Disclaimer:
I have no affiliation with Cardcaptor Sakura or any other of CLAMP's works. Also any similarities to real life events or people are unintentional unless explicitly stated.
There was a crowd of people looking the noticeboards; the top hundred rankings for the mathematics test were up.
"Morning, Tomoyo!" It was Sakura, looking as lovely usual, wearing a ribbon headband that matched her eyes. "What's wrong?" she said with concern.
Tomoyo wiped her tears. "Oh, I'm just sublimely happy. Look at the rankings."
"Wow! Congratulations! You got equal second!"
"That is not why I am happy. Look over there," Tomoyo pointed to the end of the list and watched as Sakura's face went form confused yet cute, to pure delight.
"HOE?!" she yelled, startling a few people around her.
"What's all the fuss about, Miss Kinomoto?" asked Meiling arriving with her cousin.
"Meiling! Mr Li! Welcome back! I'm ranked! I'm a hundredth!" Sakura bounced excitedly holding the girl's hands.
"Are you serious? That's an amazing improvement actually," said Meiling. "Good job. Where am I? Ah, second with Miss Daidouji? I dropped a place, but I guess it can't be helped since it's Syaoran."
"That's amazing, Mr Li!" exclaimed Sakura, clapping. "First place! Congratulations!"
"It's nothing really."
"Hoe? But it's first place! And you were also helping me with mathematics throughout the semester. Thank you so much!"
He avoided her eyes. "It's nothi-"
Sakura stood on her toes trying to catch his gaze. "No. It honestly means a lot to me. I've never ranked before."
Tomoyo witnessed both of their expressions soften.
"Now that you're first you'll be moving up the first class with me!" said Meiling linking arms with Mr Li.
"Oh, yeah, that's right," said Sakura, somewhat deflated.
"Congratulations, Syaoran," said Fye, clapping the other boy's shoulder. Fye put his arm around Sakura's shoulder, catching Tomoyo's eyes and nodding conspiratorially in the direction of Mr Li. "Don't worry! You still have me, Miss Hundred."
"Thank you, Mr Ninety-Nine."
Fye addressed Meiling. "By the way, a senior was looking for you."
"Ah that's right, I was supposed to give the forms for the upcoming Bartitsu Competition," Meiling said, rushing off. She doubled back and said to her cousin, "Syaoran, don't forget to ask the deputy principal to move you to my class. See you later. "
"Sakura and Fye look pretty good together, do you agree?" Tomoyo smiled at Mr Li once Meiling had disappeared. Her relatives were laughing and congratulating and consoling their friends.
"W-what?!"
"They have known each other since Kindergarten," she said.
Tomoyo observed his eyes flicker to Sakura and Fye.
She mimed a shocked expression. "Did you not know that? I thought that you knew because were close friends with him because you are in most of each other's classes. Fye is in the same mathematics class as you and Sakura after all."
He regained his composure. "This doesn't concern me. I'm going to talk to the teacher."
Tomoyo laughed to herself quietly as Mr Li determinedly walked away.
That Daidouji! Why would he care about Sakura Kinomoto and Fye?
When Syaoran reached the staffroom a crowd was starting to gather outside the door. He could hear shouts from the inside.
"What can't you give me the mark!?" demanded a female student.
"I can't give you the marks because you because you didn't use the word "logic,"" said the teacher, calmly.
"But I used "sequential order!""
"I'm sorry, but I cannot award you those marks."
"This is ridiculous! Life isn't about what words you use! It's the meaning behind it!"
The girl exited the room, swinging the door violently. The crowd of students scuttled from her route.
Syaoran was surprised to see that she was wearing a small pair of wings. The academy had very strict uniform regulations.
Ms Mizuki stood at the staffroom and observed the students who were now dispersing. The deputy principal was in the room handing a cup of tea to another teacher, who he presumed was the one talking to the female student moments ago.
"Mr Syaoran Li," said Ms Mizuki. "Congratulations on getting first place, and after entering halfway through the semester too."
"Thank you," he said.
"No, we should be thanking you," said the teacher. "Your presence has truly motivated the class to do their best, especially Miss Sakura Kinomoto. She and the rest of the class seem to like you a lot too."
"I like the class too," said Syaoran. He was surprised to find that it was the truth. Their loud and distracting ways made the classes interesting and enjoyable.
"That's good to hear. Ah, that's the bell," she said, shooing him away. "You better not be late."
"Ok."
When he reached the end of the hallway, Syaoran felt very confused. He didn't get a chance to swap class.
But did he actually need to? It would be a hassle to deal with new classmates after finally getting used to Sakura Kinomoto and the others.
And his ranking and marks in mathematics would satisfy Mother. Wei always said that education depends on the student and not the teacher.
Syaoran sighed and continued walking to magical theory class. Hopefully Meiling would understand.
