The border between life and death was a very dangerous and very hard to master technique, but basically essential on the world where Reimu came from. In the split second after one was hit by a potentially fatal attack, one could channel their leftoever magic energies not only to completely reverse the damage, but to unleash a spell even stronger than normal. The Shrine Maiden didn't usually brag about it, but she was quite talented at this.
A devastating wave of force swept across what remained of the ceiling the were fighting on, dissipating Firey, forcing her back into card form, while knocking Sakura back.
When she got back on her feet, Sakura could see Reimu raise in the air with an eerie surrounded by an eerie white-red aura. Eight ying-Yang orbs floated around her. There was no wound anymore.
Sakura lunged forward once more and tried to slice the orbs with her rapier, but her weapon just passed through them as if they weren't there. She tried piercing Reimu's shoulder next to break her concentration, but once more the blade didn't do any harm with its passing.
Fantasy Heaven-Sakura heard Reimu's voice inside her head, almost like a dream-Hakurei Supreme Master Arts by any means. Float away from everything in reality and become invincible. You lose, Sakura.
Reimu's orbs flashed and released a stream of purple and white circular amulets. Sakura dodged just in time, but the shots started becoming faster. Sakura considered what of her cards to use next.
THUNDER! RELEASE!-Reimu didn't even blink.
Syaoran stood up, his torso stuck with several needles.
SNOW! RELEASE!- summoned Sakura. Completely useless again.
Syaoran's picked his fallen sword, and started limping towards the nearby show of lights resulting from the conflict from the two magic girls.
SHADOW! RELEASE!-Everything failed to even touch the floating Shrine Maiden
Syaoran's whole body was in pain. The needles stuck on his torso were particularly painful. But he didn't have time to worry about that. What only mattered to him was returning to near Sakura...
FREEZE! RELEASE!-Was Reimu truly invincible in this state?
Syaoran's body seemed to be burning as he leaped jumped over an edge of the ceiling to the next.
W-WATERY! RELEASE!-Sakura felt her last remains of magic energy drain away, struggling to even keep up on her feet, as she stepped aside to dodge a new stream of shots.
Reimu was kinda amused by the show. Sakura was indeed a very strong magician, with a great variety of cards and blessed with talent, motivation and energy. And quite cute too. Her good luck had simply ran out when her path crossed Reimu's.
The shrine maide lined up her orbs to fire a final entraping volley, now that she was sure Sakura couldn't jump far anymore.
Tell me, oh descendant of the Hakurei clan, if you float away from reality, why are you still clothed?-Reimu heard a familiar voice asking, seemingly far away.
Well excuse me, I bring my clothes along so I don't have to fight naked of course!-replied Reimu in an annoyed tone. Who was interrupting her duel again?
Then this ends now... Activate the command! God of thunder, come forth!
Reimu felt a extreme shock on her back. Screaming in pain, she reached with her hand to the behind of her robes and felt something that shouldn't be there. Ripping it apart, she saw it was a slip of paper with chinese characters.
A cheap ward hidden in my clothes...? When...? How...?-Reimu's mind raced back to the start of their confrontation. Syaoran had lunged forward with his sword and a jufu in hands. When he pulled back, he was just holding his sword, but Reimu hadn't seen him activate the jufu. He had slipped it into her back just as Reimu lunged with her needle.
Turning around, Reimu saw Syaoran standing just behind her, limping a bit and using his sword as a support, needles still stuck on his chest and back, but smiling. Did he knew about the Hakurei's clan ultimate technique? Had been that the reason he had delayed that attack?
Return to the form you were meant to be in, Hakurei card!
Oh crap...-was all that Reimu could say as she realized the pain of the lighting had made her return to reality. Her orbs had vanished, and as she only managed to turn around just in time to see a smirking Sakura bringing down her staff over her head.
BONK!-and the shrine Maiden fell to the ground losing her senses, a large red star-shaped mark formed over her face.
Sakura usually didn't like to see others get hurt. But she would be lying if she said she hadn't felt some satisfaction from smashing Reimu's expression with her wand. The leftover energies from Fantasy Heaven still coalesced into a card form, that flew towards Syaoran's hand.
Syaoran-kun, you're all right!-shouted Sakura in pure joy, jumping over her boyfriend and hugging him with all her might.
Yes, I just was knocked out a bit from that Reimu's attack... Ouch, please be careful with the needles still stuck on me Sakura...
