Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Tokyo Babylon Fan Fiction ❯ The Bet ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

The Bet

Chapter One

Disclaimer: Tokyo Babylon and Card Captor Sakura do not belong to me and I make no money at all from this work of fanfiction at all. I have no real idea which I am basing this off of, the manga or the anime.

Five years had gone by.

Many things had happened in those five years.

Syaoran had gone back to Hong Kong.

Fujitaka had nearly given up when his eldest child had disappeared without a trace. He had been hurt when his wife had died- now, all the life had left him. He went about routine, but the spark was gone. He did, however, invite Yukito to live with them, when it was revealed he had no family.

The once happy, spritely little girl that had been Sakura had been subdued. Her brother and protector had disappeared; her father had all but died; her number one person had left her. All she really had left were her Guardians and Tomoyo.

Yet there had been some good things. Eriol had returned, off and on, and started to train the younger woman in different magic other than the Cards. Sakura had a huge amount of potential- power that let her use the Cards, but she didn't know the basics. Using the Cards was something akin to learning how to run because she could crawl.

As she had learned, Sakura had taken it upon herself to start investigating magical anomalies in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. While she was able to keep the full extent of her magical abilities hidden- she did NOT want someone to try and steal the Cards- she managed to get a reputation for being an excellent psychic investigator.

Yue and Yukito had come closer- to the point where they spoke to one another almost constantly, and were completely aware of what the other was doing. They were still separate personalities… Or masks for the other… They weren't terribly sure of what was going on themselves. It made college very interesting. They were majoring in anthropology… largely due to the fact that Yue STILL didn't understand people.

That was were things now stood. Yukito, now a student at CLAMP university, was living off campus with Sakura and Kero-chan. Fujitaka had stopped living- he could not take care of anyone now. So Sakura had moved in with Yukito, and was attending CLAMP high school. They had moved into Tokyo proper, but Yukito still kept his house- money wasn't a problem for them, as Sakura's jobs and the money Clow had left for his Guardians and Chosen were able to keep them comfortably.

And nobody thought to ask why Yukito had started to wear gloves.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You're so brave, Sakura-chan!" cooed Tomoyo, as her kawaii Sakura-chan used the Sword and Jump to fend off a group of attacking, possessed dolls. They were the result of a curse gone awry, apparently- Yue and Cerberus were trying to find the source of the magic to destroy it while Sakura kept them busy.

The building was only half completed, and thus, her frantic jumping was hindered by open beams and girders. Tomoyo, as always, somehow managed to avoid the main event, and continued to tape Sakura.

"SAKURA-CHAN! We found the ofuda! GET OVER HERE AND RIP IT!" Cerberus roared, snagging her from midair while Yue distracted the dolls.

"HOOOOEEEEEEEE!"

Sakura was dumped into a dark corner as more dolls attacked both her and Cerberus- Yue was rapidly being overwhelmed, and Tomoyo let out a sudden gasp as she was quickly surrounded and pounced.

The young sorceress wanted to scream, seeing her friend in danger, and nearly leapt to save her- when they were interrupted by the scream of a falcon.

Nothing was visible, but the dolls surrounding Tomoyo scattered like a wave on rocks. Sakura didn't pause to question her good fortune; she bounded towards the ofuda holding the curse, willing the Sword Card to cut through it, severing the magic. A breath later it rebounded- and she didn't have time to call the Shield card.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Do you know where the nearest doctor is?" hissed Kero-chan, in his false form once again, riding on Yukito's shoulder as he carried Sakura away from the building. It wasn't as easy as when she had been ten- she had grown a great deal- but he had strength a normal mortal couldn't access. Fortunately for him…

"I don't know- I've never been in this part of Tokyo before."

"Tomoyo- what about your cell phone?"

"I tried that already, Kero-chan," the battered girl said, limping along behind them. She would have joined them in hovering over Sakura had she been able to keep up. "It was damaged in the fight, along with my video camera." She sighed at the loss. This had been one of Sakura's greater battles to date.

"Then what do we do?" the plush toy with wings wailed, and Yue stared at him through Yukito's eyes.

"You could TRY being QUI-"

thud

Yukito abruptly found himself sprawled over a much, MUCH larger body, curled around Sakura, and he lifted his head to tell the other person off- only to find himself drowning in blue eyes.

"To-"

Beneath him was a very broad, very tall man, dressed in an elegant business suit, neatly trimmed black hair and stylish glasses.

"Eh?" Kero-chan had gone flying, recovered, and looked down at the person who had acted as both speed bump and mattress for his mistress and brother. "NIICHAN!"

"Touya-san?" Tomoyo exclaimed, having nearly fallen over herself.

"Wah- what?" the man they had stumbled into replied, blinking at them. "What are you all doing here? Kaijuu- what happened to you? Kaijuu? Sakura?" he frowned at his sister, who didn't wake to look at him, just whimpered.