Meiling was furious with Syaoran. When the bell ended for their mathematics class, which he didn't attend, she went and cornered him as he was packing up.
She yelled. He yelled back. Students left the classroom after a glare from Syaoran, and they yelled some more.
Meiling breathed deeply trying to reorganize her thoughts.
"Meiling! There you are!"
Meiling and Syaoran turned to the newcomer in the doorway. She marched towards them.
"I thought that you said that you were going to have the competition forms in first thing this morning!" she said. Meiling flinched.
"Sorry! I was looking for you this morning," she said, taking the forms from her bag. "We have training this afternoon. I thought that I could give you the forms then."
"Sorry doesn't solve it! You volunteered to collect the forms and give them to me this morning, which you didn't, so that I could focus on other things. I should've done it myself." She snatched the forms out of Meiling's hand and stormed out of the classroom.
"Hey, who was that girl?" asked Syaoran.
Meiling felt her temper rise again. How dare he ask about another girl and not about how she was feeling!
He noticed her expression and quickly said, "I saw her this morning arguing with one of the teachers."
Meiling took a deep breath. "She's the Bartitsu Club captain. She's not normally like that though."
"Aren't those wings on her back against school regulation?" he said.
"Wings? She doesn't have wings on her back?"
"But I saw them. They're similar to a dove's," said Syaoran. He was always more in tune with spirits than she was. "And they're bigger than last time."
"Maybe it's one of those occurrences when not everyone with spiritual powers can see them," she suggested. "It doesn't matter."
Meiling was still angry at Syaoran, but he had good judgement. One class wasn't worth staying mad at him for long.
She hooked her arm with his and together they went to eat their recess.
Sakura was having dinner at home with her parents and brother. It was increasingly rare for them to have dinner together with her brother always busy with his part-time work and university and father being called to other countries for his research.
"What's wrong, Miss Sakura?" asked her father.
"Hoe?" she looked up from her food. "Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"I may be often away on business trips but I know my own daughter."
"Well at school," admitted Sakura, "the captain of the Bartitsu Club kept yelling at everyone. We have a competition coming up and she's getting really stressed about it, saying that she wishes that it was someone else's responsibility. That was the first time I've heard her complain."
"She's a senior," said her mother. "So you have to understand that she's under a lot of pressure to choose what she wants to do in the future."
"Yeah, I understand that." Sakura paused before adding, "But Meiling mentioned something strange as well. She said that her cousin, Mr Syaoran Li, said that he saw wings on her back. But no one else could see it."
"What are you doing hanging with that brat?" said her brother.
"He's not a brat!"
Their parents looked at one another.
"Sakura, do you know what kind of wings they resembled?" asked her father.
"Feathered ones like a doves and apparently they're growing." Sakura could sense their increasing discomfort. "What is the matter?"
"Sakura, listen to me," said her father in a serious manner. "What you've described sounds similar to a rumour I've been hearing about during my travels. Apparently some nice and considerate people suddenly become easily agitated and aggressive for no apparently reason. Occasionally you'd hear of someone noticing wings identical to a dove's on these people. They'll say that the wings grew as the person becomes more aggressive, and then wings would coincidentally be gone once the person is calm again."
"So that's a good thing right?" said Sakura.
"No," her father said, shaking his head sadly. "It means that their soul has departed and the body dies soon after. Those wings appear because of "Ko". They're vermin that paralyse a person's heart which surrounds their soul. It's a person's restraint, which is very important in helping with dealing with other people. Once that's out of the way, it's easier to steal a person's soul."
"Who and why would someone do such a thing?" asked her brother.
"Do you think you can find her?" said her mother.
"Is there a way to stop this?" Sakura said.
"There's an old book in our library that is said to contain a cure they used the last time it spread," said her father, rising. "It will take a while, but if you find her while I make the medicine we might be able to stop the process. Toya, go with her to keep her safe and contact me on your chronometer-telephone when you find Sakura's friend."
"Here. Think of your friend," Her mother placed a handkerchief in Sakura's hand. Her mother cast a spell over it and it folded over to form a bird. She said, "This handkerchief will turn into a butterfly when she's near. I hope that you find her."
"Thank you. Everything will be all right."
Toya and Sakura rode across the sky on his bicycle following the handkerchief-bird. It's leisurely pace gave him plenty of time to go over the dinner conversation in his mind. His parents were hiding something. The bird glowed and turned into a butterfly.
"Hoe? Why are we slowing down?" said Sakura.
"We're getting close," he said.
She shifted behind him to get a better look. "And now it's even slower?!"
Sakura was obviously worried about her friend, but Toya wasn't the kind of person for sentimental words. He continued to follow the handkerchief-butterfly.
The butterfly flew down to a terraced house. The butterfly hovered near a beam of light coming out of the second floor. It unfurled and floated to Sakura.
Toya traced the light to a board engraved with Zhonguo characters being held by a teenaged boy.
