Chapter 03 - An Eventful Arrival
The car slowed down as they entered the main residential plot in the Zuojiazhuang district of suburban Beijing. Eventually, they stopped in front of an apartment block, and Syaoran got out with Meiling.
"Thanks" Meiling called back to the driver.
"No problem, do you want any help with your luggage?" Huang asked.
"No thanks, we'll manage" Syaoran said as he took the cases from the boot and started carrying them towards the entrance. Meiling also hurried, keen to get away from the rain.
"Good luck with your new school!" Huang called as he drove off.
Safe in the dry coridoors, Syaoran reached into his pocket for the keys.
"Number two..." he mumbled as he walked towards the second door from the entrance. His key fit perfectly into the lock, and the door opened smoothly with a gentle click.
Once inside, Syaoran pressed the switch next to the door, which he assumed to be the light switch. At once, the lights illuminated the whole apartment.
"Wow" Meiling gasped, looking around.
The apartment was truly impressive; set as an open plan area, the living room was very large and well-lit with many lights from above, all surrounding a central light shaped like a lantern hanging from the ceiling. The walls were a deep shade of blue-violet, contrasting the lights, making them stand out more. At the center of the living room, there was a wide and low coffee table made of hard wood, with a long, comfortable looking sofa on one side and a widescreen television on the other.
The dining area, linked to the living area and the kitchen, was plain and elegant, with a large darkwood table in the center and eight chairs around it. The kitchen itself was very practical, equipped with a stove, oven, and microwave. Shelves were hidden behind the counter which separated the kitchen and dining area. The counter extended to a minibar, which Syaoran thought was rather unnecessary. Thankfully, there were soft drinks instead of alcohol. In the glow of the dim spolights, he admitted that it looked pretty inviting.
Closing the door behind, Meilng suggested that they get something simple for dinner as they hadn't settled in yet. Syaoran agreed as he went and ordered a pizza.
After the pizza was delivered, Syaoran gave extra tips to the delivery boy for delivering in this kind of weather. With dinner ready, the two of them sat on the sofa, watching the TV while eating.
"...with sunny spells tomorrow, but it will become wet again at night with a storm imminent." the weathercaster announced. "...tonight, though, it seems that the east of China, Korea, and Japan are all under the same thick cumulus cloud, so expect heavy rain everywhere. Back to you in the studio."
"Ding dong!" the doorbell sounded.
"Who could it be at this time of the night?" Syaoran asked as he got up to open the door.
"Did the pizza boy get the change wrong?" Meiling wondered.
When Syaoran opened the door, he was suddenly grabbed by a pair of hands and pulled violently towards their owner.
***
Sitting down in a swivel seat in a darkened room, the boy plugged his PDA into the laptop and began copying the recordings he made of the meeting while he switched on the radio.
A soft piano melody played quietly, almost inaudibly, from the speakers. With a steady main melody and a simple bass line, the pitch gradually rose with the volume, pausing briefly before hitting the top of the sequence, then quietened while dropping to the stressed lower notes. The gentle modulations in sound denoted a certain sadness, a grief hidden behind the series of triplet notes.
"Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, eh?" the boy said to himself as he brushed his hand through his now wet and messy black hair, looking out the window. The moon was totally obscurred by the dark clouds, its existence was hidden, let alone its pale light.
After checking the things in his bag were okay, he took out a plane ticket from a different compartment and looked at it. On the front were printed the words "Destination: Beijing".
***
"Four to the power of minus a half equals..." Sakura read out to herself again, her pencil hovering over the answer box. After all those years, she was still no good at maths, but today, something else was the cause, preventing her from concentrating on her work.
"Hey, Sakura-chan, are you stuck again?" Kero popped out of his drawer, asking her in that Osaka accent of his. "That's the fifth time you've read that question."
"It's nothing" Sakura smiled at the guardian beast slash plush toy.
"Ah, if Clow taught me maths, then I could help" Kero yawned. "You should get some sleep soon" Kero muttered as he fell onto his little bed.
"Good night, Kero-chan" Sakura said, gently pulling the miniature mattress over the sleeping guardian, then closed the drawer.
Then she turned back to the question, frowning. She thought for a while before putting the pencil down. It was no use, she could not even think clearly. Turning around, she looked up through the window, seeing the murky clouds covering the stars from sight.
The person she saw today reminded her of Syaoran so much, but when she found out it was not him, the disappointment was just too overwhelming. Though it has only been two days, she missed Syaoran so much. Looking at the teddy bear he gave her, now sitting on her desk, she recalled that moment after Clow's test, the words Syaoran said to her.
"Sakura... I... I like you!" the memory played back again and again in her mind as she wondered what Syaoran was doing now.
Will she ever see him again?
"Hey, Sakura" a voice from the door jolted her from her thoughts as Touya entered the room. "You're still up doing homework?" he asked, walking over to the desk and examining the exercise book.
"Yeah, I'm just a little stuck" she replied.
Looking at the question, Touya smiled as he started explaining it. "The index is negative, so you reciprocate the number four, giving a quarter. Then, you square root the denominator because of the half-power, which gives two. So, the answer is?" he asked.
After thinking for a while, Sakura replied "two?", yawning.
"No, it's reciprocated, so it's a half" Touya corrected.
Sakura didn't answer.
