Author's notes (she has a lot to say): Well, in truth, I found the last chapter kind of difficult to follow up. Haha, I never thought I'd run into that. That's funny. To see a piece of art I drew for this story, please see my profile. It's the only link there. You can't miss it. The picture's kind of cute actually. If I draw anymore I'll let you people know.
Christmas break has started, which means more time to be bored in, which means more begging for inspiration, which then leads to getting inspiration which means I generally write more in a short time. Voila.
It is now a rule that you cannot reply to reviewers within chapters, only by private messaging. So, that is what I'll do. On the plus side, you get your responses more quickly, and in general they will be longer. But of course, on the down side, I don't get to have the fun of writing out responses to all of my reviewers in the chapters, and I can't respond to anonymous reviews (I'll find a way around that...or you can leave your e-mail with an anonymous review and I'll be able to reply, but I know that some people don't want to do that). Some of you already know this, of course. I responded to all of the chapter 11 reviews recently.
And just to be a hypocrite...thanks nb, my only anonymous reviewer for chapter 11!
And on a final note, according to my timeline for this story, we're just entering May. Actually, the first section takes place on May 1st. Considering that the first attack took place March 17th, we've come a long way since the story was first published, a little over five months ago (haha...).
Disclaimer: (I've been forgetting this for the past couple chapters...) I do not own Card Captor Sakura, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon (including all of its alternative names)
Chapter 12
"Okay, so let's get this straight," Haruka said. "You can see ghosts," she stated.
Touya sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "I thought you said you weren't stepping foot back in Tomeada," he said.
"That was until someone else made my decision for me," Haruka replied. "Now answer my question."
"What question!" Touya asked. "I've told you a million times now! Yes, I can see ghosts! Are you satisfied?"
"I'm never satisfied," Haruka mumbled, subconsciously rubbing her left arm. Michiru watched with curiosity.
"I can't concentrate," Yukito said, walking out of the kitchen, running his hands through his hair. Touya opened his mouth to say something but Yukito didn't stop walking, so Touya gave up.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Michiru asked quietly. "It could have been important."
"It's not important," Touya said as he glanced at the doorway where he knew Yukito was listening, "I know, it's not important."
"Well it could have been!" Haruka exclaimed. She raised her fist and walked toward Touya. "It could have been the secret to beating her!"
Her fist met another hand that stopped her the same way a brick wall would have. She looked up and found ice-cold eyes staring down at her. Haruka snatched her hand away from Yue and went back to rubbing her arm, more furiously.
"Haruka, what on Earth are you doing?" Michiru asked, grabbing her shoulder. Haruka looked down at her arm, apparently shocked. "Let me see your arm."
Reluctantly, Haruka removed her jean jacket. On her arm there was an irritated rash, Haruka let out a gasp when she saw it.
"The dagger?" Michiru asked. Haruka nodded. Michiru looked up at Yue and Touya and said, "it's alright, we're leaving."
"What!" Haruka said.
"We're going home," Michiru said stubbornly before leading Haruka out. As soon as the door closed, Yue turned to Touya.
"So?" he said.
Touya gave him a confused look. "So what? They're gone."
"The ghosts. You saw something when we went to that place. Was it the spirits?" Yue took a step toward Touya, somehow becoming immensely intimidating.
"Yes, that's what I saw," Touya said. Suddenly Yue transformed back into Yukito, and the young man laughed nervously as he held his head.
"You know, after all of this time, I still can't get used to that," he said.
Touya stared at him for a moment before turning and walking away.
/MoOn/
/AnD/
/StArS/
"Oops!"
"Mina-chan!" Yasuto exclaimed as he caught her arm. "That leg of yours seems to be your Achilles' heel today."
Minako blushed as she regained her footing. Her thigh had developed a rash and a dull ache over the two days from the time the Senshi had battled Aiko. It was the same place that the dagger had planted itself, but she hadn't made that connection until that morning when she had discovered that Usagi and Makoto were suffering the same thing.
Suddenly, the bell rang and Minako turned to Yasuto. "I guess I've got to go. I'll see you later, Yasuto-kun."
"Are you sure you can get there with your leg?" he asked. "I'll walk you to class if you want."
Minako shook her head. "I'm fine," she told him. Reluctantly, Yasuto nodded and left her. Even as she took her first step, she felt her leg twitch with the weight and she fell, right into someone else's arms.
She looked up and sighed. "Thank God for you, Mako-chan," she said graciously. "I've been falling down all day."
"You think you've got it bad," Makoto commented, "I can't sit down without making a funny sound," she said as she unconsciously rubbed her lower back.
"How you ended up with it in your back, I will never know," Minako said, giving a laugh.
