Hotaru didn't want to wake up at all. She actually felt warm for once and it felt nice and safe where she was.
"Little princess, it's time to wake up. You've been sleeping quite a bit already," said a gentle voice from somewhere nearby. Oddly, it sounded like it was right above her.
Hotaru nuzzled into her pillow. It took her a few moments to register the chuckle...and the fact that the pillow was oddly bumpy.
She felt a gentle hand card it's way through her hair. It felt really nice.
"Come on, little princess. Your Guardians are anxious to know you're alright. Kero was quite upset that you haven't woken up yet," said the voice.
Hotaru slowly opened her eyes.
"That's it, little princess," said the voice encouragingly.
The second she registered the fact she was sleeping on someone's lap, she nearly shot up in shock.
She felt really dizzy when she did, as the memories of the Final Judgment hit her like a brick.
Capturing Earthy. The appearance of Fon, who turned out to have the soul of Yue inside him as punishment for stealing the book. Seeing Li try to claim the cards, only to be smacked down rather promptly by a less than amused Moon Guardian.
Being challenged by Yue, only for him to change the 'game' as he knew she would never force the cards to fight him.
She remembered being pushed to the brink, before reaching out to the staff and somehow unsealing her full magical potential as fire rushed through her veins and body. The staff of Sealing and the cards disappearing...but the spirits that had been contained within staying with her.
"The spirits...where are they?" she asked worriedly. She turned...and had to stare at the double of Kyouya, except he had much longer hair and a far gentler aura around him.
Where Kyouya felt like a lone wolf, this teen felt more like a barely contained hurricane...one that was created by a great dragon of immense power.
"...Fon-san?" she asked cautiously.
Fon, for that was indeed who it was, smiled at her.
"You've given the others quite a bit of worry, little princess. You've been asleep for three full days since Yue deemed you worthy of the cards."
"Where are they?"
"It seems you no longer need them, so they were sent to the one they were originally intended for. Of course young Kinomoto-san will have to draw in new spirits as the original ones have quite firmly made it clear they adore you to the point they would abandon the form Clow gave them. However the cards were always intended as a training tool...she would have had to change their form after the Final Judgment anyway," explained Fon. "Kero and the others made sure to explain things once they found out where the book and staff went, so she has someone to talk to about it... as for Li, he has now been assigned to Tomoeda to insure the cards either end up in the clan or to add the young lady in question to the clan the old fashioned way."
"What about Meilin?"
"I'm afraid she went Active as a result of your own unsealing. As Kinomoto-san is a civilian, her best chance is to bond with you as your Lightning," said Fon.
He had the distinct feeling Meilin would have found a way to go Active and try to bond with Hotaru regardless, purely to get out of the control of the Li clan elders.
Considering she had actual training as a martial artist and wasn't "brainwashed" with the typical mindset of a Lightning, she would make a good match for Hotaru. If she did bond with the little Sky, then Fon would teach the girl a style that suited her body type and personality.
"How did you get so big?"
Fon smiled at her.
"Little princess, the form you knew before was the result of a particularly nasty curse I was tricked into decades ago. I am considerably older than you think," said Fon.
"Then why do you look..."
Like he was closer to Kyouya's age?
Fon chuckled.
"As a compromise I made with Yue before the Final Judgment, upon learning the lack of any protection at all for you or your mother, he agreed to help lift part of the curse so that I might act as Kyouya's 'twin brother' and join you in your class. Consider me an extra bodyguard on top of young Takeshi," said Fon.
"Why? Why would you go through so much trouble for..." asked Hotaru.
Why would he go to such hassle for a loser like her? It made no sense!
Fon's eyes softened.
"Little princess, when you unlocked your full potential during the Final Judgment, you did more than free yourself of the chains that were forcibly placed on you. You also managed to harmonize with those closest to you...and since Yue is your Moon Guardian, that also extended to me. I'm your new Storm," he said gently.
Though he had to wonder if having Kero was the reason why Ryohei only had a "lesser" Guardian bond with Hotaru or if he wasn't fully compatible with her in the first place. After all, she managed to handle him, on top of the newly formed bond she had with Yue. If she was strong enough to handle the strongest Storm in the world, then it was also possible she could handle that chaotic headache.
"HOTARU!"
Kero practically tackled her the second he realized she was awake.
"Kero-chan!"
