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I actually a small chunk of text, but its not really that important if you're a returning reader.
Ch. 2 – Hanshin I
Syaoran was the last to come to after we all arrived in the new world. Well, more like after we all fell into the new world.
I looked over to Syaoran holding onto Sakura as if she would disappear at any moment. Mokona was in his face trying to wake him up, but he didn't notice Mokona at all. Mokona started to cry a bit, assuming that Syaoran didn't like him.
"Waah waah. Syaoran doesn't like Mokona," he sniffed while rubbing his eyes.
Syaoran snaps out of his daze and spouted out a worried phrase for Sakura. He turned towards her, looking to see if she was safe. He let out a sigh of relief before looking around his surroundings.
"Where is this place?" asked Syaoran. I looked around at our surroundings as well. There was a tall tower with the word "Hanshin" painted on it along with some small shops, but the place seemed as if it was abandoned due to the fact that there were broken vehicles and such laying around. It was as if some giant just ran through destroying everything its path then disappearing when it was satisfied.
"Who knows? We have just woken up as well, but I do know one thing. This is a land we've never been to before," Fai paused. "You never let go of that girl even once you know," He continued with a smile plastered on his face. I stared at the wizard; studying his facial features. I couldn't help but think that the happy personality Fai put on was an act. There's just something about him that just gives off a mysterious aura. His aura and the personality he's showing doesn't match up.
Mokona started to jump up and down in Fai's arms, wanting to be hugged as well. I smiled at the white rabbit and took him from Fai. He instantly cheered and cuddled into my arms, his wish granted. I chuckled a bit at his actions and began to pet him. Mokona is such an adorable, um…animal, I guess…
"Waai~ Mokona is happy! Puu~" he exclaimed as I pet him.
"You...um…" began Fai towards Syaoran.
"It's Syaoran."
"My name is really long, but Fai will do." He stated cheerfully as he introduced himself. He then pointed to Kurogane, eyes closed and the smile still on his face. "So, what should we call the 'black one' over there?"
Kurogane's eyes narrowed at the name he was called. "I'm not the 'black one'. I'm Kurogane," he barked at the wizard.
"Kurogane, ne…? Would it be alright if I call you Kuro-chan or Kuro-rin?" Mokona jumped out of my arms and onto Kurogane's lap demanding for a hug chanting "Kuro-rin Kuro-rin". Kurogane started to yell at Mokona, causing the rabbit to curl up in fright at the sudden anger unleashed at him and he instantly fell back into my arms. I began to pet the rabbit once again for its comfort. Fai turned to me, face still in the same smiling mold.
"And if I remember correctly, you're Mi-chan~!"
I stopped petting Mokona as a memory flashed in my mind.
"Misa-chan~!"
"Tch," I scoffed as glared at nothing off to the side. Fai slightly turned his head in confusion.
"It's Misaki," I replied simply. My eyes darted back and forth from the surrounds to the group, as I searched for something out of place.
I felt something running towards us.
"What are you all doing over there?" A voice yelled out as we all turn to its source. A short black haired boy with small beady eyes wearing a black school uniform ran over to us. "Hurry! Hurry up and run!"
When the boy was in range, Syaoran asked the stranger for his name, who replied with Saitou, Masayoshi. Masayoshi then started to ponder about our clothing, coming up with the conclusion of us being from a foreign country. He shook his head, probably scolding himself for getting distracted for a moment.
"In any case, this place is very dangerous! Please escape at once!" he warned once again, panicking as his eyes nervously darted from side to side. "It's going to start if we don't get out of here immediately!"
My eyes narrowed a bit.
"Saitou-san," I began. "Are you implying that a fight is about to start?"
As soon as I said that, two groups of men appeared behind and in front of us. Masayoshi started to fidget from worry.
"Oh, no….It's about to start…." He groaned as he held his head in fear.
Wow, lookie here, I was right.
Apparently, it was too late to run now. Masayoshi started to panic, not knowing where to hide until something caught his eye. He quickly urged us to a pile of broken vehicles that acted like a shield to hide from the two groups that showed up. He started to explain about the groups. One of the groups is a gang that has been terrorizing this neighborhood recently. Upon noticing the begining of a fight, Kurogane instantly asked Masayoshi how will the two gangs fight, which made me come to the conclusion that he probably loves to engage in fights. Masayoshi answers the question proudly with the word "kudan".