I'm sorry!-Sakura's expression changed back to worry as she realized Syaoran was wounded-How deep did they reach? We need to treat those right away!
For now just pull them out slowly, carefully-Syaoran instructed Sakura. The fact that there didn't seem to be much blood on his clothes suggested the wounds hadn't been very deep.
The card mistress followed his instructions, and carefully pulled one of the needles on her boyfriend's chest. It not only came out easily, but also there didn't even seem to be any damage on the fabric. The cloth seemed to have twisted in a tiny node in the point where the needle had got stuck, and when the weapon was removed it returned to its original form. The needle had been applying pressure on Syaoran's skin, thus the pain, but hadn't actually wounded him.
Oh, lucky! It didn't even leave a hole!-as Sakura pulled off the remaining needles one by one, they all worked the same way.
That's strange...-Syaoran picked up one of the discarded needles, took off his left glove and touched its sharp tip with his index finger. A sudden sharp pain and a drop of blood came out as it punctured his skin. It was exceptionally sharp. How come it hadn't pierced Tomoyo's clothes...?
Something then clicked on Syaoran's mind. He had been fighting alongside Sakura for years now. He had seen her attacked by lighting, fire, ice, forced to do all kind of strenous movements at high speeds, rolling around, getting knocked againt walls... And yet at the end of the day the fancy clothes that Tomoyo made for her didn't have a single scratch or rip on them. Except for that one time Eriol forced him to turn his sword against her. But that was no ordinary blade. It was an unique Li family relic. There weren't much other sharper blades than his in this world besides Sakura's own Sword card. The customes Tomoyo created were definitily no ordinary pieces of clothing!
There, all done! Wow, that's really lucky, not a single one left a mark! I'm so glad...-said Sakura, stepping back up and tenderly gazing at Syaoran. The boy gazed back for a moment, starting to blush intensely, before looking to the side. He still wasn't used to when Sakura stared so lovey-dovey at him.
This allowed Syaoran to notice the half-destroyed ceiling they were standing on.
Right, but I think you went a bit overboard in this battle, Sakura. You'll need to use your cards to fix this ceiling a bit before we leave.
But I'm really tired...-pouted Sakura.
Here, have my leftover magic energy to do it...-Syaoran stood up and tenderly embraced Sakura, before softly kissing her in the lips, and the girl felt his boyfriend's power flow into her.
Meanwhile Meiling observed the scene from a corner of the ceiling, still fallen on the ground due to the pain lingering in her body, murmuring to herself:
Again, I was completely useless... If I just had more power... But at least they're fine...
Sakura-chan is so cute when she's kissing!-squealed Tomoyo, recording every moment. She made a mental note to contact her mother to arrange for the usual bribes and public excuses to cover Sakura's magic activities.
Luckily none of Tomoeda's citizens so far seemed suspicious about so many events of "special fireworks" over the last years. Not that her mother herself knew the truth either. All Tomoyo had to say was that it was "for Sakura's sake" and mommy would make it happen if money and social contacts could do it.
After some discussion about what to do with this Reimu shrine maiden, the group decided to restrain her and go to Syaoran's house, since not even Tomoyo would be able to get away without questions if they walked into her mansion in the middle of the night carrying an unknown girl with torn clothes. On the other hand Syaoran and Meiling were now living alone in their luxurious apartment, as part of their training to become independent.
Yue returned to Yukito's house while Keroberos turned back into Kero and went with them.
Reimu was carefully tied up. Tomoyo revaled herself to be carrying several lengths of rope, and to know how to skilffuly tie knots to use them to bind an human being. Syaoran added a few sealing jufu wards to the bindings, that should stop her from using any kind of magic, trying to don't think too deeply about why Tomoyo was carrying ropes or why did she know how to use them to bind an human being.
They stashed Reimu on the bed of one of the guest rooms, Sakura turning the local TV on so she wouldn't get bored when she woke up, and then they took warm baths in turns to relax from the night of action. Changing into more confortable clothing (Meiling borrowed some of her stuff to the other girls), Syaoran prepared chinese tea and cookies before they sitted down talking about the night's events.
Eventually Syaoran pulled one of the needles he had retrieved from the combat scene and left it fall with the sharp side pointing down over the table. It pierced the wood from one side to the other and impaled itself on the ground below.
Ooohh, that's sharp, you're really, really lucky you didn't get hurt by those, Syaoran-kun!-commented Sakura with an admired face.
