Chapter Four

"I can walk home by myself today," I told Satoshi.

He glanced at Syaoran, who had been surrounded by girls since the bell rang.

"Ok," he said softly, "Just be careful."


On my way home I sensed something I hadn't felt in a long time. It was a very small pulse of magic. Very slight, but I knew it was there. I'm not the card mistress for nothing.

It felt the way Syaoran's ofuda's used to feel. Distinctly Chinese. I wondered briefly if he was using magic.

I remembered the last time I'd seen him use an ofuda. It was against the Void card. It had failed, naturally.

My chest got tight as I remembered the rest of the battle, and how he had said, "I'll fall in love with you again," as he offered up his strongest emotion to appease the Void.

"Syaoran…" I whispered to myself. His name brought a smile to my lips.

"It's her!"

I turned my head sharply at the sound.

There was no one around.

Wary, I stood my ground, looking around me. Just as I felt another flash of magic, a red official mailbox uprooted itself and began to walk towards me.

Yes, you read that correctly.

With each hop, it grew larger. Metal appendages sprouted from its sides. I had backed away to the other side of the street, staring up at the metal spider. The sun glinted off its rounded top.

I looked around again, and still found no one. All the drapes were closed in every house.

I was alone. I was alone and the magic was growing stronger.

Swiftly a large leg came down on me.

"Jump," I cried instinctively. Since the last time I'd seen Syaoran I'd gotten the hang of how to use the lower level cards without a staff. Kero was so proud.

I leapt onto the roof of the house behind me and ducked behind a chimney. The mailbox looked confused. With the bought time I recited my chant:

"Key that hides the power of the stars, reveal your true power to me. I, Sakura, command you under contract. Release!"

The staff grew in my hand, like it always does. As I pondered which card to use, I felt a brief blip of the magic, and heard the mailbox take a step into the front yard.

My time had run out.

"Rain!" I yelled, striking the card with my staff, "Rain only on the monster!"

A cloud appeared above the mailbox and rain began to pour. Channeling my energy, I made it rain until the mailbox had rusted to a halt.

I had stopped sensing the Chinese magic. Whoever it was must have given up for now.

Ordinarily, I would have tried to find them, but the magic they had placed on the houses was starting to wear off. I could hear people talking in the house below me.

"Time!" I called. Everything halted. I knew I would regret using such a taxing card later, but I had no other choice.

Using Jump and Power, I hopped through a frozen Tomoeda carrying the large pile of rust. Not knowing what else to do, I dropped it off at the metal refinery on the edge of the city.

Time resumed once more and I sighed. Using all those cards had made me really hungry. I sent Kero a text message telling him I'd be home late and that I would explain the magic then.

Eating was most important now.

Conveniently, I reached a restaurant before I'd even walked a block. Without bothering to check the menu (everything tastes good after I've used the Time card) I walked in.

"Welcome!" a familiar voice called. I looked up in shock.

No way…

"Kinomoto?" an excited voice called.

"Meiling!" I cried. She stood before me in a waitress uniform, a bowl of ramen in either hand.

"Oi, where's that order going, Li!" the chef yelled from the kitchen. Meiling did a little hop and took it to a table near the back of the shop. As I watched her walk I became aware of how beautiful she had become in the past four years.

"Sakura, come have a seat at the bar!" Meiling said, waving me over. I obeyed and sat down.

"What'll you have?" she asked, although I could tell that she really wanted to talk about other things.

"Just give me what you like the best," I replied. She nodded and said something to the chef through a little window into the kitchen.

There weren't many people in the shop, so she took a seat next to me as she poured me some green tea.

"I've missed you! Did you get my latest letter?" she asked, giving me a quick hug.

That's right. Meiling had always kept up our correspondence, and always claimed to know nothing of Syaoran's whereabouts.

"I haven't yet, which is why I'm so surprised," I responded, "What brings you to Japan?"

Meiling looked over her shoulder before whispering, "I'm following Syaoran."

She looked very miffed when I did not exhibit any surprise.

"What? Don't tell me you knew he was here, you who always asked about him!" she exclaimed, her face turning a little red.

"He transferred to my school," I said softly. Her jaw dropped.

"That little—what is he thinking?"

I shook my head.

"How did you know he was here?" I asked, "I thought you guys lived far apart after your return to Hong Kong." The chef placed a bowl of ramen on the windowsill.

"Well," she replied, pausing to bring the bowl to me, "The clan's in an uproar. Apparently he's supposed to still be training or something."

"Training?" I cocked my head to one side.

"Yea, I just heard about it from Auntie. You see, she thought he'd run to my house and called me." I started eating and she sighed. "He's been training somewhere for the past few years, and even she hasn't been able to talk to him."

The noodles I had been holding with my chopsticks slid back into the broth.

"Can you believe that he didn't even stop to see her? Just came over here right away."

No, I couldn't believe it, but for some reason the words would not come to my mouth.

Behind me the door opened and closed.

"Sakura?"

DM: Well there's another chapter. I tried to make it longer. Thanks so much for all the reviews! I love you guys! Did you like this chapter? Review if you did! Did you hate it? You should also review!