, but right now is a time for a serious talk. Just try not to make too big a mess in the room for us to clean," she said gently, patting them on the head. She had an impish thought. "In fact if you want to have a bit of fun, wait until we're done here and you can go put a cloud over Hibari-sempai. I know Kero's made several comments about how 'cloudy' his mood is."

Takeshi snickered at that. Hibari-sempai did always look like he had a dark cloud around his mood whenever he was extra "bitey". The two sprites chased each other around the classroom, careful not to make a mess.

Hotaru gently put her hand on Takeshi's shoulder, frowning at the slight tension she felt under her hand.

"Yamamoto-kun, I know how much you love baseball... but I honestly think you would be better off quitting the team. At least until they get it in their heads that they shouldn't force the bulk of the pressure to win games on your shoulders alone. I've seen several of them during practice hours at the arcade instead of on the field, while you're always putting your all into your game. Last I checked, baseball is a team sport," said Hotaru.

There was an unidentifiable expression in his eyes. He looked so lost it made her heart break. He had put so much effort into "Takeshi the Baseball Star" that he genuinely didn't know what to do with himself without it.

It took him a few moments to register the gentle hug from the shyest kid in class. And a certain fact that he hadn't been aware of until now.

"Ahahaha... You're a girl?" he asked in surprise.

"There's a reason why I wear the boy's uniform," she said simply. "I really think you should see a doctor after school to check your shoulder... it felt too tense when I touched it and I don't think that's a good thing at all. At the very least you should take a week off from practicing."

Takeshi rubbed his head, internally wincing at the pain in his shoulder.

"I'll think about it."

"If you want, I can walk with you to the clinic to get your shoulder checked out," she said, unaware that her eyes were glowing a light amber the color of the setting sun. It was clear that she wasn't going to let him get away with not going to see a doctor about his arm.

Takeshi felt a strange warmth realizing that the most bullied kid in school cared enough to make sure he actually went to the doctor because they were honestly worried about his health. And not because it might impact his baseball game.

When they finished cleaning, Hotaru called the two sprites to her...and to his amazement they turned into cards. With the practiced hand of someone who did this often, she wrote her name on the bottom...right as the door slammed open revealing a very irritable Syaoran Li.

Seeing the cards in her hand and the fact she had already signed them, Syaoran scowled in annoyance and irritation. The look he shot at Takeshi simply for being there said volumes.

Takeshi knew without hesitation that he'd never get along with the Chinese transfer student. Besides, the looks he was giving Hotaru really pissed him off. He didn't even realize how or why, but at some point he took an instinctive protective stance next to her with his eyes turning dark and lethal while glaring at the other boy.

They were the eyes of a killer who had yet to blood his hands, but would do so without hesitation if given a good enough reason. The eyes of a natural hit man.

Syaoran shivered in quiet horror as the revelation of what sort of person the taller boy was and what he was almost certainly capable of crawled through his brain.

"Can we help you?" asked Takeshi, his voice low and dark. The unspoken things in his tone said volumes of how dangerous he can and would be if pushed.

Hotaru instinctively fell behind Takeshi, using him as a shield against the boy in the doorway. There was a strange sense ofsafety and protection, being this close to Takeshi despite the fact they barely knew each other.

Syaoran knew when to cut his losses. He left without a word, though inwardly he was fighting not to run far in the other direction.

He was definitely calling for back-up the first chance he had. This situation was getting way out of hand and if what he suspected was true, then it was almost certainly going to get worse...for him.

Takeshi turned to Hotaru, who had an open sense of relief about her.

"What's his problem?" he asked.

"You know the sprites that were playing in here earlier?"

He nodded.

"One of his ancestors created them a really long time ago along with others. Except someone stole the book they were in and they were really mad about that fact. So when they started waking up, they sent him to get the book back," she explained.

All true without giving any actual details to get either of them in trouble. Hotaru wouldn't have said that much, but Takeshi was giving off a strange feeling off him that said she could trust him completely. That he would protect her if she was willing to let him. The only other people she got that feeling from were Ryohei and Hibari-sempai.

Though in Hibari's case, she had the distinct feeling that she had to prove herself worthy of him before he was willing to take up such a role. Almost like a particularly proud and aloof panther or other great cat that had yet to determine if she was pack or prey.

In any case, Hotaru acted as Takeshi's silent support to the clinic. The doctor nearly had an apoplectic fit when he heard that the coach not only hadn't noticed or cared about the fact Takeshi was clearly over-straining his dominant arm to the point he was starting to develop the early stages of tendinitis or even tennis elbow, but he was actively pushing Takeshi to practice harder without noticing the obvious strain the boy was under. Not only that, but he wasn't putting nearly as much emphasis on teamwork and practice on his weaker players as he should have.

Having a certified doctor's note that explicitly stated he wasn't allowed to use his right arm for anything besides homework and very light work for a month, Takeshi was rather torn.

He had built most of his social schedule around baseball and the popularity it had given him. Being suddenly told he had to put it off for a full month (there was an implied "or else" in the doctor's tone) made him unsettled.