Meiling just stared silently. If that Reimu was using such a dangerous weapon, she surely should be a great martial artist...
Tomoyo just left out a small chuckle and kept her normal smile.
Thing is, Sakura-chan, I don't think it was just luck...
Syaoran picked up the glove he had been wearing earlier that night, picked up another of Reimu's needles, and stabbed down with all his might. The glove contorted a bit, but the needle didn't get trough.
Can you explain this to us, Tomoyo?-asked Syaoran, looking the blue-haired girl on the eyes.
The blue-haired girl remained silent and smiling for a few seconds, before finally replying.
Hohoho, I suppose I can't keep this one a secret anymore. It's femtofiber fabric!
Femtofiber fabric you say?
Yes!-Tomoyo's eyes started to shine- It's what I use in all of Sakura's customes since she became a card captor! Even if I can't fight alongside her, this way I can support Sakura on my own way. And your clothes as well, since Sakura revealed me she would reciprocate your feelings...
I've heard that name before from my mother-thought Syaoran aloud- some new secret fiber that was basically indestructible while being basically weightless and easy to move on... But it's supposed to be insanely difficult to produce, and even harder to weave into actual clothing! It seems like only the richest people in the world have even a plain shirt made of that for personal protection, and even then it takes a full team of highly skilled experts months to weave each of those, with an exclusive waiting list of years!
That's why I learned how to create and weave femtofiber fabric myself, silly, so Sakura could have it right away. Mommy was also fine with buying me all the rare base materials I needed. I'll only give the very best for Sakura! And for her special one as well... After each of Sakura's adventures, I would review the video footate and think of how to improve my sewing skills for her next custome. -explained Tomoyo as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Syaoran always suspected that Tomoyo was quite skilled with her hands, and much smarter than your average 12 year old girl. Now he was sure he had seriously understimated her true capabilities.
So, why did you keep it a secret?-he asked.
First, because if word come out that I have a collection of femtofiber fabric uniforms in my basement, mother would need to turn my house into a fortress. Second...
Hhhooeeee... Just how much work and money have you been investing in me, Tomoyo...?-was all that Sakura could say while staring at her friend with a dumbfounded face
...I didn't want to worry Sakura-chan like that. Don't worry, I really enjoy doing them for you, and my mother has more money than what she knows what to do with.-finished Tomoyo, petting Sakura on the head.
Speaking of valuable things...-Syaoran retrieved the two cards he had gained that night and placed them in the middle of the table-I think it is time we question our mystery guest about those.
They aren't Clow Cards, but they look kinda similar...-commented Sakura, retrieving the two she had converted this night.
You have enough energy to convert those two tonight as well, Sakura? I believe it would be the safer course of action.
No, you keep them Syaoran. You gained those with your own effort, and I also gained two anyway. Just like we did when we started.-Sakura's innocent smile as she said this made Syaoran blush again.
Well, let's get going-said Syaoran, standing up and walking away from the table, trying to hide his face of embarrassment. To remember he had been the one starting the card capturing rivarly between them... Honestly it had all been an attempt from him to motivate Sakura to capture the Clow Cards faster. Not a perfect plan of course. He had ended up with several of the cards under his belt because at the end of the day Sakura couldn't do it alone, damn Clow to hell for forcing her to go trough so many hard trials at such a young age. Luckily Yue's judgement allowed Syaoran to transfer them to Sakura simply by inflicting himself an auto-loss. Offering them directly to Sakura would've been way too humiliating. It all worked out in the end, he never wanted any of those cards for himself... Right?
I'll bring Reimu the leftover tea and cookies.-stated Sakura, picking up the tray with the leftovers.
Hey, I'm not finished yet!-complained Kero, that had been just too busy eating while the others talked-Besides that shrine maiden was trying to beat you senseless and almost killed the brat not an hour ago!
You mean like half the Clow Cards did as well?-asked Meiling in a sarcastic tone, rolling her eyes.
I think she was just having a bad night. Besides she's our guest, we can't forget our manners.-Sakura's optimism was ever unwavering, starting to walk towards the guest room.
Sakura-chan's so cute when she's being kind to her enemies!-squealed Tomoyo, having restarted her camera recording.
Mind if I take those along?-asked Meiling, carefully picking up the pile of needles Syaoran had gathered from the combat area.
Hmm, sure, just be careful, they're really sharp.
Who do you think I-OUCH!