Author's Note: This updated version of Chapter 2 is a combination of the old Chapters 3 and 4. Enjoy!
Reviewer's Note: To Anonymous Reviewer d -Can you add what is mean? I don't understand what you're saying...
Summary: 2 years after the second movie of Card Captor Sakura: The Sealed Card, life seems pretty normal compared to the Card Days, as Sakura and her friends refer to it, not including the training Keroberos forces Sakura to do and the fact that she is having a relationship with Syaoran who is now living back in Hong Kong. However, when magical entities are stirring up inside and around Tomoeda, what will the crew do? Will they take an aggressive stance and run straight into trouble or will they somehow figure out a way keep away from disaster?
A Riot of Surprise
Chapter 2: Surfacing Changes
"I'm home! If anyone is back like onii-chan and cares, I brought a guest!" Sakura yelled into the house as she and Yukito took off their shoes.
"Well, well, look who it is. You're back already Kaijuu."
"I am not a Kaijuu onii-chan!" Sakura screamed at her older brother, her face turning red from anger.
Toya Kinomoto
Age: 21 (Turning 22 on December 25th)
Grade: College Junior at Seishun College in Tomoeda. (Majoring in Chemistry / Minor in Biology.)
Physical characteristics: Dark black hair / Brown eyes.
Best Friend: Yukito Tsukishiro
Job: Sakura's "annoying and overprotective" older brother... or so she says.Part time job as a waiter in a famous restaurant near Seishun College.
"Not expecting me to be back so early, shorty? Who's your guest anyways Kaijuu…" he trailed off as Yukito rounded the corner, "Yukito! Don't tell me you're the guest Kaijuu is speaking of… You warned her ahead of time didn't you? I thought I could trust you!" Toya Kinomoto jested.
"Hey, don't talk to my guest that way! And lay off on the insults, you're ruining my day," Sakura replied ill-naturedly. "Just because you're so much older than me and taller than me doesn't give you the right to call me names that are not true. I'll have you know that I'm not short compared to some of the girls at school!"
"You keep on believing whatever you want, kid."
"Toya, when will you learn that teasing your sister is not a good way to deal with your… habit."
Blushing slightly, Toya stammered, "Sh-Shut up Yukito." Recovering, he cleared his throat and continued, "Little sister, Yukito can't be your guest because he's mine! So hurry up and make some tea for my guest."
"Hmmph, fine then, have it your way." She smiled thankfully to Yukito before hurrying towards the kitchen to brew some tea.
"You just had to tell her didn't you?"
"All these years and you still have that sister-complex (1) don't you? It's her birthday this Sunday, Toya, so give her a break when she's around, or else I'll make you buy me breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"
"What kind of a threat is that?"
"You know how much I eat. We've known each other for a long time now. If that doesn't make you go broke, I don't know what will!"
Toya made a strange choking noise before finally relenting, "F-fine, just don't empty my pocket every time I accidentally insult her. Old habits die hard!"
"Onii-chan, Yukito-san, the tea is ready!"
After serving the tea, Sakura rushed up the stairs to her room and opened the door. She sighed as she heard the sound of games. Looking towards the television in front of her she spotted Keroberos, Guardian of the Seal, the Selector, and a whole bunch of useless titles. He resembled an orange plush toy with white wings but his true form was much larger and "much more awesome and cooler than anything you'll ever see in you life," as he constantly reminds everyone.
"Sakura! You're back from school! How was your day?"
Walking from the door, which was on the right side of the room, she went past her bed directly to her left and over to her desk which was in front of the bed. She opened the book titled Sakura lying on her desk before replying. "It was fine. Tomoyo-chan is planning a birthday party for me and Yukito and onii-chan are downstairs. Apparently, their college is remodeling so they're both back early and are going to stay here for the rest of the week." The book was very special for it contained all the cards she had made from two years ago.
(If you know the story, which would be most people who read this, then go ahead and skip forward.)
Three years ago, she had accidentally stumbled upon the Clow Cards – magical cards created by the magician Clow Reed who also created Keroberos and his counterpart Yue to guard the book. Accidentally scattering the cards, Sakura was chosen as Card Captor by Keroberos the Selector and was given the job to collect all the cards and prevent a great disaster from occurring. She managed to collect all 52 cards with the help of her friend Tomoyo Daidouji and two transfer students from Hong Kong: Syaoran Li and Meiling Li.