Looking down, Touya saw that Sakura, bored by his explanation, had fallen fast asleep with her head resting on the desk.
"Sleepy monster..." he muttered, putting the book down.
Gently, afraid to wake her, he lifted Sakura out of the chair and slowly placed her in her bed, pulling the mattress over her. After turning off the desk lamp and walking towards the door, he stopped and looked at his sister.
"Sweet dreams" he gently whispered, before closing the door.
***
"Kyaaa!" several voices screamed as Syaoran stepped back and tripped while four girls fell on him in a huge embrace.
"Our brother's here!" they squealed.
Meiling looked up from the television and saw Syaoran's sisters all hugging him in a pile on the floor. All that could be seen of Syaoran was his hand, helplessly trying to pull himself free from the combined weight of his sisters.
"C-can't... breathe..." Syaoran coughed as the girls suddenly jumped off of him, realising that he was going to suffocate. Syaoran slowly clambered back up with difficulty breathing while the girls crowded around Meiling, greeting her in their noisy fashion. It was the second time this week he got winded so badly (counting Meiling from two days ago), and he made a mental note to check and be prepared for sudden embracing the next time he opened a door.
"Hello, Fanren-chan, Fuutie-chan, Shiefa-chan, Feimei-chan" he managed to say.
"Eeeeh?" they all turned to him in unison, leaving an awkward silence.
Shiefa stepped forward. "Um, Syaoran, you're not in Japan anymore, you don't need to use honorifics here" she said in a matter-of-fact way while the others giggled.
"Fanren-chan... It suits you" Fuutie laughed at her twin.
"Haha, Fuutie-chan sounds even better!"
Fanren and Fuutie were the bubbly twins, both seven years older than Syaoran, and also the oldest of the sisters. They were always seen together, and because they looked identical, people often confused one with the other. To make it easier to tell who's who, Fanren wore a red earring on her right ear while Fuutie wore a blue earring on her left. Contrary to the family traditions, they both had short, spiky hair.
"Hello, onii-chan" Shiefa said in a Japanese accent, imitating the way her brother spoke.
Shiefa, on the other hand, was the quiet one among them. She was a four years older than Syaoran, and was the closest to him of all the sisters. In the past, they spent the most time together (that was, before Meiling was introduced) and knew each other well. Her intrapersonal nature was shown in her appeance; well-dressed and orderly, she kept her long, black hair simple and straightened, draped on her shoulders.
Finally, there was Feimei. Feimei was three years older than Syaoran, making her the youngest of the four sisters. She was also the prettiest, with large, beautiful amber eyes on a cute round face. Her brown hair was tied up in a long ponytail with a large pink bow at the end.
"Onii-chan? I'm calling you that from now on!" Feimei chuckled.
"Hey, wanna hear about Syaoran's stay in Japan and what happened with a certain friend?" Meiling asked the sisters.
"Ooh" Fanren, Fuutie, and Feimei gathered around on the sofa, interested in the gossip.
Here we go again...
Shiefa, who decided not to join that conversation, walked up to the sweatdropping Syaoran.
"Hey Syaoran" she said, taking his attention off the chirping crowd on the sofa. "How was Japan?"
Seeing Shiefa, Syaoran relaxed a little. "It's great" he said. "It's a real friendly place. Well, when there are no Clow Cards around wreaking havoc."
Shiefa smiled shyly, covering her mouth. Then, they joined the others in the living area. Hearing the words "and then he was forced to leave her", Syaoran immediately wished he hadn't joined then, as he anticipated the inevitable.
"Aww, poor Syaoran, poor Sakura" Fanren and Fuutie turned towards him with sympathetic puppy expressions. He knew he had no time to escape as the two took him into a reassuring, "comforting" hug.
"It's so tragic" Fanren said.
"Don't worry, Romeo, you won't be alone, you still have us" Fuutie cooed.
"I'm going to have to get used to this..." Syaoran thought.
***
In the dark room, the soft glow of the computer screen lit up a small proportion of the area. The screen displayed the words "synchonization complete".
Satisfied with the results, the boy shut down the laptop, while he turned the radio down. Changing the channel, a more modern song played through the speakers.
In the darkness, the boy lay back onto his bed, listening to the quiet lyrics.
"I'll spread my wings and I'll learn to fly, I'll do what it takes 'till I touch the sky"
The boy sighed as he thought about tomorrow's flight. Staring blankly at the ceiling, he saw the images of stars projected from the glowing board sitting at the foot of the bed.
---Author's Message---
Okay, I've been doing some research on the CCS storyline, and I noticed a lot of spooky similarities between what I planned for Echoes of the Past and the CCS movies (which I have never seen, never heard of until five minutes ago. I'm not telling how they are similar, though). So, some stuff may get changed later. Nonetheless, I decided to write this as an alternative continuation of the television series, so to those who have already watched the movies, please treat this as a separate parallel.
To those who haven't watched the movies, please don't watch them if you don't want to spoil this fanfic.
To those who haven't watched the movies but want to, go ahead; I can't tell you what to do. ;)
'till next chapter,
Michi Kobayashi
===Footnote===
Arigatou to AngelEmCuti-chan, Twilight Kisses-chan, and Whaleessssx3-chan for adding my story! Thank you all! ^^
*Deep bows*