Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction / Tokyo Babylon Fan Fiction ❯ The Bet ❯ The past looks back ( Chapter 7 )

The Bet:

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura and Tokyo Babylon/X do not belong to me and I make no money from this work of fanfiction at all. All characters belong to CLAMP except for Jou and I forget who owns him, but its not me, either. Oh, yeah, and I forget who owns Weiss Kreuz. Not me either.

Yukito yawned, running his fingers through his ashes and snow hair, swaying a little as he walked to the subway. It had been a long night at the library and afterwards, he'd decided to study with Touya for his finals.

It was now eight months since he had found his- that To-ya was alive. In that time, he had awkwardly tried to feel his way back to the relationship they had once shared. Yet he had come to the realization that it was not going to happen. It was painful, that. He and To-ya had once been so close... He ducked his head and closed his eyes painfully. So much in love.

Then Touya had left.

Yukito and Yue had been lost and confused when he'd re-entered their lives. He wasn't, yet he was, the same man. Trying to reconnect the way they had was a lost cause. So he'd done the only thing they could- they started anew.

In some ways Sakurazuka Touya was much the same as Kinomoto Touya, but the differences were painful. He was so much older now- not just age wise- actually, he was almost in the same physical condition he'd been when they'd parted. His attitude, his soul was so old. Yue was ancient in comparison but he didn't have this world wise... callousness... to him.

Sighing, Yukito took his seat on the subway- it was nearly empty this time of night. The human form of Yue didn't notice until he heard a loud thump to the side-

And a woman was sliding down the other side of the door in the neighboring compartment, blood streaking the glass as she fell. Yukito could do nothing but sit there in shock-

-seeing Kaho instead of this nameless woman-

Yue shed Yukito's form in that instant, trying to get past his false form's paralysis, and he started to rattle on the door, and growled, cracking through it with his ice shards-

But the woman's assailant had run away, leaving her staring at him eternally. Her eyes, full of terror... would eternally beg for him to save her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yue was grateful that he had been wearing some of Tomoyo's clothing selections that evening. He couldn't make Yukito deal with this situation- his other self was shivering at the flashback he'd had- and couldn't exactly remember what the flashback had been about.

Therefore, he was standing with the policeman, his eyes covered by his hair, as he was questioned about what he had seen.

"Yes, yes," he answered the detective's questions testily. "I just witnessed a murder- I broke down the door trying to get to her, I wish I could have saved her but-"

Even Yue's calm could not hold in the face of the memory of those begging eyes. He hunched his shoulders, trying to hide behind his hair.

"But we couldn't," he whispered, speaking with Yukito. "We couldn't..."

He lifted his chin up enough to see the detective again. "I couldn't save her. By the time I had noticed something was happening he'd stabbed her and there was blood... blood was everywhere."

Even though Yue was a warrior and a Guardian, and had seen many things in the course of protecting his masters, he had little experience with random death. Random, thoughtless... No reason. When people had attempted to kill Clow, it had been out of jealousy or rage, or an attempt for power. Not like this.

He heard the police cataloguing the evidence. Nothing had been stolen. Her purse had been used as a weapon but her wallet was still inside.

Just... made... no... sense...

He was still dazed when he realized another person, dressed like a civilian had entered the subway car, removing a silk glove from her left hand. The moon guardian didn't say anything until she had placed a smooth palm on the crimson stained glass.

She froze, eyes wide and terrified-

"Are you all right?" Yue found himself asking, and felt that odd echo in his mind. The young woman blinked at him, shaking her head and nodded.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I had no idea what her powers were when we were escorted back to the police station to give our depositions," Yue said softly, as Touya handed him a steaming cup of tea. The paler than usual Guardian took the hot glazed porcelain without flinching even as his fingers turned bright red.

//"Have you seen things like this before?" the stoic young woman said softly, looking down at her folded and gloved hands. Yue had been sitting beside her in the police car as the rode to the station.

"Not like this." His pose mirrored hers in the eerie quiet of the car. The entire world was shut out in silence as rain turned any light coming through the windows into surreal stained glass. Yukito's thoughts whispered about the sky weeping. Yue jumped when cloth closed over cloth and he felt warmth from the other person's hands soak into his.

"All you can do is try to forget it," she murmured, although she might as well have shouted.

"I hope not- you're out only witness," the detective barked from the front seat.//

"Yue? Will you be all right?" Sakura asked, beside him on Touya's couch. Yue had called them from the police station both to avoid drawing attention to himself and... he needed them. While he would never admit it aloud, both he and Yukito needed their presence right then. Yue couldn't bring out his other side- the snow bunny was huddled inside them and crying still.