"We need to get her help," Yukito said quickly, worry overcoming his shock. Questions could wait until they had saved his Mistress.

"My practice is this way- we can treat her there," Touya replied, picking up Sakura himself and nearly jogging off. Yukito shook his head, not really thinking yet, just reacting, and turned in time to see poor Tomoyo start to sway. He scooped her up and followed this phantom from their past.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Tomoyo didn't know what to expect when she had heard Touya say "practice" but she had NOT expected to see a sign for a small veterinarian's office, with the modest sign "Sakurazuka Touya, D.V.M." which Touya had quickly unlocked and ushered them in.

It was small, but clean, nice smelling (which spoke volumes of how well the animals were treated) and brightly lit. There was a room towards the back labeled X-ray, some closets... It was, all in all, a very organized and very well equipped little clinic.

The man whom they had followed gently placed his little sister on a couch in a back office and quickly and professionally checked her over.

"She's exhausted, with some bruises, and a sprained ankle. What happened?"

There was a brief flash of light and Yukito cocooned in massive, white wings, and Yue was standing in front of them, before he banished those wings.

"The Mistress had sensed a curse on a building and was removing it. She was caught in the backlash- we were afraid she was going into shock, along with whatever physical injuries she sustained."

Touya nodded, and left the room.

Yukito returned while he was gone, and looked at Tomoyo helplessly, before his knees seemed to give out, and he slumped to the floor.

She could understand how he felt- she had certainly never expected to see Sakura's brother again, let alone alive. Considering Yukito's feelings for the other man... Hobbling over, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder, while Kero-chan sat on the opposite side and patted his cheek.

The heiress didn't look up when she heard footsteps, nor did she when she heard the soft swish of a blanket being spread over Sakura. The silence weighed heavily over all of them, as Touya once again left the room.

An indeterminate time later, she was alerted to Touya's second return with the distinct clink of pottery and silver, and she looked up to see the dark haired man bearing a tray.

"I thought we might need it," he said softly, nodding to the tray that he placed on a desk. Sitting the edge, he started pouring for everyone, and Tomoyo limped over. Looking concerned, Touya motioned for her to sit on the desk as well. He began examining her, fingers gentle and cool.

Meanwhile, Kero-chan, who knew what was important, had darted to the tray- and for once, wasn't gorging. He instead picked up a large cookie and floated over to Yukito, trying to distract him with the food.

"Why?" the gray haired young man whispered softly.

"Hm?" Touya replied intelligently, distracted from his wrapping of Tomoyo's ankle. "Its a bone bruise- but nothing broken. You'll be okay in a few weeks."

"WHY?" Yukito repeated, louder this time, his golden eyes looking up into Touya's, full of pain.

"That," he said, looking away," That is a long story. I think we should wait until Sa-"

"Tell me NOW!" Yukito tried to demand, but his voice cracked half way through, his fist pounding on the floor.

Touya winced. He looked at Tomoyo, who stared back with her inscrutable indigo eyes.

Another long, almost unbearable silence stretched out between them.

"Fate," Touya sighed. "Destiny. Whatever you want to call it... It relies heavily on the truth of some things that Father and Sakura never knew about Mother."

"Nadeshiko-san?" Tomoyo said, surprised. She thought her mother had known everything about her cousin- and had told her daughter about it.

Touya nodded. "Mother was... a powerful onmyouji- a yin-yang master. She inherited the job from her mother. However, when she died... she needed a successor and that was me."

"But- your powers! You gave them up to save me!" Yukito burst out, shocked. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"I gave you my spirit vision- not my ability to use onmyoujitsu," Touya corrected carefully.

"You could have told us you were leaving," Yukito shot back.

"I had little choice but to leave. My line has been called to work for the government from time to time... and that work is dangerous."

"What kind of work, Niichan?" Kero-chan asked, curious, chewing on the cooking that had been rejected by Yukito.

Touya smiled at him, and Tomoyo flinched back from it. It looked perfectly correct- perfectly normal, but his eyes were flat behind the new glasses he wore.

"If I told you, I would have to kill you," he joked.

~*~*~*~*~

Sakura wasn't sure what was going on, but she was warm, though there were twinges of pain all over her. She briefly wondered if she had knocked herself out during baton practice, and was dreading the teasing that she would get from Touya. He would probably comment on how a monster should be more careful- but wait a minute. Her brother was gone. Dead, as far as she knew.

Then why could she hear him?

Her eyes opened a crack, and she winced at the fluorescent lights above her- she most definitely was NOT in her room.

"Ah, so the kaijuu is awake now, is she?" called a familiar voice. Sakura found she was ten again.