"You had me so worried! You wouldn't wake up at all for days!" said Kero worriedly.
That was the moment Hotaru's stomach rumbled, loudly.
She blushed in embarrassment. Fon chuckled.
"I think you could use something to eat, little princess. Considering you've been sleeping while your magic and your flames resettled after being freed, it's only natural you'd be rather hungry," said Fon.
She went to get up...until she registered something.
"What am I wearing?!"
"Alright you two, all boys out," said Meilin imperiously. Chrome, formerly Nagi, was right behind her. "That means you too Kero."
Kero stuck his tongue out at her, but settled on Fon's shoulder as they left the room.
Meilin checked her temperature.
"Well, you're definitely looking a lot better now. You were a little pale before," said Meilin.
Chrome was already getting out some outfits, all of which Hotaru had never seen before in her life.
"How did I get into this?"
"Your uniform was in pretty bad shape," said Meilin bluntly. "Yue managed to catch you, and Hibari made sure to bring you to the clan mansion. Chrome and I were the ones to dress you. As your handmaidens it's only proper, after all."
"Handmaidens?" said Hotaru in disbelief.
Meilin grimaced.
"I managed to convince my clan that I would act as one of your handmaidens since I became Active. As such, you can consider Chrome and I to be your female confidants. We're not servants, but our status is considered secondary to your own and we will put you before ourselves," clarified Meilin. "It's quite a bit different from the whole 'Guardian/Sky' thing that most Flame actives have going on."
Hotaru was horribly confused. Chrome clarified it using the same method Fon had when he explained it to Meilin so that she could avoid going back to China.
"The underworld considers Skies to be the equivalent of royalty, and the fact you were chosen as one of the successors of the Clow Cards only reinforces that image. As such, you could be considered a 'princess' of sorts. And every princess needs a handmaiden to help from the shadows, such as keeping you from making social faux pas in an enviroment you're not used to, or helping with outfits you've never worn before...such as kimono," said Chrome.
"Essentially while the boys are the front line bodyguards, we're the hidden protectors. Mostly because they can't enter gender-specific areas like bathrooms or the bedroom unless they're married to you," said Meilin.
"But I'm nobody!" said Hotaru.
Meilin lightly pinched her cheek.
"You are one of a very select few born with strong enough Sky Flames capable of harmonizing with an Arcobaleno. You are also one of the few who have the capacity to instinctively adapt to the Clow Cards to the point you no longer need them to cast spells. I hate to break it to you, but you're no longer just a normal girl. We're just going to have to remind you that you do deserve protection and respect from others," said Meilin firmly, but with a gentle tone.
A few months had told her that Hotaru's confidence was shot to hell, and that she needed every little boost to her self-esteem that she could get until she was able to overcome the years of bullying and harassment from all sides.
Her support system was still too new to be as effective as she needed it to be.
Hotaru started to tear up... so the girls hugged her tightly between them. She latched onto them like a lifeline.
They stayed like that until Hotaru's stomach grumbled again.
"There, there. First we need to get you dressed and then fatten you up a bit. You're far too skinny."
Hotaru fumbled a bit with the relatively tame kimono Chrome had managed to find, but once she was properly dressed she felt a little better. She didn't feel very comfortable in such an expensive outfit, but at least she wasn't only dressed in a long shirt!
(She would blush horribly when she found out it was one of Kyouya's older shirts. If that wasn't a sign of him staking his claim on her, nothing was!)
Fon looked at the pacifier in his hand. He would have to pull this off very carefully if he wished to make a clean break. He had woken up that morning and known something was wrong almost immediately.
He just hadn't expected it to be this.
He attempted to reach out to his flames, only to feel an almost empty void where they used to be.
'You wanted the freedom to act as her protector. Are you dissatisfied with my solution to your problem?'Yue asked him.
'How?!'
Yue snorted.
'I took the majority of your flames and amplified it until the artifact overloaded and fell off. The downside is that you will be unable to use them for a few months at least, but once Hotaru's own magic stabilizes enough to handle supporting me, it should recover. Would you rather have that parasitic thing stay until it drained you to death?'said Yue.
Fon looked at his hands. They were bigger than he was used to, but they weren't the same size as they had been when he was cursed originally.
He looked in the mirror...and saw himself, except he was at least a decade too could have passed for Kyouya's slightly younger brother, or even a twin.
'...You deliberately set my age to that of a teenager, didn't you?' asked Fon dryly.
