Mmmk after this chapter there will be random updates. Just started school today so whether I work on this or not depends on how distracted I get or how lazy I am. :x Enjoy the chapter~

Ch. 3 – Hanshin II

As we were running, I couldn't help but feel as if he was here, watching. That familiar aura was practically begging me to find its source.

"Mi-chan?"

The sound of Fai's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Is something wrong?" I looked down away from Fai's gaze as I debated whether or not I should go. I took one more step before using that same foot to pivot my body around and began to run the opposite way.

"I'll be back at the hostel when I'm done!" I yelled back to the disappearing group. I slowed into a walk as I got near the city, following the growing aura. I stopped in front of a dimly lit alleyway, the presence of his aura almost overwhelming. Has he gotten more powerful? I don't remember his aura being like this before with both seals intact.

After I was a good distance away from the entrance, I stopped and looked directly in front of me, a determined look on my face.

"I know you're here. Show yourself already."

Hearing his chuckle from directly behind me made me freeze in my spot. I could feel his hot breath on my neck before it vanished.

"Coward," I muttered under my breath. More chuckling was heard until a familiar wave of pain engulfed my back. I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, refusing to give into the pain. My legs shook against my struggle to stay standing, but I, eventually, fell onto my knees with my arms hugging myself to quell the pain. Footsteps approached me until they appeared in my pained filled sight. The person kneeled in front of me then lifted my chin with his finger, forcing me to look at him; that grin of his plastered on his face.

"Does it hurt?" He mocked, as he used his thumb to caress my cheek. All I can do in this pitiful state was glare at him as the wounds began to reopen, blood dripping down, slowly onto the ground.

"Nee, Misa-chan…why won't you give in? You know it pains me so to do this to you, but then again I wouldn't be entertained if you were a mindless puppet," He laughed and released my chin.

He began to stand.

"Ja ne, Misaki-chan. It would've been nice to stay longer, but this isn't the place to settle it. Don't worry,though, we will soon. I just wanted to see how you are doing, my cute princess."

A sudden gust of wind blew into my face cause my eyes to automatically close. I knew that as soon as I opened them, he'll be gone. The pain died down into a dull throbbing; blood no longer dripped from the now healed scar.

If only…

I somehow managed to get back to the hostel without drawing any unwanted attention. I was greeted by a shocked expression from Syaoran, the same from Fai and Kurogane when they came outside at the noticed of my presence.

"Are you alright, Misaki-san?"

"I'm fine. It's nothing you should concern yourself with, Syaoran-kun. It has happened before." I walked past them towards the door, my bloody back now facing them as they, too turned. This time Fai spoke up.

"Misaki-chan, lets go inside and take care of that," Fai offered as he held out his hand.

I refused.

"That won't be necessary, Fai-san. It's already healed."

Without waiting for a reply, I walked in the hostel in search of Arashi.

"Misaki-san! What happened?" exclaimed Arashi when she laid her eyes on my slightly bloody form.

"Some old wounds just reopened, but its fine now," My eyes begged her not to pry anymore and she nodded. "I'm sorry about the clothes you have provided for me, Arashi-san."

"Oh no, it's fine Misaki-san. I'll go get them washed as you clean yourself up."

I bowed to her in thanks.

My thoughts lingered on his appearance as I stepped into the bathroom and began to change out of the cardigan and dress, then handed them to Arashi through the partially opened door. I didn't expect to see him so soon, but it made sense for him to find me if he noticed that I've left. Time probably flowed differently between worlds. I closed the door and headed towards the shower. My hand rested on the shower knob for a moment before turning it. The nozzle sprang to life as the water began to fall, hitting the floor with the sound of pitter-pattering.

...things weren't this way.

I walked back to the room dressed in my original clothes while drying my hair with the, now damp, towel. With one hand keeping the fluffy towel on my head, the other was used to grab the knob before turning it and pushed the door open. My eyes lingered on Sakura, who was sleeping peacefully on the futon.

"I see that Sakura-san is safe now." Three pairs of eyes were directed towards me as I spoke.