The young representative of the Li clan, Syaoran, was sent to Tomoeda by the Elders of the clan to collect the Clow Cards and immediately became her rival in both the cards and in love. Sakura was in love with Yukito back then but she eventually realized that her number one was not in fact the older smiling man but the boy who changed from being a rival to being a friend. Syaoran also had magic, and was arrogant and cold in the beginning. His cousin, Meiling Li, arrived in the middle of all the mayhem the cards were causing. Labeled a black sheep of the magical and prominent Li clan because she had no magic, she came to Japan because she wanted to help the one she loved, Syaoran – who did not love her in return – collect the cards and to win his heart. After getting to be friends with Sakura, she returned to Hong Kong before the conflict was over.
After collecting all the cards, they met Yue the Judge, who Sakura had to fight in order to prevent a disaster from occurring upon the earth. With icy blue eyes, long silver hair, and white wings, Yue was cold and aloof and much more serious and intimidating than his counterpart, Keroberos the Selector but Sakura was able to win him over to their side. Soon after that, Eriol Hiiragizawa arrived.
Eriol was the reincarnation of Clow Reed and started creating trouble for Sakura and the gang after transferring over from England. From the shadows, he used his great magic to test and train Sakura and to help her turn the Clow Cards into cards of her very own: Sakura Cards. That would make her finally able to handle whatever might come her way. Eriol revealed his identity when his final test made all the citizens in Tomoeda fall asleep and remain asleep forever unless Sakura could break Eriol's spell. The task forced Sakura to change all the remaining Clow Cards she had at that time into new Sakura Cards. With the help of Yue, Keroberos, and Syaoran she managed to dispel the darkness, and it was at that time that Syaoran confessed his love to Sakura. Before Sakura could straighten out her feelings, Syaoran was called back to Hong Kong. Eriol also left soon after, saying he had business elsewhere and leaving a dependable Card Mistress behind to deal with any threat that might come their way.
(Here's the summary of the second movie, the Sealed Card.)
A year later, Clow Reed's mansion in Tomoeda was demolished and underneath it a sealed card emerged. This card, the Nothing, took Sakura's card from her and started tearing Tomoeda apart. It contained the negative and opposite energy of all of Sakura's cards. To return everything to normal, she had to seal the card but in return, she would lose her most cherished feelings, her love for Syaoran and Syaoran's love for her. In the end, she sealed the card but managed to avoid the penalty as a card she had created fused with the Nothing and formed the Hope. That was when Sakura and Syaoran's long-distance relationship started.
(End Summary.)
"Sakura… Sakura. Oi, Sakura!"
"Hoe!" Sakura looked at the sound of the voice and started blushing as she remembered what she had been thinking about earlier in school that day.
"You've been awfully spaced out these days Sakura. Is it because of that brat?"
"Syaoran-kun is not a brat!"
"A-ha! So you were thinking about him!"
Sakura looked down as she blushed again.
"Serves you right for not listening to me; and I thought I was your top priority since you were talking to me… Anyways, I asked you what your annoying brother and snow rabbit are doing downstairs!"
Sakura spoke before thinking as she shuffled through her cards with a smile, "They're drinking tea and eating biscuits."
"What? You served them tea and biscuits but you left nothing for me, the cool and awesome Keroberos who happens to be your mentor? How could you leave me out of the loop?"
"G-Gomen, Kero-chan, I totally forgot… I'm still not used to the fact that my family and Yukito-san know about you."
"Of course they know! How could we hide it when Toya knows about Yue and Yukito saw me when he woke up after you sealed the Nothing?"
"That's weird… You said onii-chan's name and Yukito-san's name. You never do that."
"That shows how angry I am! Now lead me to my prize or face my wrath! Victory shall be mine… I'll show that brother of yours my awesome eating skills. He'll never be as refined as me when it comes to food."
"Kero-chan, you know you're really greedy… right?"
"You'll never understand the tastes of a cool guy like me."
"That's right, I'll never understand because no cool guy would be like you, Kero-"
Sakura blinked at the open door as Kero flew out and down yelling, "My prize awaits!"
She then winced as she heard her brother's loud voice, "Get away from my cup you talking plush toy!"
Later that night, Sakura fell asleep quickly after a delicious dinner of spaghetti, which she handmade for Yukito. Moments after she fell asleep, a certain special and magical card glowed in the deck of cards lying on the desk where Sakura had left them after saying good night to Keroberos and to her cards. These cards were special indeed, for not only did they possess great magic and the power of the elements, but they were also sentient beings. A few seconds afterwards, the sleeping girl shifted uncomfortably in her blankets and her forehead started to shimmer with sweat.
A dream…?
A ripple formed from a drop of water that broke the surface of what was suddenly a pond. The resulting splash triggered more ripples until the water was filled with moving waves that grew until it crashed over Sakura's view.