The two gangs stirred, getting ready to battle. Each member from both sides held out an arm with their fists clenched, concentrating as they gathered energy to form in a shape of a sphere and began to engage in combat. Both gangs exchanged their condense energy balls of red and blue, exploding as they made contact. Syaoran suddenly yelled out in surprised as we all turned to see Fai reaching out to grab something off of his clothes. Fai pulled out a strange white feather with a pink design on it. The princess's feather, I assumed.
Syaoran stared at the feather with wide eyes. "What a coincidence…" he muttered. Fai countered his statement by quoting what Yuuko had said to us before.
I looked at Fai as he talked; a strange feeling overcame me as I listened to the tone in his voice. There was something that he seems to be hiding, something that he tries to mask with the opposite emotions. Before I could think about it any longer, I sense something coming from the fight. That something appeared. Right when Syaoran was about to take Sakura's feather from Fai, a stray attack from a kudan was heading straight towards us. My eyes narrowed while I gritted my teeth as I jumped in front of everyone else. I raised a hand at the oncoming attack, creating a shield to lower the impact of it, but apparently the shield wasn't strong enough since Sakura's feather flew away out of Syaoran's grasp from the impact the attack created when it collided with my shield.
Without thinking, Syaoran suddenly chased after the feather with Kurogane and Masayoshi calling after him. Masayoshi stared at the running Syaoran, wondering why he would do something so recklessly. I stared at the determined boy, understanding why he acts the way he is.
"He has something that he must do," I began. "When one has something important that they must accomplish, they'll do it no matter what the cost may be."
Heh. In some ways, we're the same. I thought as I looked at the determined boy. Then I looked at my hands. That shield I conjured wasn't what I normally produce. Maybe those who reside in this world are granted with one of those "kudans".
"In his case, he needs that feather to protect a person who is very important to him." Fai explained as he picked up from where I left off. We all watched Syaoran chase after the feather.
One of the groups noticed Syaoran in the middle of the battle field as he struggled to catch the playful feather, locking onto him labeling him as a target. One of men aimed and released an attack at Syaoran. Right when the attack was about to hit, a fire shield suddenly protected him and a flaming wolf-like animal with a horn on its head appeared before him.
"Wow. He has a kudan too! And a top-level one at that!" exclaimed Masayoshi. I looked at Syaoran's kudan.
Kudans, huh…? They're probably some sort of guardian. I thought as I looked back down at my hands.
Turning my attention back to the gangs I noticed that they are huddling together, preparing to combine their attacks as one.
The fire element gang combined their attacks against Syaoran, but his kudan was able to deflect it, causing the gang to disperse out of fear. As that gang ran for their lives, the leader of the "water" element gang confronted Syaoran as he summoned his water based kudan that took on the form of a stingray.
"You've got flame and I've got water," The leader said with a smirk. He probably has an amused expression on his face, but it's hard to tell with the goggles over his eyes.
"Ah! That's Shougo-san! Most of the gangs are filled with nothing but scumbags," Masayoshi began, "but Shougo-san's gang never picks on weak people. They're a great gang! Especially their leader, everyone wants to be just like him."
Shougo's kudan shot a water ball at Syaoran, but Syaoran's kudan jumped into the attack neutralizing it with a small shockwave. Before either side can continue, sirens began to sound from a distance; a signal for Shougo's gang to leave or else risk getting caught. Shougo turned to Syaoran for a moment before fleeing with the rest of his gang. Since there was no need to battle anymore, Syaoran's kudan transformed into a sphere and returned into his body. His head snapped up as he remembered about the feather. Syaoran ran over to Sakura, hesitating for a bit before giving her the feather. The feather was instantly absorbed into her body as it came in contact. Sakura slightly stirred upon receiving the feather as Syaoran relaxed a bit at the warmth returning to her body.
"Now we can rest at ease," Fai sighed in relief as he held an unconscious Mokona. Kurogane turned towards him, and asked what was up with white meat bun, Mokona. Fai explained that the shockwave from before knocked him out. "More importantly, I'm quite interested in that over there." Fai was indicating to the Masayoshi look-a-like kudan that bowed and returned into his master.
"That was your kudan, right?" I asked. Masayoshi nodded, smiling. Kurogane mumbled something about kudan coming in all shapes and sizes under his breath. So I guessed that a person's kudan takes on a form that represents who they are; what their personality is.
"Ah, I've finally found y'all," A voice called out from behind us. We all turned to see a dark haired man in a brown jacket and orange shirt and a long, dark-haired woman in a purple dress. "I'm Arisugawa, Sorata," he then gestured to the woman next to him, "and this is my wife…"
"I'm Arashi. Yuuko-san told us to be expecting you."
