Ok! I've finally managed to crank this one out. Unfortunately, once school starts, I won't be able to update as quickly. Luckily, I still have till the end of this week. Hope you understand!
This chapter is from the book, except for the beginning, which is Izumi's little scene. Unfortunately, I didn't have to book available to me, so I used a website as my reference. The dialogue may not be completely accurate.
Disclaimer: Alrighty! So I asked my parents why we couldn't own Tsubasa and I got this long lecture (Sakura goes on and on about the long speech her parents gave her about how they are not rich enough or how the rights do not belong to them).......so THAT'S why I don't own Tsubasa, or any of its characters, other than Izumi. All rights belong to CLAMP and other respective right holders.
"Izumi…" I heard Syaoran's voice, but it was muddled by the sound of a girl's agonized screaming. Syaoran shook me, but I refused to get up. "Izumi!" The screaming was broken by helpless sobs every now and then. "Izumi, wake up!" I tried to speak, but couldn't hear myself over the screaming. Suddenly, the screaming was replaced completely by raspy chokes and wails. Whatever happened to this girl must have been pretty bad.
I heard the door slam against the wall when it opened. Fai yelled, "What's going on?!" I felt Syaoran let go of my body. I could feel a difference in touch when Fai put his hand on the back of my neck to support my head. "Izumi… open your eyes." His voice was so calm…what was it about his voice that really reached out to me? At first, I was really unwilling to open my eyes, but his soft, cooing tones got the better of me. I opened my eyes, and noticed that the sobbing stopped. I tilted my head, and saw that Syaoran-kun, Kuogane, Fai, Mokona, Arashi, and Sora-chan were all crowded around me. I could barely make out their features because my vision was blurred by…something…wet? Was I crying? I tuned into my body. My voice was hoarse, and my breath was ragged. Was I the one who was screaming?
Fai ran his fingers through my hair. "It's alright. Everything's fine. Just calm down." He touched the tip of his nose to mine, and I felt my breath become normal again. His crystal blue eyes were enormous from this angle. I was afraid I would be swallowed by them. I saw something in those eyes. Though his smile seemed to mask most emotion, his eyes screamed out, sadness. He stood up. No, I thought, Don't go! "Well, then, I think that's taken care of. How long had she been screaming, would you say?"
"Twenty minutes straight," Syaoran yawned. "I wonder what could have possibly disturbed her so much that she'd have to cry like that?" The whole group nodded. I could have sworn I saw a look of guilt on Fai's face, but he quickly masked it with that enchanting smile of his.
Sora-chan turned to Arashi, and though he spoke in a whiper, I could hear him. "Do you think—?"
Arashi nodded, and whispered back, "It can't be said. It is my theory that it is combined with something else."
I rose to my feet. "I'm ok. Really." They were unconvinced. My voice was barely audible. I saw that princess Sakura had slept through all of the commotion. "Come on," I said, "Let's go have some breakfast." The frazzled group nodded slowly, before filing out of the door one-by-one. Just as Fai was about to leave the room, I called out, "Yuuy!" But I quickly stopped myself. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice that I called him by the wrong name.
He paused. "Yes?" He turned around and laughed. "Your voice has made a remarkable recovery." It was true. I could speak as well as anyone else again.
"I-I'm sorry." I looked down. "Really, I am." He tilted his head in a confused manner. He doesn't know that I know. I thought. "Never mind. Let's just go downstairs." Damn. I thought he had seen me. I mean, the way he looked at me in my dream…It made me feel like I belonged there.
When he was gone, I threw on the clothes that Arashi had lent me and ran downstairs, where everyone was already eating bowls of rice. Kurogane looked at me accusingly, and grumbled, "Oh great. Here comes the screaming girl. I'm afraid I'll trigger her crying if I say something mean." I rolled my eyes and pulled out a seat. Sora-chan placed a bowl in front of me, which was empty before ten seconds was up. I looked up when I was done, and saw every face in the room staring at me.
"What?" I asked, shrugging.
"You eat like a pig." Kurogane said. "What gets me is that you're still as thin as a toothpick."
"Heh… What Kuro-tan means is, you sure have a fast metabolism." Fai smiled nervously. "But that's a good thing, so don't take it the wrong way."
"Hey!" Sora-chan called, walking into the room. "The Hanshin Republic is pretty big, so you guys won't get anything done sitting in your rooms… You have to start your search for Sakura's feather someplace!" There were nods in agreement. "So get out into the neighborhood and see."
"Okay!" Fai said, saluting Sorata-san.
"Fine." Said a more serious Syaoran-kun.
"Uh…Yeah, sure." I shrugged nonchalantly. I sound like an idiot! I smacked myself in the head, only making myself look even more like an idiot.
Sora-chan nodded, and looked at his watch. "Oh no! It's about time for my lesson to start!" He smiled at Syaoran. "If you walk around, I think you'll be able to figure out what this Kudan talk is about. You're a smart kid." Syaoran nodded diligently.