Makoto rolled her eyes as she began walking down the hall, making sure that she could support Minako if she needed to. "This isn't something to joke about, Mina-chan."
"I know, I know," Minako replied. "It's just that we've been under all of this pressure, we need to lighten up."
"Lighten up? Things just got worse. We got Mamoru-san back, yes, but he's stuck in that crystal, and now we're all infected with whatever was in those daggers," Makoto said.
Minako rolled her eyes, and then almost fell again. Luckily, Makoto was there to catch her.
"Hey, there are Usagi-chan and Ami-chan," Makoto said, spotting their two friends by Ami's locker. Minako suddenly left her side and took off, hopping down the hall on one leg. It was a funny sight to behold, and Makoto giggled.
Ami looked up as Minako approached, and then looked around the hall absent-mindedly, to which Makoto gave a smirk.
"Checking for that evil Hisano-san, Ami-chan?" she asked with a teasing tone.
Ami put on her most stubborn look and Minako sighed.
"I don't know why you have such a problem with them," Minako said as she shrugged.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Yojiro-san all day," Makoto said.
Minako turned to her. "Yasuto-kun said he was sick," she said. Makoto mouthed an "oh".
"So, Usagi-chan, how's your stomach?" Ami asked, changing the subject.
"It hurts, I wanna go home," Usagi complained, making her three friends sigh.
"Did Chibi-Usa go back to the future?" Minako asked.
"Yeah, she said that there'd probably be something that would cure the rash there," Usagi said, adding in a small "it hurts".
"Where did you put the crystal?" Makoto asked in a low voice.
"It's in my room," Usagi replied simply. "Completely safe."
The other three nodded.
"Well," said Ami, "I think we need to have a discussion about this poison stuff. I'd say tomorrow after school."
"I'll call Michiru-san and Haruka-san," Makoto said.
"Okay. Tomorrow after school," Minako confirmed. Without any more, they went their separate ways.
/MoOn/
/AnD/
/StArS/
"Thank you for driving us to the mall, Onii-san," Sakura said as she slipped out of the car.
"It's no problem. Anything to make the kaijuu happy," Touya replied. "We may not live through another temper tantrum."
Sakura stuck out her tongue and Touya was glad that his feet were inside the car.
"Goodbye, Touya-san," Tomoyo said as she followed Sakura out of the car, giving him a sweet smile.
"See you later," he said, returning the smile. Tomoyo and Sakura turned and walked toward the mall entrance. Touya started driving, his smile not fading.
Yukito sat in the passenger's seat, rubbing his forehead as if he had a migraine. Touya caught this out of the corner of his eye and turned to him worriedly.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
Yukito smiled weakly at him and went back to rubbing his temples. There were a few silent moments in which Touya's concern grew and Yukito continued to argue with his inner self.
"Touya-kun, I have a question," he finally said, sounding defeated.
"What is it?" Touya asked, turning to look for some hint of what was bothering his friend.
Yukito took a deep breath. "What do the spirits have to do with this?"
It was Touya's turn to take a deep breath. "They...they were her source of power."
Yukito cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "What? But how...?"
"I don't know!" Touya exclaimed. He was baffled by the situation. "She had some kind of hold on them. They were the same ones that were guarding the house the first time I went there, the ones that tried to hurt Sakura's friends. I have a feeling that she can see them and is using their powers."
"Powers?" Yukito asked.
"They all seem to be the spirits of people that had magic. I just don't get it...they're supposed to be free."
Touya seemed to be deeply troubled by the fact that these spirits weren't free. Yukito remained silent for a while until Touya had calmed down.
"So...why didn't you tell Ten'ou-san or Kaioh-san?" Yukito asked.
"I don't know," Touya said letting out a long sigh. "It's just that...even if they do trust us, they are such a close-knit group that they push us away anyway."
"Ah," Yukito said. It was all that he could think of to reply with. "Touya-kun, I have another question..."
"Okay." The car came to stop in front of Yukito's house and Touya turned his full attention to his best friend.
"Are you..." Yukito started. He looked up into Touya's curious eyes and decided against what he was going to ask. "Nevermind. It doesn't matter," he said. "See you later, Touya-kun."
With that he got out of the car and began walking up to his house. Touya watched him with concern and didn't start driving away until the door had closed behind Yukito with a soft click in Touya's imagination.
/MoOn/
/AnD/
/StArS/
Rei looked up to see Ami helping Minako walk up to the temple. She quickly ran up to them and put an arm around Minako on the opposite side of Ami.
"So," she said. "How've you guys been doing?"
"I'm fine, it's everyone else," Ami said as she and Rei let Minako sit down on the steps.
"It's gone completely numb," Minako said, placing her hand on her leg.