The scene changed as she heard a whistle from the wind that blew over the green grass of a large field. The peacefulness shattered as the wind changed from a breeze to a gale that flattened the grass and wiped clean the world from view.
A hiss of thunder found its way to Sakura's ear as the sky lighted up before a boom resounded in the air. Thunder shot down from dark foreboding clouds that hovered over the peaceful images of the pond and grass from scenes past. Bolts shot down into the ground, igniting the world into flames.
Crackles from small flames quickly grew into roars of hunger as the raging fire devoured all of its surroundings.
All traces of the dream fled from her mind as an alarm rang loudly at the sleeping girl, who quickly slammed the button on the clock to silence it. Out of habit, she pulled it under her covers. The next second, a second alarm rang, and was dealt with in the same manner. Finally, the last alarm came in 3… 2… 1…
"SAKURA!"
"HOE!" Sakura leapt up out of bed and looked straight into the face of a monster, "Ahhhhhhhhh… a monster!"
The monster too fell backwards with a cry of surprise before flying back into Sakura's face, "What do you mean a monster? I try to wake you up and all you do is scream at me?"
"Hoe? Kero-chan? You scared me… I thought you were something that came straight out of a dream."
"What kind of a dream is that?"
She yawned and ignored the comment, "What time is it…? It's only six-thirty! School doesn't start until eight! Great! You woke me up for nothing and I didn't have morning duties today either…! Kero-chan?"
The guardian looked up distractedly, "Huh? Oh sorry. Now what were you saying?"
"Is… something wrong?"
"It's nothing. Just my mind playing tricks on me. For a second there, I thought I had sensed a magical aura during the night and then I thought I felt it again a second ago." He sighed, "I guess playing too many horror games does that to me, makes me jumpy and nervous."
Confused, Sakura got up and went to the bathroom. Soon afterwards, an earsplitting cry shook the house as Sakura topple out of the bathroom and hurriedly got up. "Sakura! What's the matter? Are we under attack?" Kero yelled to the shaking girl.
Sakura calmed herself and said, "I forgot that we had early cheerleading practice today. Seeing the note posted on my mirror – where I had posted it yesterday – gave me quite a shock. So that's why I had three alarms today. Kero-chan?" Kero dropped to the floor with a thud, the energy leaving his body as a mixture of shock, annoyance,and disbelief overcame his consciousness.
"Oi! Kero-chan! Are you alright?" When there was no response, Sakura set the fainted guardian onto her desk before glancing at the clock. Another cry came from her mouth before she quickly changed into her school uniform and was about to finish tying her hair with a pink ribbon when something fell out of the bundle of clothes she had put away. Finishing with the ribbon, she bent down and picked up a card. It was one of, and strangely enough, it was The Dream, a card that gave foretelling dreams. How it had got there, she didn't know, but she soon put it out of her mind as she took another peek at her clock and quickly set the card down. She left a note for Kero next to the card and the guardian. He would want answers when he finally woke up and found her gone for school.
Running down the stairs, Sakura braced herself for the usual annoying comment from her brother and received: silence.
"Good morning Sakura-chan! Thank you for cooking dinner yesterday night."
Sakura smiled into the kitchen as she remembered her deal with Yukito the day before and said, "Ohayo, Yukito-san. Ohayo, onii-chan." When Toya didn't reply, she smiled once a gain and frowned at Toya for his lack of manners. She then turned to a picture of a beautiful woman on the table. Every morning, for as long as she remembered, she had said good morning to the woman in that picture, whether she was wearing different clothes or not. This picture, was of her deceased mother that died at twenty-seven years old when Sakura herself was three. Her father kindly put different pictures of her from the past; pictures from family outings or from the modeling work she had done. Sadly, she couldn't quite remember Nadeshiko Kinomoto, but loved her nonetheless.
Smiling at the good habit, Toya spoke up, "Kaijuu, why are you up so early? It's not even close to your normal mad rush to get to school on time." As he spoke, he set four trays of breakfast: a two egg omelet entrée with a piece of buttered toast, a glass of milk, and an apple.
Not noticing the insult as she was lost in her thoughts, she replied, "Kero-chan woke me up early this morning for cheerleading practice. Thanks for the breakfast." Turning to the stairs, she called out, "Kero-chan! Breakfast!"
Eyes narrowing at the unexpected reaction (or no reaction in this case) from his little sister, he was about to ask her if something was wrong when a yellow blur shot past him and landed on the table. "Omelet!" he yelled as he waited anxiously to start eating. Sighing, Toya and the rest said, "Itadakimasu!"