"Umm…Mi-chan?"

"Hmm? What is it, Fai-san?"

"Is that wound taken care of?"

"It never needed any tending to in the first place. I'm fine Fai-san, everyone," I answered as I walked to my sleeping corner and sat on the floor, resting my left arm on my left knee. I discarded my towel off to the side.

The room was filled with silence.

I looked at the three males; each had a look on their faces that showed curiosity, but no one wanted to speak up.

"Misaki-san?"

I let out a small sigh before giving Syaoran a small smile.

"What is it that you wish to know, Syaoran-kun?"

"What happened? For you to run off like that… Then to come back here bleeding."

I looked away, off to the side; my smile instantly disappearing; my hair shielding my eyes from them.

"It's something you shouldn't concern yourself with, Syaoran-kun." I had to pause for a second, my emotions gaining control of my voice. I took a deep, shaky breath. "I don't want anyone to be involved with it," I looked at the trio. "But I guess you could say I had a run in with the past."

"I'm sorry for prying."

I smiled, softly. "Don't be. Now let's get some sleep."

"They left me…" I looked around the bare room. The three males were not in sight. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have been that tired to have overslept, but maybe they decided to leave early thinking that I needed rest.

"Ah! Misaki-san! You're awake!" exclaimed Arashi as she came into the room with a black and white bundle in her arms, which she handed over to me when she got closer. "Here, it's clean now."

Accepting the, now cleaned, black dress and white cardigan from Arashi, I thanked her and went to the bathroom to change.

"I'm going to meet up with the others now. Take care of Sakura-san." I rushed out the door without waiting for a reply, my dark dress and hair flared behind me.

Once I saw the figures of Kurogane, Fai, Syaoran, Masayoshi and Mokona, I began to run towards them. But before I could reach them, something caught my eye. Something in the sky that was headed straight towards them. Fai and Kurogane, and a bit later Syaoran, began to notice as well.

"Look out!" But my warning came too late since Masayoshi and Mokona were taken away by a metal bird-like kudan. A letter then fluttered down in their place. Syaoran bent over to get the letter.

"'I'll be waiting for you at the Hanshin Castle.'" read Syaoran. His eyes widened a bit as I walked up to him. "This is…. Fai-san! Kurogane-san! Misaki-san!"

"What is it kid? I can't understand what the hell you're saying," Kurogane stated upon hearing his name.

"Weird. I heard Syaoran saying my name, but I can't understand anything after that," Fai said.

Syaoran had a look of pure confusion on his face as he stared at the other two males.

"What's wrong Syaoran-kun?" I asked. A wide-eyed Syaoran turned to look at me.

"You can understand me, Misaki-san?" he asked.

"Eh?" I looked at Fai and Kurogane. "Yeah, I can. Why do you ask? …oh, wait." I listened closely to Fai's and Kurogane's bickering.

"Oh, I see why you asked that." By now Fai and Kurogane were looking at me, confusion on their faces. I scratched my head, ashamed for forgetting. "I cast a small charm on myself before leaving so that I can understand Yuuko-san and vise-versa. I guess it's still in effect."

Syaoran began to think. "How come we suddenly can't understand each other…nothing has changed."

"No, something did change Syaoran. Think about it," I answered back.

A moment passed.

"Mokona!" they all shouted at the same time in realization.

"Let's go find a map to Hanshin Castle," I suggested.

We all stood in front of the map, looking for the Hanshin Castle.

"It's pretty far from here…the Hanshin Castle…" Syaoran stated.

"We should probably hitch a ride on something," Fai suggested.

"Guess so," Kurogane agreed.

The three males blinked at each other as I continued to study the map.

"You can understand each other now, right?" I asked.

"That must mean that we're close to Mokona," Fai concluded as he glanced at the faraway castle behind him. "Mokona acts as a translation device, it seems."

We all began to run in the direction of the castle. Kurogane let out a breath, cursing at how annoying this is.