"I'll manage," he said in his usual unemotional tones. Everyone there knew it was an act.

"I thought she was a sorceress, perhaps..."

//"I don't know what you are," the young woman said quietly as they now waited outside the office of the police artist. "But, since she can't, thank you for trying to help that woman. You might not have saved her- but you at least tried..."

"..."

More silence for the next several moments after Yue's typical cross-armed response.

"What did you do back there?" Yukito's curiosity finally got the better of him.

"Do you know what post-cognition is?" she replied, and Yue nodded.//

"Post cognition?" Sakura frowned.

"You know what seeing the future is? Like what Clow could do? That's pre-cognition. The opposite is post-cognition, kaijuu."

KICK!

"SAKURA KAIJUU JANAI YO!"

//"You are a sorceress?" Yue asked. "I know of people using spells-"

"No- I use my fingers. I don't know about people using spells to see the past, but I am able to touch an object and feel the strong emotions that have been around it... and those emotions carry images of what happened."//

"That must be an uncomfortable gift," Touya commented after he'd nursed his beaten knee. Yue still wouldn't look at anyone, but when Touya took his hand, rubbing it gently, he shivered, and changed back into Yukito.

"After that," the snow bunny started to cry. "We were able to give our depositions."

//"Do you know what its like, to look into the face of someone who is being murdered?" the young woman had finally given her name, Mirei, a few moments before.

"I do now," Yue said softly.

"That's why you need to do your best to forget... I've seen it all too often. It never gets easier."//

"The lives of those with special abilities are usually tragic ones," Touya said under his breath, and Yukito leaned into him, crying harder.

//"Then why do you do it?" Yue almost demanded, raising his inhuman eyes to meet hers. She didn't gasp- after all, she had seen him in the past vision.

"I do it for them," she answered simply.

"For the families?" Yue backed away.

"For the victims. So that they won't be forgotten."//

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Thanks for dinner," Syaoran knelt at the low table in front of him, staring at the wreckage of a good meal. They were at Eriol's old house, both of them looking tired and harried.

Their searching had come to nothing- absolutely nothing.

Eriol had been surprised by how quiet the little wolf had been during dinner that night. He realized that while they both had a lot on their minds (The Promised Day and all) that they would have at least tried to mimic polite conversation.

"What's wrong?" He finally asked, offering his cute descendent some sake.

Li didn't answer immediately, but downed his little cup of rice wine.

"I've been called back to Hong Kong. Apparently, the End of Humanity isn't enough to keep me from my duties as Clan Head."

"They still make you work for them even after what happened with Meilin?" Eriol was just short of flabbergasted. Of course, he couldn't actually SHOW that, but...

"What is it about old men that make them think they order the universe?" Syaoran had poured another drink for himself and tossed it back quickly, his lips puckering at the wretched taste.

"You're talking to an old man who tried," and here Eriol smiled grimly. "Tried and almost succeeded. I agree with you- but if you need to go back, well, nothing short of the end of the world will stop you from returning. We know that, and they do too, though they might not admit it."

"I miss Japan when I'm gone," he said softly... and Eriol had no idea what was coming over him. He reached out and took one of Syaoran's hands.

"I'm sure... I'm sure- everyone- misses you too."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Did you have fun playing?" said a bored Brad as he read his paper in the living room.

The door opened a moment later, and a blood covered, blond man entered, grinning manically.

"I hurt God tonight."

"I'm glad you had fun."

"An angel tried to stop me..."

"Oh?"

"I had to flee because I was not strong enough at that moment to fight him... But I will lie in wait, and destroy God's servant. The End of All is approaching and I must act quickly if I am to finally get my revenge..."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"How many do you think this guy has killed?" Sakura asked her brother, after she cast Sleep on Yukito. The card might have usually been under Yue's protection, but it had wanted to help its friend more, and Sakura used Dream to make sure the worst things that crossed his mind that night were running out of pastries.

"The only person who could really tell would be this Mirei person," Touya's eyes were hidden behind the gleam of his glasses. "And only then if she were to go to every single crime scene in the city. You'd want to ask the police if he has a specific MO..."

"Onnichan... where did you learn so much about the police?" Sakura stopped, wide eyed. "And about serial killers?"

"I have seen several American TV programs about them," he smiled charmingly. "That might have been it."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

//Eriol stared at the cross in front of him.

He had seen it all before.

He would see it again.

And again.

And again.

As his body was impaled with the Shin ken. As the wires dismembered his body.

Watching as Sakura ran to grab his head and cradle it, tears running unimpeded down her cheeks, falling into his empty eyes, full of shock.