'May I remind you that you were the one to suggest courting the Card Mistress as a female so that she would not fall for the tricks of those that would only use her for their own gain? Besides...it was easier to get that blasted artifact off if you didn't regain your original age.'
Fon stretched his hands. While it was slightly awkward having to go through puberty twice, it was a small price to pay in order to have that blasted pacifier off.
The only thing was, he had no idea if the feat could be replicated. Never mind the fact that once the others found out what happened, they wouldn't hesitate to delve into things better left alone in order to remove their own curse.
He would have to fake his own death if he wanted to avoid that issue. It would be very tricky, but the ability to move freely again and be able to protect Hotaru without having the threat of the Triads hanging over his head was well worth it.
Maintaining the position of a neutral enforcer in the Triads was a lot of work. And if they knew he had bonded to a Sky...it wouldn't be pretty and Hotaru would be in terrible danger.
Far better to make it look like someone got a lucky hit in and disappear completely. After all, it wasn't like he actually talked about his family that much with others to begin with.
No one needed to know that Kyouya's "cousin" was actually Fon.
Two months later...
"Everyone, I would like to introduce a transfer student. He's recently come from China and he's been home-schooled until now, so be nice," said the teacher. "Come in please."
The students all wondered why the teacher seemed so nervous about a transfer, and why a second student from China had come all the way to Namimori.
The second the new student entered the room, the entire classroom fell into dead silence.
He was a dead ringer for the demon prefect, save for the fact his hair was slightly longer!
Hotaru, Takeshi, Meilin and Chrome all recognized him for an entirely different reason.
"Ni hao. My name is Hibari Arashi, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said politely.
"Teacher, did we do something to piss off the violent monkey in charge of discipline or something?" asked Hana. "Because last I checked, we've done nothing to deserve the monkey's clone in our class."
Fon smiled at that, while internally laughing.
"I'm afraid Kyouya and I don't get along that well. He dislikes the fact that he is unable to bite me to death since I win every time we spar. So as a compromise I was placed in the year below his to avoid any unnecessary...confrontations," said Fon.
The silence was even worse.
Did the new student just call the demon prefect by name...and claim that Hibari had never won against him?!
The teacher coughed awkwardly.
"You may take the seat next to Sawada-san," she said.
Fon inclined his head, and easily took his seat.
Later on the roof, Hotaru and the others practically ganged up on him.
"Alright spill. How the hell did you get rid of the pacifier and why have you been out of contact for the last two months?!" said Meilin.
"And why did the rumor mill from the fake carnivores recently proclaim you dead?" demanded Hibari annoyed.
Fon coughed.
"From now on, address me as Arashi. As for the rumors... if the others knew I had managed to slip away from the curse they would cause no end of trouble to replicate it. Some things are better left remaining buried and forgotten. As such I had to take great pains to make it appear as though I had been killed by a lucky shot. It was rather difficult to make it appear as though I had died by self-immolation so that no one would be able to identify the corpse I used properly," said Fon. He grimaced. "The hardest part was finding someone skilled enough that the entire scene looked plausible, but not so skilled that they would survive the attempt and blow the whole thing wide open. Someone with motive to attack me specifically."
"So...you're staying here?" asked Hotaru. She couldn't imagine how desperate Fon...no, Arashi... had been to pull this off.
"As far as anyone needs to know, Hibari Arashi was trained by 'Fon' on the sly in martial arts and decided to return to his cousin upon his father's death. However as the two had never gotten along, it was decided he would attend the year below Kyouya's to prevent any unnecessary fighting between them," said Fon easily. "By this point the birth records have all been suitably altered and the potential heirs are always delivered by a midwife that's kept on retainer by the Hibari clan in order to prevent incidents such as kidnapping or attempted murder of the mother or child. And as Arashi appears so much like Kyouya...well, who's to say which child was present or not?"
Kyouya glared at him.
"Just so we're clear, you're not going to be intruding in my territory are you?"
Fon rolled his eyes.
"I'm not going to try and claim your territory, Kyouya. Only an idiot would do that and I have no interest in it. I chose her class to keep an eye on her since Keroberos can't and to provide extra protection."
That seemed to satisfy the Cloud.
"Besides...this gives me a chance to train Fight so that she is even more effective as a martial artist," said Fon.
He would enjoy this, so long as no one ever realized that he had faked his own death.