Arashi put a hand on Syaoran's shoulder. "I'll stay by Sakura-san's side for you."
"Thank you."
"Oh," She turned around and looked at me. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with me? You might need rest. It's just a little more than obvious that you didn't get that much sleep last night."
I shook my head. "No, I'll be fine, but thank you for asking. I just…I had a bad night last night." I bowed apologetically. "Please forgive me. I am always a sucker to nightmares."
"No, it wasn't your fault." She patted my shoulder before heading back into the kitchen.
Kurogane pointed to Mokona. "Is the white thing coming along, too?" He huffed.
Mokona jumped up, giving Kurogane—and me—a good scare. "Mokona is no white thing! Mokona is Mokona!" He squealed, and I jumped back. He looks like a white thing to me. I sniggered. A white thing named Mokona, how does that sound?
"Oh," Sora-chan stopped. "You'll have to take Mokona with you, otherwise you'll pass the feather and you'll never know!" He chuckled. "Don't worry. Nobody will give Mokona a second thought. What I mean is, this country is used to strange sights." I folded my arms suspiciously, but didn't say anything. He handed Syaoran a pouch that looked a lot like a frog. "Take this." He said. "There's enough in there for lunch, so the three of you should take your time and make friends."
Kurogane rolled his eyes. "Why is he giving it to the kid?!" He grunted.
"Cause he's the one who looks the most trustworthy!" Sora-chan exclaimed. Wow. I'm travelling with a group of weirdoes.
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" I laughed, and was glad to see that Fai was laughing along with me.
The four of us headed out into the city, and I gasped. It was even more amazing now than it was the night before. "It's…incredible!" I whispered in awe. I had never seen a place more spectacular. "And it's huge!"
"It sure is a bustling place!" Fai smiled. What a surprise. "The small buildings are bunched up next to the tall ones! Syaoran-kun, have you ever seen this kind of thing?"
Syaoran shook his head. "No. Never."
"Kuro-tan, what about you?" Fai asked playfully.
"No! And why do you have to call me by weirder and weirder names?!" Kurogane yelled. I loved watching him get picked on.
Fai shrank back and laughed. "And you, Izumi-san?"
"No. But it's breathtaking. I wonder what life's like around here." I breathed, enchanted. "When I see a place like this, I sort of wish I could have lived here all of my life."
"So you're a big-city type of person?" Fai asked curiously.
I shook my head. "No, not really." Fai raised his eyebrows. "I just…I like change. Right now, I want to get as far away from home as I can get, and, figuring I came from a small town, this is pretty different."
"Ah…" Fai smiled secretively. "So you are a runaway, like me. You left to escape the ones who bother you, but you also left to escape your feelings…though you may like to deny it." I stared at him. I couldn't tell if I was relieved that he knew, or if I was mad at him for knowing. How does he know so much about how I feel? I wondered. Does he feel the same way?
"Apples! Get your apples here!" A man was leaning over a counter, trying to stop passerby and get them to buy his products. So far, he didn't seem to have many takers. I felt bad for him, so I started walking towards the booth, motioning for the group to follow.
Syaoran-kun looked astonished for a few moments. "That's…an apple?" He asked. In truth, I was wondering the exact same thing. Apparently so was Kurogane and Fai.
"You mean it doesn't look like that in your country?" Fai asked.
"No. The shape is the same, but it's a pale yellow color." Syaoran replied, confusing us. In my world, apples are orange. I thought.
"Isn't that called a pear?" Kurogane grumbled.
"No, a pear is redder and has leaves coming out of the top." Syaoran stated matter-of-factly. No, that's a tomato, isn't it? My head hurt from all of this fruit-talk. It was hard to follow along with them.
"That's a raki-seed, right?" Fai asked, laughing with amusement.
"No, I think he's talking about a tomato." I responded, absolutely positive now. "At least…in my world, that's what it is."
"And…" Growled a very agitated store-owner. "Do you want it or not!?" He yelled, startling me.
"Want it!" Mokona yelled from out of nowhere, without even asking for our consent. The man handed the apple to Syaoran, and gave one to each of us. Syaoran paid the money reluctantly, as though he felt the same way I did about Mokona.
We stood on the bridge. Fai took a bite into his 'apple' and looked at it as though it was the best thing he had ever tasted. "These are pretty good, aren't they?" I grunted in agreement, and Kurogane nodded.
"Yes…" Syaoran said in an unsatisfactory tone. "But I just realized how different our cultures are." He sighed. "It's all so…alien to me." He looked down for a moment.
"Oh. By the way, how did you get to the dimension witch's place? You said you had no magic." Fai asked. Why's he gotta be so darn nosy?! I rolled my eyes as he bothered Syaoran about it.