It seemed like he was the one crying...

Then Eriol would wake up- unable to see who that person was, only knowing he was powerless to stop it.//

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The police detective in charge of this chase shuddered at yet another gruesome murder on the subway- the fourth one. Only this time, there was a message. Written in blood, of course. This bastard had a taste for the macabre.

"Messenger of God, tell Him how I hate Him. Show Him how I hurt His children. Then tell me if He weeps," the detective read, slowly, his eyes tracing the red symbols.

"Does anyone have any idea what the HELL he's talking about?" he growled, rubbing his eyes. God... what kind of monster was this?

He had to call Mirei-san back- even though he would have preferred to spare her this horror. His gorge didn't want to stay down.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yue walked beside Mirei-san as they approached the subway station.

He had heard about this newest murder through Tomoyo's numerous sources, and didn't want the young woman to face this horror alone. He thought about asking Sakura and Touya to come with him... but he had to spare them this. Sakura was too gentle, and Touya had no experience with this kind of thing, despite his being an onmyouji.

They seemed to descend into darkness as they walked down the stairs to the underground tunnels of the subway, the lights of the walkway were either off or out.

It was only a matter of moments for them to get to the car the crime had been committed in. Different train, same car. The last one. Another young woman was stabbed, her blood sprayed like rain over the seats and door as she had tried to escape. Yue wanted to pop out is wings and wrap them around himself, but he didn't- not in public. He didn't want to accidentally start any new religions.

He watched Mirei kneel in the blood and the filth, and touched her arm, absently calling the Dream to show him what the post-cognitive saw. No one but the magically gifted would be able to see the Card's work- and Mirei was so busy he doubted she would notice as she invoked-

//He was pale, with one yellow eye and white hair and many, many pierced places. He was dressed in leather, wore an eye-patch... and he was grinning at the young woman in the car with him. Madness gleamed in his good eye.

"You are going to help me hurt God," he told the woman, before pulling her from her seat, and tossing her with jarring force into one of the windows. The insane man looked around, like he was waiting for something to happen.

"Where is he?" he blinked, confused. The stunned woman shook her head, getting enough sense back to try to run. Her killer didn't like this, grabbing her hair to drag her back. Again he looked around as he kept her in a sleeper hold, like he was expecting something to happen.

"Where is the Messenger of God? He is supposed to appear!"//

Yue fell back, dizzy, dismissing poor traumatized Dream with an apology.

Mirei was weeping as she pulled her hand back. "He's looking for you," she whispered, and Yue helped her stand. She refused to meet his eyes. "He killed her... so you would appear. He thinks you're an angel. This is his message to God- that he will keep killing women until God weeps."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sakura walked back to her apartment, head down, with her brother and Tomoyo by her side in the pouring rain. Yue had left a good twenty minutes ago to help that woman, Mirei. She was worried- this serial killer business was something she was not used to handling- had no experience with. Okay, there was Seto Kaiba, but he'd somehow wound up dead.

She very nearly passed by the building that had recently been torn down, but sighed when she noticed that it had been one she had been to years ago and had so quickly been destroyed.

Tap, tap, tap...

Tap, tap, tap...

Frowning, she poked her head through a hole in the fence, and blinked as a suited man was carefully hammering bits of concrete off some of the building rubble.

"Hello?" she said curiously, her mind off the strangeness of her night. "May I ask what you are doing?

"Mmmm? Hello? Oh, this?" he turned friendly brown eyes to Sakura's green ones. Tomoyo looked in as well, and her brother hovered over them protectively.

"I collect building scraps."

"How unusual," Tomoyo murmured. "I have never heard of people doing that."

"I know it's not like other hobbies," he shrugged modestly. "But I feel sorry for these old buildings, so full of history, then discarded when people are through with them. I have an apartment full of bits and pieces of buildings from all over the city."

"That's fascinating! I would like to learn more about it!" Tomoyo clasped her hands together. "We with odd hobbies must stick together! I bought a DELICIOUS cake for tonight-" she grabbed the hand Sakura held the cake box in. They had picked it up at an all night bakery on their way from dropping Yue off.

Sakura could only say "Hoe?" as they were dragged to this man's apartment. Sheepishly, he introduced himself as Miyataka,

They ventured to in, and Sakura nearly tripped over the mounds of boxed scraps.

"Its just a hobby, so they really aren't well organized," Miyataka blushed- he had obviously never had this much attention paid to his hobby before.

"This is amazing!" Sakura was suitably impressed, her eyes sweeping the tiny apartment. It was jammed with boxes, display cases and mounting boards.