We stopped in front of the massive castle that loomed over us. Syaoran looked at it in awe and asked, "That's the Hanshin castle?"

"It must be," Fai said as he pointed to the two hostages who were dangling from the tail of a statue of a golden half lion half koi animal at the top of the castle.

Syaoran cried out Masayoshi's name as he glanced at the very spot Fai pointed to. Kurogane scoffed at Mokona's behavior. Mokona seems to be enjoying his situation, despite the fact that he's hanging on a rope, swinging around, happily singing. Three men appeared at the balcony of the castle. They began to put their fists together and combined their powers to form the metal bird kudan from before. Kurogane stepped in front of us all.

"Leave this to me," He stated with a smirk, his muscles tense. He held out his hand and a sword began to materialize. He grasped it with both hands, and then swung it at the incoming kudan slicing it in half, his smirk still plastered on his face.

What a show off.

A girl with gray-blue hair in a pixie-like outfit stepped forward, commenting on our display of strength. Kurogane stared at her with a bored expression as he asked who the hell she was. Her bodyguards, I assumed, started rambling in surprised at Kurogane's lack of knowledge and claimed that it was an offense to not know Primera, the number one idol in the land who can sing dance and do drama.

"And that's that," Primera began, "I've been waiting for you guys."

I yawned and sat on the ground, leaning against the brick wall behind me. There shouldn't be any need for me to fight. So I just made myself comfortable on the ground, bored, and closed my eyes.

Syaoran politely asked Primera to release Mokona and Masayoshi.

"Masayoshi-kun…Isn't that Syaoran up there?" I heard Primera asked, most likely pointing at the hostages, confused.

"I'm Syaoran," Syaoran answered.

Primera's shrill screaming began as she scolded her "bodyguards" for making such a stupid mistake.

"If you have something to say, I will listen."

"Okay," she agreed. "If you want me to hand those two over, please battle with me."

"Are you kidding me?" Kurogane scoffed. "Can that girl even fight?"

I cracked open an eye.

"Are you implying that women can't fight Kurogane-san?" I asked.

"Why don't you prove it to me then, girl. Even if you can fight you're probably not skilled at it since you came back all hurt yesterday."

Fai stepped forward before I could reply, signaling us with his arm to stay back.

"I'll take care of this. Let my kudan help us out."

A giant, majestic sea-green bird materialized as Fai pet its beak. The bird became an orb and surrounded Fai with its power. He began to float into the air.

"I'll be gone for just a bit," He said.

"Try my kudan-chan's attack on for size!" a white formed in front of Primera and music notes began to fly right out of it, catching Fai by surprise.

"Fai-san!"

"He didn't get hit Syaoran-kun. His kudan acts as a shield for him,"I assured the young man.

"He's an experience fighter," Kurogane stated, "despite his looks."

Syaoran agreed.

"Yes, Kurogane-san, 'Despite his looks'. Shouldn't that apply to everyone?"

He scoffed.

"Maybe we should spar sometime."

I closed my opened eye and slumped against the stone wall in a content state until I had to suddenly cover my ears to protect it from Primera's "My kudan-chan~!" phrase after, I don't know. How many times has she said it now? Ten? Seriously, can't she keep it down a notch? I sensed an attack forming. The attack shot out at Fai, but he seemed to dodge it. I cracked open an eye, again, to see Fai running on this pink strip right towards Primera. He caught her off guard and said something to her which caused her to unknowingly create an explosion that released Mokona and Masayoshi. I closed my eye sensing Shougo's kudan rescuing Masayoshi and Mokona.

Yelling was heard in the distance.

"What's she all pissed off about?" Kurogane asked as Fai landed next to him.

I looked at the two bickering "couple", both eyes now opened, Fai thinking the same.

Mokona began jumping around with his eyes open, catching Syaoran's attention.

"So someone's kudan has the feather after all," Fai concluded.

"But still, why does it get stronger and weaker?" Kurogane asked.

"Kudans are basically like guardians. They are at their strongest when protecting their master," I answered.

"Shougo-kun!"

