"Ara, I'm still wearing my P.E. clothes!" moaned Ler.
"Sod that," said Ara dismissively, dragging her helpless friend behind her. "You're fine."
"Easy for you to say! You didn't dress out!"
It was true. Ara was still wearing her street clothes- a loose-flowing blue top, skinny black jeans, and the black-and-gold sandals expressly forbidden by their school's dress code.
"There they are!" Ara cried triumphantly, pointing with the hand that wasn't wrapped firmly around Ler's wrist.
"Hey, what about the-"
Without warning, Ara suddenly turned, shoved Ler in a particularly large bush, and dove in after her.
"-security guard," mumbled Ler as the man strolled past without noticing them.
"The school officials are daft if they think one man can cover two entrances to the school grounds," said Ara as she stood up and brushed herself off.
"I'm starting to have some serious doubts about all the times you've left early and said you were sick."
"I said shush."
Ler thought for a moment.
"No, you didn't."
"Hurry up. You're so slow," said Ara, and started to run.
"Give me back my sword, mage," hissed Kurogane. "I'm going to kill that pork bun."
"Wah! Fai-chan, don't do it!" wailed Mokona, jumping in the air to avoid the hands Kurogane was trying to use to throttle him. Fai smiled.
"Calm down, Kuro-chi! He was just teasing you."
"I don't care!" Kurogane roared.
"Heeelp!"
"Hey! Leave Moko-chan alone, Kuro-pipi!" someone suddenly yelled. It was the girl from earlier. Mokona plopped into her arms and she clung to him protectively.
"Yeah, why do you always pick on him?" the other chimed in fiercely. Kurogane stared at them.
"What… did you just call me?"
"Um…"
"Well, if it isn't our two saviors from earlier!" Fai suddenly interrupted. "How did you two manage to get out of school?"
Ler jabbed her thumb at Ara, who smiled innocently.
"Interesting," he said. "Remind me again, what are your names? It seems they've slipped my mind."
"I'm Ler!" announced the one with the bushy dirty-blonde hair.
"And I'm Ara," said the other.
"You have very interesting names," said Sakura, stepping forward shyly.
"Thanks!" said Ara proudly. "But they're not our real names."
"L-E-R are my initials," explained Ler.
"Oh!" said Sakura. "What about you, Ara?"
"Not telling!" she exclaimed happily, running behind Ler as if worried she might try to chase her for it.
"Um… okay," said Sakura, tilting her head to the side curiously. "My name is-"
"Sakura-chan, Moko-chan, Syaoran-kun, Fai-san, and Kuro-burro!" they both cried at the same time, pointing to each member of the group respectively.
"So you do know us somehow," said Fai.
Ler and Ara's eyes widened. They looked at each other, slightly frightened.
"AL conference!" they both yelled, and suddenly crouched down, huddled together and whispered back and forth furiously.
"What are we supposed to tell them?"
"Not so loud, they're right there!"
The whispering resumed for a few more minutes until they finally straightened up, facing each other with determined expressions.
"We solemnly swear to tell the truth, most of the truth, and very few things other than the truth, so help us CLAMP!" they both said at the same time.
"Um," said Syaoran. They turned to face him.
"In our world, you're a book," Ler said bluntly.
"Not a book, stupid. A manga."
"I'm not sure they know what that is."
"Maybe not, but don't waste your 'few things other than the truth' on something irrelevant."
"We should finish explaining," Ler pointed out.
"You're all characters in a comic book," Ara clarified.
"Um."
"I think you're confusing him," Ler confided to Ara.
"Comic books are like regular books, except with pictures, and a lot fewer words. Manga is just a particular style of comics," Ara elaborated. "There's all different genres and stories you can read, and here… well, you guys are the main characters of one of the books!"
"Interesting," said Fai. "But do you know whether or not it's accurate? Maybe they just look a lot like us."
"Of course it's accurate! You just came from Piffle World, right?" said Ler.
"Yeah. How'd you know?" asked Kurogane. Ler and Ara pointed to Sakura.
"Because of the dress Sakura-chan is wearing. Tomoyo-chan made it for you, right, Sakura?" asked Ara.
"Um… right," said Sakura. Ler and Ara smiled proudly.
"So, you're pretty big fans of this 'manga' we're in, am I right?" asked Fai.
"You bet!"
"Well, do you think you could help us out?"
"Duh!" said Ara. "Why do you think we're here?"
"Wonderful!" said Fai, clapping his hands. "First off, we could use some clothes."
"Right!" exclaimed Ler. "No problem!"
"Yeah, there's a Khol's right down the street!" added Ara. "Let's go!"
"A… a what?" wondered Syaoran, looking quite lost. Fai smiled.
"I think we'd better follow them," he said, motioning at the retreating backs of the two girls.
~ Yay! Up next: MORE CHARACTERS (sob) T.T ~