Sorata and Arashi lead us to their home and ushered us inside and into a room. We all settled in the room and Sorata began to talk.
"Before we got married, my wife here was a shrine priestess," Sorata looked at his wife thinking about a memory. "Ah, Honey, you looked so heavenly in that miko outfit…" He commented, getting off topic for a moment as he indulged himself into his memories. "Since we got married she had to retire and all, but her spiritual powers are as strong as ever. That's why we knew y'all would be coming. Y'all can stay in the hostel we run. The room is vacant, so we figured what the heck?"
Fai and I thanked Sorata, Kurogane just sat there and Syaoran asked for the reason of their kindness after a hesitant thank you. Sorata replied by saying that he and his wife owe Yuuko a favor. He then pointed a finger at Kurogane warning him to stay away from his wife, earning a ticked off yell from Kurogane. Sorata left with Arashi following behind him. She promised some tea before closing the door.
I turned to the still sleeping Sakura who is laying down in a futon. I commented on how lively she has gotten since she received a feather. She had just escaped death. Fai turned to Syaoran and asked him how he will plan on finding the rest of the feathers, but before Syaoran can reply Mokona jumped up claiming that he knows how.
"Mokona remembers the wave given off by the feather! So if there's a feather near by…" Mokona paused to point to his, now opened, creepy eyes. "…my eyes will get big!" We all stared at Mokona, the sudden presence of his eyes catching us off guard. Who would've thought something so small could have eyes so….big... "It happened to Mokona before."
"You mean the one that was stuck to Syaoran-kun's cloak, right?" asked Fai. Mokona shook his head, claiming that that feather was a different one. Syaoran's eyes narrowed slightly. Mokona started to explain that the feather appeared when Syaoran was fighting earlier. Syaoran's eyes suddenly widened as he looked back onto that battle.
"What did you say?" he exclaimed. He then started to think a bit before murmuring the name "Shougo."
"If you sense any feathers would you please inform us, Mokona?"
"Just leave it to me!"
"Leave me out of this," Kurogane began. "I'm going back to my original world. That's my only goal. As far as me putting my neck on the line for you, or helping out with your situation, don't count on it."
Syaoran just gave Kurogane an understanding smile.
"Okay. Since this is my problem, I will be careful not to inconvenience you," Syaoran politely agreed.
"What about you two?" Kurogane directed towards Fai and myself. "Are you planning on helping that kid?"
"Hmm… good question…" Fai began. "Well for now, the most important thing for me is to avoid going back to my old world. I guess as long as it won't mean putting my life on the line, I'll help out. I've got nothing better to do."
"If the situation calls for it, then I'll help."
"Thank you, Fai-san, Misaki-san." I gave Syaoran a small smile. Helping him out shouldn't be that much of a problem. I might as well since I decided to tag along with this group. I guess, in a way, that it's payment for traveling with them.
"It's getting late, we should all rest up," I suggested as I stood up to turn off the light. A rush of power hit me as I did, causing me to stagger a bit. I guess Yuuko decided now was a good time to break the seal.
"Whoa there Mi-chan. Are you okay?" Fai inquired.
"I'm fine. Yuuko-san finally broke the seal," I answered as I flexed my fingers, feeling the familiar power surge through them.
"Also…" I heard after I turned to flip the switch off. "What's that on your back, Mi-chan?"
My finger hovered above the switch as my eyes narrowed at it. "It's none of your business, Fai-san."
And with that, the room went dark.
I woke up to Kurogane's murmuring about some dream he probably just had and Syaoran greeting him. I stretched my arms out, yawning as I did so and received a greeting from Syaoran. I did the same to both males as I rubbed at my eye and stood up to wake up the still sleeping Fai with Mokona in his arms. There was a knock on the door before it was opened, revealing Sorata and Arashi in the doorway with some bags in their hands.
We all stood in front of their house wearing the clothes they've provided for us. Kurogane was pulling at his black shirt in slight discomfort. He is also wearing dark blue-green pants with a pair of brown high top boots.
Syaoran is wearing a blue and white shirt with black cuffs and a drawstring on the collar with some blue pants and black shoes.
Fai had on a light blue, long sleeve shirt with dark blue lining and some jeans with black shoes.
And I wore a black dress with white lining that went to my knees with a matching bow on the left side of the strap with a white short sleeved cardigan and some black flat shoes.