"Primera!"

"Looks like they have a lot of catching up to do," Fai chuckled.

I groaned, "They could at least keep it down a bit."

Fai laughed at my reaction.

Syaoran ran over to Shougo to ask him if he knew anything about Sakura's feather possibly being inside his kudan, but the only way to find out is for the two kudans to battle. I went back to relaxing with my eyes closed. After the battle started, Fai and Kurogane began to comment on Syaoran in battle.

"Syaoran-kun is cool!"

"He's not some well-mannered fool either."

"I wonder why he's able to use such skills all of a sudden."

"He picked up those fighting techniques from watching your battle."

"Mmm…that might be it, though Syaoran-kun is still just a child, he's been through quite a bit."

I felt Fai shift. "Come to think of it, why are you down there sleeping, Mi-chan? If you're still worn out, why didn't you stay back at the hostel?"

"I'm just merely resting here because it's comfortable, Fai-san. I won't get caught in their battle and if I was really worn out I wouldn't have came to find you guys. I would've stayed at the hostel," I answered. I sensed an oncoming power surge heading towards our direction. I quickly grabbed onto a tuft of fur and hoisted myself onto the furry body as it quickly fled danger.

"Mi-chan, watch out!" I heard Fai yell out in panic as he turned to my previous location. He and Kurogane had both jumped out of harm's way.

"Watch out for what," I replied back calmly.

Fai and Kurogane turned around, surprised to see me sitting on top of a silver wolf behind them. I got off the wolf and it dispersed into water droplets, disappearing into my body. Afterwards, a fire orb, with Syaoran inside, floated up from the water left by Shougo's kudan and landed in front of us. The water from Shougo's kudan formed powerful waves smashing through everything it came in contact with. The force from the waves of water began to bring down the castle. Syaoran directed his attention to the castle and yelled out a warning. A new aura appeared, causing me to look up to see that Masayoshi's kudan grew into a giant. I tensed; ready to spring into action if necessary.

"That's…" Syaoran began.

"Saitou-san's kudan." I finished.

"Mekyo!" Mokona yelled. "He has it! The feather! Sakura's feather is inside of that kudan!"

The kudan's eyes began to glow for a second, and then it stopped. My eyes widened.

"Watch out!" I yelled as the kudan began to open his mouth, an energy ball formed and was quickly launched. I quickly held out a hand and summoned my kudan. He instantly transformed into a barrier protecting us from the resulting powerful explosion.

"I thought the feather was supposed to be in a strong kudan," Kurogane said.

"Masayoshi-kun's kudan has always been strong," Fai began, "but because it is linked to Masayoshi-kun's heart, it was influenced by his belief that he is weak."

Syaoran took a determined step foreward.

"STOP! Please stop!" Masayoshi commanded, but the kudan continued to wreak havoc, spitting beams of concentrated light that destroyed on impact.

"Why isn't he listening to him?"

"Saitou-san's kudan is being overpowered by the feather," I answered. "If you're not strong enough to control something, it will end up controlling you."

Syaoran took another step forward.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kurogane asked.

"I'm going to get Sakura's feather back."

"And how do you plan on fighting that gigantic thing? If you don't have a plan, you'll die."

"I won't die. As long as I have something to do, I will never die."

I smiled. "That's the spirit, Syaoran-kun."

"I'll be back," Syaoran hopped onto his kudan and they were on their way.

"He never asked us for help," Kurogane stated as he looked at the disappearing form of Syaoran.

"He doesn't have to. He'll accept any help that is offered to him, but he may never ask for it since this is something that he feels he must do himself," I looked at Kurogane and Fai. "That's what you two did, right? You helped him without him even asking. Syaoran is strong, that's why his kudan is a fire type; a kudan that represents strength and courage."

We all began to follow Syaoran and stopped near a park. He jumped off his kudan and punched Masayoshi's kudan right in the middle of its chest, reaching for Sakura's feather. A bright light engulfed the area blinding us all for a moment. After it disappeared, Shougo's kudan created a light shower to put out the fires that were caused by Masayoshi's kudan.