"Mr Li!" Sakura jumped off before he could even turn around. He landed quickly. It was the Li brat.
"What are you doing here?" said his sister. Since when was Sakura friendly with him?
"Mother sent me to find that girl while my aunt, cousin and your father make the medicine," he said.
Toya called his father on his pocket chronophone to let him know where they were.
"I think she's coming out," said the brat.
The light started moving downwards and Toya could hear the shouting from the inside.
The front door burst open and a girl, who he guessed to be the Sakura's friend, screeched something to someone inside and slammed the door shut.
The brat swore.
"What did you say?" Toya said to the kid.
"Her wings are much bigger now," he replied staring at the girl.
She noticed them. "Hey! What are you doing in front of my house?"
"Captain!" greeted Sakura, stepping towards her. "We just wanted to invite you over to my house for dinner."
"Just had it," said the other girl, sidestepping his sister. "Leave me alone!"
Toya's sister ran next to the other girl. "How about dessert then?"
"I said leave me alone!" The girl pushed Sakura aside.
Toya didn't care if she was a girl, no one pushes his sister.
"Hey don't provoke her," said the kid in low tones, blocking Toya. "We need to wait for your father to come with the cure."
"Hey why are you whispering?" the girl said the two of them. "I bet that you're criticizing my looks!"
The rocks around her began to crack.
Toya's father arrived. "Hey, I hope that I'm not too late with the cure. How is the situation?" he said.
"Not good," said the kid. "They're large."
"Miss, I have some food for you to try," said his father, looking at Sakura for assistance.
"It's the dessert I was talking about," said Sakura. "It's really delicious."
"I don't want it! I'm fat enough as it is!" said the girl. The fissures crept along the cobble stones. "I need to cut weight for the competition!"
"It will help you lose weight!"
She snapped her head towards Sakura. "Are you saying I'm fat?!"
"No," she retreated.
Toya and the others could hardly stand up straight anymore.
"I can't take it anymore!" she screamed, pulling on her hair.
The brat threw a paper talisman onto her forehead.
The trembling stopped, and the girl fainted. Sakura ran to be by her side.
The kid swore. "The wings are flying."
Toya couldn't perceive anything but the kid jumped onto the roof.
The kid chanted some spell and the winds picked up. But then he was floating in the air, gasping for air. Toya saw the Li magic circle and a blaze erupt, surrounding the teenager.
When the flames died down he was falling.
Toya's father slowed down his descent with his magic.
Sakura was by the girl's side, but was watching the kid. He was quickly regaining consciousness. Toya's sister tried shaking the girl awake.
"Hey, can you hear me, captain?" The girl stared into space.
Sakura's questions became more desperate. Her father gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"We can't save her anymore," he said, closing the empty girl's eyes.
"Sakura, the service is over," said her mother, "What are you still doing in the chapel? Our carriage ready to take us to the burial grounds."
Her mother was a silhouette in the arched doorway. The multi-coloured sunlight from the stained glass windows played shadows on her face as she moved forward to stand by Sakura. The soft glow from the rows of candles illuminated her gentle expression.
Sakura watched the candles flicker.
"I just needed more time to think," she said.
"What are you thinking about?"
Her mother waited for a response. She always encouraged Sakura to talk about her feelings.
Sakura struggled to catch a coherent thought. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have said that to her. I should've just made her eat the cure. If I've done something different, then she'd still be-"
She let the tears flow and felt herself be wrapped up in her mother's warm embrace.
"The past can't be undone, Sakura," soothed her mother. "It's no one's fault. Everything will be all right."
They stood that way for several moments.
"Some people think that she shouldn't have received a funeral because she lost her soul," said Sakura. She noticed an unlit candle.
"Don't worry about what other people think. Funerals are about celebrating and remembering the life of the departed and for loved ones to say their last goodbyes," said her mother. "The souls will eventually make their way to where they are supposed to go and your friend's will too."
Sakura's mother wiped her tears. "What do you reckon will happen to her soul?"
"Her soul could go to the spirit world, heaven, hell, the countless living worlds, or even the dreams which connect them all."
"Can you see what will happen in your dreams?"
Her mother shook her head. "I can view the future in my dreams, but that does not mean that I know everything that will come to pass. The paths that connect them are infinite and so are the possibilities." She blew on a candle bringing the flame to light. "That's why I can still pray and hope for a better future."
Author's notes:
- I hope that you're all okay. I'd apologize for possibly making you sad, but I guess it means that my writing is effective enough to make you do so...(?) so, erm, thank you. Hopefully, it amuses you as well. I'd like to know ;)
- Post exams... rankings (my school never publicly displayed ours actually, but word spread) and arguing with teachers for marks. Not one of my favourite experiences of high school.
- I used to practice taekwondo. The struggle to lose weight before a competition is real.
- If anything is confusing, let me know. Some things will be revealed in later chapters.