Sorata came out of the house wearing a blue suit and a red tie. He studied us, nodding to his-self, and began commenting on how the clothes really suited us. Syaoran thanked him then stated that we'll be leaving right now.
"Sakura-san will be right by my side the entire time," Arashi assured as Syaoran smiled.
"I'll leave her to you."
Sorata grabbed Syaoran's hand and gave him a little frog coin purse that contained money for the four of us to eat. Syaoran thanked him as Kurogane complained on why Syaoran is given the money and not someone else. Sorata grinned and replied with Syaoran looking like the strongest out of all of us, while giving us a thumbs up. Kurogane began to grumble to himself.
"Mokona, doesn't feel anything." Mokona slumped, sad that he couldn't sense the feather's presence.
"So, you can't pick up the waves from the feather you felt yesterday…I wonder what that means," said Fai.
I picked Mokona up and held him in my arms comforting him as Fai asked Kurogane's view of this, giving him the nickname "Kurotan" while he was at it. Kurogane instantly started complaining which "scared" Fai. A small chuckle escaped my lips. I smiled; amused at the argument that was taking place. Fai looked over at me and smiled at my actions for a brief second, as if he was planning it in the first place, as he continued to tease Kurogane. Kurogane growled in annoyance, but his attention was suddenly on a passerby, recognition showing in his eyes. He suddenly ran after the person after "confirming" that it was someone he knew. I called after him, but he disappeared off into the crowd.
"Don't tell me that he already forgot what Yuuko-san told us," I sighed. Mokona jumped out of my arms and flew off somewhere.
"Maybe he figured out where Kurotan is."
"Are you sure, Fai…?" I looked in the direction Mokona went. "I have a feeling that it might be something else."
And sure enough, Mokona led us to a restaurant of some sort.
"Something smells great here!" He exclaimed. "Mokona is starving!"
I sighed. "I knew it." We haven't eaten since we left Sorata's hostel.
"Uwaa~ Mi-chan is so smart~" I just started blankly at the happy-go-lucky wizard. There has to be a limit on how happy a person can be, whether it's real or not.
We all proceeded into the restaurant and were greeted by two males. One was a black haired man with a black bandana on his head, wearing a blue shirt with a black apron over it and was also holding two spatulas in his hand. The other man was wearing the same thing except he had a yellow shirt on, wore glasses, and his hair was a blond-grayish color. The man in the glasses asked how many people and Fai proceeded to answer while Syaoran looks at the two men in surprise. Before I could stop him and remind him of what I had just said, Syaoran blurted out, "Your Highness, why are you here?" The black-haired man looked at Syaoran as if he was crazy or something. Ignoring what was said, the two men proceeded to take us to our table.
"We cook it for you here," the blond explained as he began to mix the ingredients.
"Just sit and wait a little bit," the other continued.
Voices calling for the waiters' attention drifted to our ears as Syaoran began to look around as he noticed the strange action.
"I'm guessing this world is really different from yours, nee, Syaoran-kun?" I asked.
"A little bit, what about you Misaki-san? You don't seem to be as curious. It's as if you're already at home."
"That's because I've experience different worlds when I was younger. Well, my father would show me, but I've gotten use to it so I don't really pay attention to the details of this world since I somewhat know what to expect. Without this experience, I'd probably spend more time looking around since my homeland is nothing like this world."
"'Your Highness…'" Fai quoted, "was he a king in your world?"
"Yes."
"And the one attending to the customers was a high priest that served the gods?"
"Yes," Syaoran smiled at the two waiters, probably thinking about their wellbeing in his world.
After adding a few more toppings to the food, the black-haired waiter told us that we could take it over from there.
"You do remember what I mentioned earlier, right?" my question pulled Syaoran from his trance.
"So although those two are the same people from your world, at the same time, they aren't. I guess you could say that they came from the same source." Fai explained as I took a bite of the, now cooked, food. I decided to tone them out for a bit as I chewed the delicious food called okonomiyaki, thinking.
Was this the right option?
I thought for a minute before Fai's cheerful voice pulled me out of it.
"Are you done, Mi-chan?" I slightly twitched at the suffix, not use to being referred as if we were all friends, but I brushed it off; the mage isn't going to stop anytime soon. I shouldn't bother stressing over a simple thing. I forced a smile and nodded at Fai.
"Shall we go search then?"
We headed back to Sorata's and Arashi's hostel after finding no leads on Sakura's feather and finding Kurogane with a big sword with him. The men, along with Mokona, headed back towards the room as I lingered a bit. I called out to Fai who was about to go through the door.