Hotaru had remained outside in the waiting room until he came out.

"What did they say?"

"I'm on restricted use for a month. I'm not allowed to practice at all because of how dangerously over-strained my arm is," said Takeshi dully. He had also been given some mild painkillers, just barely above the common over the counter drugs like Advil or Tylenol.

Something seemed to pass in Hotaru's expression as that strange amber colored glow flickered across her eyes.

"...How good are you at the baseball video games?" she asked, already coming up with a good way to distract Takeshi from the fact he wasn't allowed to play real baseball for at least a month.

"Ahahaha... I have a bunch of them, but I don't have anyone to play with since all my friends complained I got too into the game," he admitted. It had been a while since he dusted off his game console, actually.

"I have a video game otaku that lives in my house who's been dying for a real opponent," she replied.

She had the feeling Kero might not like the fact she was revealing the Clow Cards and him to an outsider, but something told her that she needed to give Takeshi a distraction or he would do something drastic.

Besides, none of the cards were really into video games like he was.

It was only as they were walking into a familiar sushi restaurant that things livened up a bit.

"Hey dad. I'm back."

"Wait... Tsuyoshi-san is your dad?!" said Hotaru in shock.

Tsuyoshi, in the spirit of fathers everywhere, took one look at the the way they had walked in together and decided to poke fun at the fact Takeshi had come back with a cute girl.

"Just coming back from a date?" he joked.

Seeing the girl blush and his son's open embarrassment, Tsuyoshi grinned.

"No! I was just making sure Takeshi actually went to the doctor since I noticed how much pain he was in. He would have put it off otherwise."

Any amusement at the knowledge his son was acting friendly to the girl with the odd sword died a quick death.

"What happened?" he asked, dead serious.

Takeshi rubbed the back of his head nervously, and now that he was looking for it he could see his son wincing from the use of his right arm.

"The doctor said I'm showing a lot of signs for tendinitis. If I hadn't had it checked when I did, then I could have seriously hurt or even ruined my dominant arm. He was pretty mad when he found out the coach kept pressuring me to practice more instead of actually noticing I was in pain, with the way my batting averages have been dropping lately."

Tsuyoshi winced... he hadn't even noticed his son was in pain either.

"How did you know?" he asked Hotaru.

"He came to me for advice, since I'm one of the only people in class who don't make a big deal about his popularity or baseball in general. I noticed he flinched when I touched his arm, which was far too tense to be normal so I basically made him go to the doctor," said Hotaru.

Tsuyoshi felt relief that at least someone had cared enough to catch his son's health was declining.

As Hotaru joined Takeshi at the counter, Tsuyoshi carefully observed the way the two were interacting. And he began to notice something rather odd about his son's behavior around her.

Takeshi was acting almost protective and was paying very close attention to her words and body language. In fact it was almost like he was trying to win her approval for something, though he clearly had no idea why or even that he was doing it.

Tsuyoshi almost paused as he was trying to recall when he'd last seen this behavior. It was very, very familiar and he was having trouble placing why...until it hit him like a brick.

Allowing his Flames to come out just enough to get a read on the room and let a sense of Tranquility enter the atmosphere, he nearly dropped his knives in shock when he realized what was going on in front of him.

Takeshi's Flames had long been on the verge of going active after Sword starting showing up to visit their family blade. (He still wasn't going to ask what the two blades were doing... the situation was odd enough as it was.)

However as he was slowly making some food for the two teenagers, he could clearly feel his son's inactive Flames instinctively reaching out for something. Something that was sitting right next to him.

Now he remembered where he had seen this sort of behavior before. Takeshi was acting like an Element that was unknowingly courting a Sky in the hopes of a bond. And if he was reading the situation right, Hotaru's Flames (which he could just barely feel flickering at the edge of his senses...something seemed to be interfering with them) were reciprocating.

Paying close attention to the girl in front of him without making it obvious, he could clearly feel Sky Flames coming off her in erratic and irregular amounts. Which was odd, because with what she was up to lately she should have at least gone Active by now.

Unless she already was and some idiot had put a seal on her.

From what he could feel, it seemed she was slowly breaking down whatever was interfering with her Flames on her own. It just needed one good push to break it and unleash them.

Well... he wasn't about to stop his son from courting a potential Sky, and at least he knew Takeshi would be in good hands with Hotaru. She was a gentle and kind soul who genuinely cared about others, whether they were human or not.

Though he happily pleaded ignorance when Hotaru brought over that odd floating bear she called "Kero-chan" who took one look at the fact Takeshi had a bunch of sports games and gleefully challenged him to a match. The two had an amusing, if weird rivalry going on between them which helped to distract Takeshi from the fact he was forced to drop baseball for a month.

Though Tsuyoshi wasn't the least bit surprised when, after his arm healed Takeshi asked to learn how to use the sword. If he was right and his son was starting to be drawn to Hotaru as her Rain, then it was only inevitable.