"I'm going to school now!" Sakura called out as she left the house. As she left, she spotted a large moving truck parked to the house next door. Their neighbors had moved some time ago, and now that she thought of it, she remembered seeing a "Sold!" sign on the grassy front lawn a few days ago. The house was white and had one floor only. It was much smaller compared to her house but it was very nice and cozy looking, at least from the outside.
"May I help you?" a voice asked next to her. She spun around and saw a boy about her age, slightly taller than her looking, at her with a smile on his face. Curious, she noted that he was Japanese, though he looked different and slightly out of place due to his foreign-looking clothes. He had black hair that reached his ears and down to his neck but did not touch his back. After a quick glance at his appearance, Sakura was about to reply to his question when their eyes met. Sakura froze, an icy and chilling feeling creeping up her back. Those eyes chilled her to the bone, yet they also attracter her attention as they seemed to dance with colors, the sun playing havoc with his eyes, making them change from one color to the next as though it was unsure of its natural color. "Is my Japanese really that terrible?" the boy muttered to himself.
Realizing that she had been standing there, doing nothing but stare at the boy as if he was too strange to approach, she blushed and quickly replied, "No, there's nothing wrong with your Japanese. It's just that I have a tendency to act like an airhead and I've never seen you here before. Of course, you just moved here, so of course I wouldn't have seen you around anyways…" She trailed off, realizing that she had been embarrassing herself, yet again.
Before she could apologize, the boy spoke again, "As a matter of fact, I just got here today. I came from America and was wondering whether or not I had an accent, but at least I can understand you well enough. But we've been talking for a few minutes and I still haven't introduced myself. My name is Reizan Saitakou; may I ask what's yours?" He bowed politely to her.
Recovering quickly, Sakura said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Sakura Kinomoto and I live next door." She also gave a short bow.
"Nice to meet you too," Reizan replied. "Considering that you're wearing a school uniform, could you by any chance be going to Tomoeda Junior High?"
"Yes, you are correct, why do you ask?" Sakura asked back.
"No reason at all," Reizan replied nonchalantly.
"Hoe?"
"Hoe? Now that is an expression I've never heard before."
Suddenly, someone else broke into their conversation, "That is my dear little sister's trademark reaction. She screams that whenever she's in shock or just plain confused."
"Onii-chan, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked her brother, who was standing behind her, nervously. She noticed the angry gleam in his eyes as they glared daggers at the new boy and added in a whisper, "Do me a favor and don't embarrass me."
"Who are you?" Toya added with another glare, pointedly ignoring his sister.
"My name is Reizan Saitakou, nice to meet you…?"
"Toya Kinomoto," he snapped. Then, turning to Sakura he added, "It's five to seven. If you don't hurry, you'll be late for practice, again."
Sakura gasped, "What? It's already so late? I have to go!" Then, turning to her new neighbor, she said, "It was nice meeting you Saitakou-kun, I hope we can be good neighbors. Now, I have to run, see you around." Before she left, she glared pointedly at Toya with a look that said, "You'll regret this if it's the last thing you do!"
"Goodbye, Kinomoto-san," Reizan said with a wave of his hand before turning back to the other Kinomoto who was still glaring at him. "Do you enjoy glaring that much? If you're worried, she'll probably be just fine; she looks like she knows how to take care of herself."
Reizanwatched Sakura skip cheerfully away before turning back to Toya who replied, "You obviously haven't known her very long. Oh wait, you only just met. Stay away from my sister or you'll regret it!"
"I assure you, I have no such interest in your sister. All I want is to get to know my new next door neighbors a little better. Is that not too much to ask? Now if you'll please excuse me, I have to unpack. Sorry, for just leaving you here, but I really don't have time for this conversation." Reizan left with a smile while Toya stared heatedly at his back before he disappeared into the house.
Toya muttered to himself as he headed back to the Kinomoto house, "There's a storm brewing and change is coming. This better not have anything to do with magic, but I have a feeling that everything is centered around this new guy and Sakura… and my feelings are hardly ever wrong."
Notes
1 The 'sister-complex' Yukito is referring to is the actions of the overprotective Toya of Sakura who tries to keep away anyone who might hurt Sakura, namely males, even if that person might bring her joy. It also refers to the fact that he believes that only he can taunt and tease Sakura because he is her older brother; no one else has that right!
Japanese Translations
"Itadakimasu" – "I am eating now," or, "Enjoy your meal." Used before eating.
Gomen – Sorry
Onii-chan – Older Brother
Otou-san – Father
Ending Note: What I've changed: The name of the new character, parts of the anime and movie summary, corrected most typos I've found, and changed the whole dream. My plan for the character is to add more of him into the story. That's why I've undertaken the task of rewriting the whole thing. And… some of the names of characters I'm introducing need changing. Some aren't very catchy… are they?