"Sakura kaijuu janai yo!*" she shouted, sitting straight up before wincing. Her bright green eyes fixed on her brother- before widening, and she dived at him before anyone could say another word.

"ONIICHAN! Oniichan," she whispered, burying her face in his dress-shirt clad shoulder and started to weep quietly.

"Oi, oi, kaijuu! I'm here," he murmured, rubbing circles on her back. "You should sit back down- even monsters are going to have trouble after magical backlashes."

"Kaijuu," she sniffled, hiccupping. "Kaijuu janai."

Touya stroked her hair- a perfectly brotherly gesture. Tomoyo's flesh wanted to crawl.

"Of course you aren't," he said gently, and pushed her away. "You aren't even close to being a real monster. I just like to tease you."

Sakura sniffled a little more, and sat back down, wincing as she put her weight on her bad ankle.

"What- what happened?" she croaked, her throat hoarse from crying. "The night you disappeared-"

"I told Yuki and Tomoyo-chan already. I had to leave- it was my destiny. I think I accidently cut myself on the way out."

"Don't forget ME!" Kero interrupted.

"Hoe?"

Touya sighed... and repeated the story he had told Yukito, Tomoyo AND Kero-chan a few minutes before...

~*~*~*~*~*~

"So," Sakura sighed, putting her tea cup down. "So, you didn't have any choice but to leave us?"

Touya nodded, sipping his tea cup.

"You know that father fell apart when you left," she said, slightly accusingly. Touya winced again.

"I could guess."

"You could have told us," she whispered, eyes filling with tears. She gestured to Yukito, Tomoyo, Kero-chan and herself. "We would have understood."

"No, no, I think you wouldn't have. The powers you have are... benign. I have enemies now- enemies that would have put all of you in danger." Touya looked regretful, and ran his fingers through his hair. "I had to leave for the same reasons mother never told father about what she really was."

While the siblings conversed, Yukito had moved to the small window in the office, looking out over the street. He hadn't spoken since his earlier outburst- and Tomoyo watched him nervously. She could feel something was wrong- something they were being told. Her ability to observe had always been greater than her friends'. What she hoped was that she was jumping to conclusions.

"Daddy needs to know," Sakura's voice hardened. "He loved Mother- an he loves you."

"He doesn't. Let him keep the illusion of a happy family that he had. It will comfort him better," Touya's voice was suddenly icy cold- and Sakura sat back, eyes wide and breathless. This was a Touya she had never seen before.

"In fact, it might have been better for you had you never seen me again," he murmured, picking his tea cup back up to sip from it.

"How can you say that?!" Sakura yelled, hands shaking. "We loved you, Touya! We have a second chance now!" Her eyes turned pleading. "We won't get involved in whatever it is that you are doing. We can be siblings again- a family again. I've missed you. I've even missed being called a kaijuu. Yukito still talks about you all the time!"

Across the room, Yukito winced and rubbed the palm of his left hand, through the white fingerless gloves he wore.

Touya smiled at her.

"Maybe we can. However- you need rest, little monster."

Sakura pouted. "I've waited this long," she muttered, crossing her arms. "I guess I can wait a little longer."

Touya laughed. "I'll drive you home-"

"We're staying at my apartment," Yukito cut in. "Not at your father's."

Touya's eyebrows went up.

"Alright- you can give me directions."

Yukito didn't say another word- he merely walked over to Sakura, and picked her up. He obviously wasn't going to give Touya the satisfaction of carrying his sister. Touya saw this, covered his heart and said "Touche," before lifting Tomoyo from her perch on the desk.

They followed Touya out to a small van- with a black cat on the back.

"Sakurazuka?" Tomoyo asked, looking at the name on it.

"My grandmother's maiden name," he answered absently, settling her down in the back.

Yukito stiffened, just then noticing the name. There was something wrong with it- and Yue felt uneasy.

"I didn't know that," Sakura sighed, about to fall asleep as she was also settled in.

"There are a lot of things you don't know, imouto-chan," Touya commented, again absently, before getting into the driver's seat.

~*~*~*~*~

The trip to Yukito's small apartment was quiet and uneventful. The girls and Kero-chan had fallen asleep, exhausted after the night's adventures.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Touya looked over to the passenger side of the car- to find Yue looking back at him. He blinked.

"For saving my life. I never told you when you were awake, and it always bothered me that I had never gotten the chance," the beautiful Guardian looked away, his cheeks faintly pink.

"Is that what kept you so quiet this evening?" Touya sounded amused.

Yue nodded, and looked back at him as they pulled into the parking garage. Touya's face was in shadow.

"Can Yukito and I see you again?" he softly asked, unsure of himself.

"I'd like that."

To be continued.

* Sakura kaijuu janai yo= Sakura is not a monster!

A/N: Thank you Tam Chronin, my friends Gogo and Chi, and everyone who looked at this while I was writing it.