"How can you tell what is what? Nothing is labeled!"

Miyataka smiled shyly. "I can tell by touching them." He used his teeth to tug off one of his gloves. "This one came from a scrap yard. This one, a hotel, a grand old one... This one came from a restaurant." He offered the box. Every little piece of concrete was in its own compartment. He pointed to one. "Can you tell what that is?"

It was a tiny piece of concrete, with something white sticking out of it.

"It looks like bone," Tomoyo said curiously.

"Its part of a human skull," Touya finally spoke. Everyone turned to him in surprise.

"You're right!" Miyataka was delighted. "Construction was fast and furious during the post war era, and safety standards were not well enforced."

"It could have been a murder," Touya shrugged.

"No, no, it was an accident."

"How can you tell?" Sakura was amazed, then her eyes widened. He had to be another post-cognitive!

"Like I said, by touching them."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"How do you do it, Mirei?" Yukito was sitting next to the beautiful psychic as they left the crime scene. No one had noticed that he had changed back to Yukito after they had seen such a vision. Yue... he had almost as much trouble with this as Yukito did.

"I had trouble at first, knowing I was different," she smiled faintly. "Then I discovered I wasn't alone."

Yukito raised his eyebrows, and she presented the small chunk of wire wrapped concrete she always wore. Biting the finger of one of her gloves, she tugged it off and placed her fingertips over the piece of rubble...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Farfarello," Bradley Crawford's voice was flat. It was a sure sign that he was mad about something.

The berserker just smiled. He had been out hurting God again, and if that Angel were too afraid to face him, he would find a way to flush him out.

"You are aware that you are bringing undue attention to yourself?"

He shrugged. The white haired man could care less so long as God felt pain.

"The police are trying to keep things under wraps, but the media has gotten hold of this. They didn't, however, get hold of one piece of crucial information yet- there is a psychic working this case."

The precog frowned. "She is a post-cognitive. She has given them your description, along with the only witness. We have a picture-" he stabbed one finger at a somewhat fuzzy photograph of the psychic Mirei and Yue standing beside her. "They have apparently made friends."

"The Angel!" Farfarello grabbed hold of the slick paper and held it up to his working eye. "She, who is a servant of God and he who is one of His Messengers..."

Crawford snatched it back. "I can see where you might be confused, but as you can see, they are both human, even if we haven't found any information on the young man."

"He is an Angel!" the demented man proclaimed.

"Whatever," Brad's irritation was growing by the second. "Just get rid of the only two witnesses."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night had gotten very late, and Mirei smiled at her 'mother' as they walked, arms linked, to the subway terminal, not realizing they were being watched.

It was nearly twelve.

"I will be leaving you now, Mirei," the elderly, elegant lady said softly, her tone full of love and regret. In front of her, the only child she had ever known, was clutching her hands, confused at her adopted mother's strange behavior.

"Remember- there is a perfect companion for everyone," she graced her child with a smile, even as she tried to say goodbye.

"Even more perfect than you?" Mirei blinked.

The elder said nothing as the subway car's doors closed in front of her, and the train started to move away.

"What are you talking about, mother- Mother? Mother!"

Their eyes met and locked, one last time, as the train sped away, and that was the last time Mirei saw her mother alive.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yue and Sakura went to their next meeting with Mirei, this time to find her kneeling in front of the skeleton of a house, touching a tiny purse half buried in the dirt. Silent tears ran down her face.

"This house was the scene of, what the official report says, is a suicide/murder. I never believed it," the detective spat, as he helped Mirei to her feet. Sakura and Yue followed them to his car. "There was a family living here- and the father was accused of embezzling. The two children came home to find their parents dead, and the daughter was so distraught she ran out into the street and was hit by an oncoming car. The son said it was deliberate- and I honestly believe him. The paper trail leading to Fujimiya was too easily followed. I can't do anything now, but," he looked away, and put his hands in his pockets, before opening his own door to climb in. "I just needed to know the truth."

Mirei sat in the passenger seat, while Sakura and Yue sat quietly in the back. The detective was giving the younger female some odd looks, like he couldn't possibly understand what she was doing there. The silence was finally shattered, when they heard a call on the police radio- one that they dreaded.

"There's been another murder! We're on our way!"

Sakura watched Mirei as they arrived at the station, curious as to how this woman could understand the past… Then her eyes were drawn to the circle of detectives, officers and forensic techs. Mirei was walking slowly towards them, clutching her hands, like she knew what was coming.

Someone mentioned a bag- and presented it- and Mirei gasped… and someone pulled the sheet off the face of the latest victim.

"Mother…"

To be continued.