"What happened to him?" Kurogane asked while he looked around for Syaoran.

"If you mean Syaoran-kun, then he's right over there," Fai answered while pointing to the right. Syaoran was in a kneeling position, clutching the feather close to his chest. A happy expression appeared on his face.

I smiled. "Shall we head back to Sakura now?"

We all stood outside the open door as Syaoran went in to return the feather to Sakura.

Silence.

"Sakura!" we heard, "Sakura…"

A new voice.

"Who are you?"

A small, sharp intake of breath was heard.

I looked off to the side. I can imagine his reaction, not believing that this is happening, but still putting a smile on.

"My name is Syaoran. You are Princess Sakura. Please, just hear me out. You are a princess from another world."

"Another world?"

"You have lost your memories so we're traveling to different worlds to get them back."

"Are you by yourself?"

"No, there are others traveling as well."

That was our cue to prepare to introduce ourselves.

"Together with you?"

"Yes."

Fai, with Mokona in his arms, went in first, before Kurogane and I followed after him.

"Princess Sakura, nice to meet you. My name is kind of long, but you can call me Fai. And over there is…" he indicated to Kurogane.

"I'm Kurogane."

I crouched next to Fai. I smiled and said,

"I'm Misaki. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san," I would've said sama, due to her status as a princess, but that might be a bit too formal at the moment.

"And this fluffy cutie-pie here is…" Fai began.

"Mokona Modoki! Just call me Mokona! Sakura, handshake, handshake! 'cause we're friends, friends!"

I glanced at Syaoran as he moved to get up. He got up and walked out.

We left Mokona with Sakura as we all looked outside at Syaoran out of one of the windows in the hallway.

Fai began to talk, "I thought he was going to cry for a second, back there. I wonder if he's crying right now."

"Who knows," Kurogane answered, "but he has to stop wanting to cry and get stronger so that he'll be able to go on without crying, no matter what."

"But you also need the strength to be able to cry when you want to, and stopping when needed," I added. We all stood in silence, our attention directed at Syaoran and our kudans shielded him from the rain.

The next day we all went to that restaurant from before.

"You bastard! That belonged to me!" Kurogane growled.

"First come, first serve!" came Mokona's triumphant reply.

"What did you say?" Kurogane argued back.

Ignoring the argument between Kurogane and Mokona, Syaoran thanked Masayoshi, but Masayoshi declined it saying that he should be the one thanking Syaoran instead.

"Yo!"

"Shougo-san!"

The rest of us, Sakura, Fai, and I, continued to eat in silence, and amusement, as Syaoran, Shougo and Masayoshi talked while Kurogane and Mokona argued. Shougo gave Masayoshi his goggles, offering him to join his team, and Masayoshi agreed. He will no longer be the boy who thinks of himself as someone who can't do anything.

After eating, we all headed back to Arashi's and Sorata's hostel to change back into our original clothes, preparing to move on to the next world. We all exited the hostel. Shougo stood in front of Syaoran.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Yes."

"I see…" Shougo held out a hand for Syaoran to shake.

"Next time you're in town, come to my concert. I'll reserve seats for you at the arena," Came Primera's offer.

Oh great, a concert.

Syaoran agreed, and then held out his hand for Masayoshi to shake.

"Are you okay?" Fai asked Sakura.

"Yes. Though, I'm still a bit sleepy," She replied while rubbing at her eye. I looked over at the smiling Syaoran.

"Don't look back," Kurogane began, "If you have got something to do, then only look forward."

"He's right Syaoran. You don't have time to look back into the past when you have something to do. I may end up dragging you down," I gave him a small smile.

Syaoran smiled back. "Okay."

Mokona glowed and jumped up.

"Once again, Mokona Modoki can't wait! Kaapoooo!"

"Thank you for all you've done."

"I'll be praying for your safe journey," Sorata replied.

"Best of luck in finding Sakura-san's feathers in the next world as well," Arashi added on.

To the next world we go.