"I'll be back later." He just smiled and nodded as I left.
I wandered around the streets, asking around in hope to find something about the feather and also bout his whereabouts, but time passed with no luck. I looked at the now darkened sky. I didn't realize how late it had gotten so I decided to go back for now. There was no point in continuing to look if there was no lead to go by anyways. But, I couldn't help but feel as if our meeting will come sooner than expected. I brushed off the feeling. It will come when fate asks for it.
Everyone was asleep, except for Syaoran, when I returned to the moonlit room. I glanced at him, our eyes meeting, before I silently settled in a corner, letting the darkness lulling me to sleep.
"Onii-sama!"
"Please stay here, imouto…this is something you cannot take part of."
"But…"
My eyes snapped open; my ears were greeted by the sound of chirping birds, my mind focused on that dream.
No…
It wasn't a dream.
A flashback.
"Good morning Misaki-san." I turned to see a smiling Syaoran greeting me. I couldn't help but give a small smile back.
"Good morning Syaoran-kun."
"Ah, Mi-chan! Mii-chan~!" Again, I slightly wince at the suffix. Syaoran and I both turned to see Fai at the door. "Since you're all awake now, it's about time we get going."
After searching a bit, we all decided to rest by a takoyaki stand. Syaoran, Fai, and I sat down on a bench while Kurogane and Mokona are busying themselves at the takoyaki stand. I looked up at the sky, my dark hair swaying slightly with the small breeze that passed by, as I thought about the flashback I had earlier this morning.
Did that flashback have a meaning to it?
Am I getting closer to him so soon?
I was pulled out of my thoughts as the sound of Arashi's voice reached my ears.
"I'm sorry. When I went out for just a bit, Sakura-san…"
"She woke up and went out on her own?" I asked.
"That probably might be it. I let her out of my sight for just a moment."
"I'm going to look for her," Syaoran declared.
"And how are you going to find her?" Fai asked. Syaoran paused, frustrated that he didn't have a clue as to how he will find her.
"Well…In any case, I can't leave Sakura by herself," After stating that, Syaoran ran off.
"What are we going to do?" asked Kurogane.
"Mmm. We can't just sit idly by. Sakura-chan doesn't have her memories…Plus, if those bad guys give her a hard time, it'll be bad. Kind of like what happened to you yesterday, Kurorin." Fai said.
"Who the hell is 'Kurorin'!?" yelled Kurogane. Mokona began to jump up and down in front of him singing "Kurorin~ Kurorin~" before getting caught by his ear by a pissed-off Kurogane.
"I'll go back to the hostel," began Arashi, "Sakura-san might've come back, you know."
I stood up and raised my arms, stretching. "Shall we get going then, Fai-san, Kurogane-san?"
"We'll split up for a bit then meet back here," Fai suggested. I nodded, agreeing with the idea since we will cover more ground that way. I turned and began walking in one direction as the other two did the same in a different direction.
I stopped for a bit, looking around the street for any type of lead. Now if I had paid attention earlier, I probably would be able to pinpoint the feather's aura, but the question is, can I do so if it's hidden? Also, since I haven't been around Sakura much, it would be hard for me to find her location as well. I began heading back to the designated spot that we've all agreed to meet up at.
"Have you found Sakura-chan?" asked Fai as I ran up to him at the same time Kurogane appeared. I shook my head, Kurogane agreeing. Fai then gave Kurogane a sleeping Mokona, claiming that the small white rabbit was pretty heavy. Kurogane let out a frustrating sigh, before stuffing Mokona, head down, into the front pocket of his shirt, claiming that that will do. I couldn't help but think, will his eyes open even when he's a sleep?
"Fai-san! Kurogane-san! Misaki-san!" We all turned to see Syaoran running up to us. "Were you able to finds Sakura-hime?"
"We searched all over for her as well, but…" I shook my head.
"Syaoran-kun!"
"Saitou-san?" I questioned out loud. Sure enough, a breathless Masayoshi stopped in front of us, informing us that he had just seen Sakura with those punks from before. After hearing that, Syaoran instantly ran off, but Masayoshi stopped him, claiming that he has an idea.
Masayoshi's kudan put its hands together, as if praying, and began to glow. Time passed on, which caused Kurogane to begin to doubt whether this would work due to the amount of time that has passed. Masayoshi began to explain about his kudan. True that it's a low ranked kudan, but it has the power to search for people, which is how he found us. His kudan looked in one direction and began to float towards that way and so we began to follow it.