Rei sighed and held up her right hand. It flopped uselessly to the side. "My hand as well. This morning I could move my wrist, but now..." Rei looked at the spot on the back of her hand where the dagger had come through, stopping and missing her eyes by a hair. Her reaction had been slow, and her first instinct was to cover her face.
The three looked up as Usagi and Makoto turned the corner to walk up the pathway toward the temple. Makoto was walking as stiff as aboard while Usagi hunched, her arms protectively over her stomach. As they walked up the steps to join them, Makoto touched her back and winced.
"It's like it's someone else's back," she said. She and Usagi sat down on either side of Minako to wait for Michiru and Haruka. Usagi put the bag she had brought on her lap and absently ran her hands over a bundle inside it.
A yellow convertible pulled up in front of the temple, and the girls were surprised to see only one person in it.
Michiru got out of the car and walked up to the temple. Even though her elegant demeanor was as strong as ever, she appeared to be exhausted, and dark rings around her eyes were almost visible as she got closer.
"Hello, Michiru-san," Rei said. "Where is Haruka-san?"
Michiru let out a sigh. "She is asleep at home. She was up complaining all night of her arm going numb. This poison business makes her very irritable."
Haruka's agitation seemed to be a very touchy subject for Michiru, as that was all she would say.
"Let's go inside," Rei suggested, turning to go into the temple. The others followed, Ami helping Minako.
"So what are we going to do about this?" Minako asked.
"That's the question we're here to solve," Ami said. "We need some kind of medicine..."
"Where do we get medicine for a poison we can't identify?" Rei asked.
"There's gotta be something!" Usagi said, clutching the bundle that was wrapped with a handkerchief covered in rabbits. "Unless it's some kind of magical potion."
"It's perfectly plausible," Ami said, going into deep thought. "It's more realistic, too. Why would she go to all the trouble of finding a poison when she could just make something?"
"Good point," Rei commented. "Providing she knows how."
"It wouldn't surprise me," Makoto said.
"Either way, how do we get a remedy?" Minako asked.
"We could try going to her house," Usagi said. She held the bundle tightly and anyone could see that getting a cure wasn't her only motive.
"That wouldn't work. We're weaker than usual and she's probably expecting us anyway," Rei said. She sighed. "We have to find a remedy by ourselves, and quickly."
"I'll get on it right away," Ami said. The others nodded.
"We'll all help out," Makoto said.
"Are we done?" Michiru asked. She was almost falling asleep where she stood.
"Yes," Ami said as she went to leave. Michiru nodded and bid them farewell. She got into Haruka's car and began driving. It was strange, usually Haruka drove them everywhere, but now she couldn't drive even if she wanted to, so Michiru had to drive after years of staying in the passenger's seat.
As she walked into the apartment and closed the door behind her, the sound of heavy breathing reached her ears. Rushing to the couch where Haruka was asleep she saw that the girl was drenched in sweat. Michiru quickly put a hand to her comrade's forehead and gasped.
"Oh no..."
/MoOn/
/AnD/
/StArS/
A young man stepped through the automatic doors of the airport, smiling smugly, an expression that seemed to be permanently on his face. His dark eyes swept over the parking lot, taking in the scene, a scene that happened to be short of a car that he had expected.
"You did call a taxi, didn't you?" he said to the woman beside him, who pouted and sent him a slight glare. She didn't like the fact that she had to look up at him; but then again, his height had never really mattered.
"Of course I did!" she exclaimed. "You saw me at the payphone!"
"Well, you did talk about that boy an awful lot on the plane," he said slyly, glancing at her.
The woman crossed her arms and let out a small 'hmph'. The sun glittered off of the young man's glasses, giving him a mysterious air, as his smug grin stayed plastered on to his face. After a few more minutes of waiting in silence, a taxi pulled up in front of them and the driver got out to help them put their luggage in the trunk. The two slipped into the back seat and the woman put her purse down carefully beside her.
The young man smiled and looked out the window. "It's good to be back in Japan."
/MoOn/
/AnD/
/StArS/
And the plot thickens...
Oh dear, the daggers had poison in them...and Haruka's irritable. She is most of the time anyway.
So, Sakura gets a total of...one line in this chapter...but Touya and Yukito got more time...the King of Clow deserves only the best. Heh, I could probably write an entire chapter on Touya. Can anyone guess what Yukito wanted to ask? How about guessing who the people at the end of the chapter were? Personally, I think it's pretty easy, and I expect that everyone else will get it as well. Let me know in a review...hehe...
Well, personally I didn't like the little chat that the Senshi (minus Haruka) had. But that wasn't the point of the scene. Well, it was the point of the scene, but there were other...subtleties that were important. I dunno, maybe they weren't really all that subtle...
Word Count: 2,336