"I was sent there by the high priest in my country." Syaoran-kun looked down.
"Wow, then that priest sure is something." Fai said, leaning against the railing. "It's not easy to send one person to another world, but somehow he managed to send two of you. That's extraordinary." Fai nodded. He turned to Kurogane. "How about you, Kuro-tan?"
"Will you stop that!?" Kurogane yelled. His face grew more solemn now. "I was forcibly sent by the princess of my country." He looked down, his eyes a pool of a mixture of gloom and rage.
"Oh! You must have done something bad, so you were punished?" Fai and Mokona began laughing. I personally didn't think it was that funny, in fact, I thought it was rather mean of them to laugh at Kurogane. I didn't interfere.
"So what about you?" Kurogane asked Fai.
"Me?" Fai asked innocently. "I went there on my own."
"Then you didn't have to ask the dimensional witch for help. You could have just traveled between worlds yourself." Kurogane huffed, crossing his arms angrily. It was obvious he didn't understand Fai's point of view.
"I can't." Fai smiled joyfully. "Even with all my power, I can only transport myself to another world once." He turned to face us and stood up straight. "The one who transported Syaoran-kun, and the one who transported Kuro-chin—both have very strong magical powers." Fai looked down at his half-eaten apple with a look of sorrow. "But, even so, I bet it took them all they had." Kurogane and Syaoran looked startled, as if they had never heard of such a thing before. "That's why the priest transported Syaoran-kun to where the dimensional witch is. In order to get back all of Sakura's memories, we have to travel to many different worlds. And only the dimension witch can do that." Fai sighed sadly.
Syaoran-kun seemed lost in his memories for a while. We all remained silent. Suddenly, Syaoran turned to me and blurted, "So how did you get to the dimension witch's place?"
I stood there, never having expected to be asked that question. "I…well…" I looked down embarrassedly. "…I really don't know myself. I mean, I think I did it…but then again, it could have been anything." I sighed, wracking my brain and trying to remember exactly what had happened on that day. Nothing. "If I ever remember what really happened, you three, make that four, Mokona, will be the first ones to know, ok?" They all nodded.
Suddenly, a group of people in uniform clothing disturbed our peaceful moment. Syaoran-kun let out a yelp. In the front of the group was a man who wore goggles and had his long blonde hair tied back rather sloppily. One of the men in the crowd below him shouted, "We'll get you this time for sure! This territory belongs to us!"
"Whoo! They're cool!" Fai shouted. I nodded.
The man in the crowd seemed to lead a group as well. He shouted again, "Don't be so cocky just because you have a high level Kudan!" The people in his group yelled in concurrence.
I was rather shocked. What is a kudan? Though I had a pretty good idea of what the answer was, I asked myself questions like these because I refused to believe it. I looked at Syaoran-kun, who had his hand against his chest, as if something was eating his innards.
When the blonde-haired group leader gave the signal, all of his team members leapt from the buildings and attacked the other team. They did not use weapons, nor did they use martial arts techniques. Instead, I thought I saw them attack each other with…animals? Some of them were very fierce, and attacked with their special powers. Others seemed much less suited for the rage of battle, but proved themselves when they fought.
"So that's a kudan?" Kurogane asked, with a smug smile on his face.
"No wonder Mokona didn't scare anyone even though he could move around." Fai nodded.
A frog-like kudan approached the blonde haired leader, so he summoned his. One moment, there was nothing, and the next, there was a giant, stingray-like animal hovering above the man. It was a beautiful creature, and I discovered that its element was water. When it attacked, water gushed out of it in huge amounts, nearly flooding the streets. I saw two boys in the way of the water, but before I could do anything, Syaoran yelled, "Watch out!" He slid in front of them just before the water reached them, and suddenly, just like that, I saw fire surrounding them, instantly evaporating the water. I thought saw the head of a dog in the center of the fire. I gasped.
"Hmm…" The leader said. "Looks like you have a high-level kudan, too!" Syaoran-kun looked up, an expression of pure bewilderment planted on his face. The leader's water kudan attacked once more, and Syaoran-kun's kudan blocked the attack completely. There was a loud boom! As the two elements met. The leader smiled. "I'm Shougo Asagi. And you?"
Syaoran responded, "Syaoran."
"I like your style." Shuogo smiled at Syaoran.
"Shougo! The police are coming!" One of Shougo's team members warned him.
"Shoot." Shougo muttered under his breath. He turned to run. "Next time we meet, we'll have a real battle!" He yelled, before disappearing from view.
So now I know what a kudan is… I thought. But now that I do…what's mine like? Again, I already knew the answer. I just didn't want to believe it.
That concludes chapter seven! Hope y'all liked it! Don't you worry, I'm coming up with an original story about Izumi's past, so keep on watching for updates! Please remember my policy: If you read it, you review it! (it's actually not official, so don't worry about it. It would be nice, that's all)!