Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Card Captor Sakura - Altered World ❯ Sakura and the Mysterious Transfer Student ( Chapter 26 )

Notes: This fanfic is S+S, and has mature concepts. Read at your own risk. I'm poor; don't sue. I don't own CCS at all.

Cerberus watched the setting sun from Sakura's window. The sky was a mesh of orange and yellow with the bright shimmering sun.

Cerberus commented in his still present Osaka accent, "Summer is almost over…"

A figure silhouetted by the setting sun materialized over the arch of the Tsukimine Shrine. The figure in a large brimmed hat and cape, landed swiftly with his sun shaped staff held in one hand.

Sakura was bent over her desk, doing some kind of writing.

Cerberus spoke, "Hey Sakura."

Sakura paused from her work. "What is it?"

"Is it okay that we have so much free time now?" wondered Cerberus as he reminisced their past year and a half of card capturing.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sakura, glad that her life was back in order again, "Because of that, we had lots of time to have fun, right?"

"Yeah, but…" agreed Cerberus uneasily. He paused and then looked over Sakura's shoulder. "Huh? What are you doing?"

"I got a letter from Mizuki-sensei, so I'm writing back to her," answered Sakura, as she continued her writing.

"That onee-chan went overseas to teach, didn't she? Is she doing well?" asked Cerberus, grateful to the shrine priestess for her intervention in the Final Judgment.

"Yeah, she adjusted quite quickly and she's looking forward to teach," replied Sakura cheerfully.

A silhouette of a large panther with butterfly wings sprinted up a sloped roof and leapt off it.

Cerberus settled on Sakura's bed with a slice of watermelon held in his hands. "But thanks to her, you've finally become Mistress of the Clow Cards. I'm really glad about that."

"Why?" asked Sakura, placing her watermelon slice back onto the dish on her lap.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sakura blinked. "If that kozou became Master, I would have lost all my confidence to live."

"Don't say that," lightly scolded Sakura, "Li-kun worked hard at it too!"

Cerberus chomped on the watermelon. In a muffled voice he asked, "By the way, what's he going to do? Has he gone back to Hong Kong yet?"

Sakura's expression fell. "Not yet. But he said that he'll go back to Hong Kong soon."

Somehow my heart hurts a little bit…

"Ohhh," drawled Cerberus wonderingly.

On the roof, a person with black butterfly wings, decorated by polygons of pink at the edges, materialized. Long red hair was done in buns at the sides. The person stood, straightening his or her long white, red and black, gown.

Cerberus lay lazily on Sakura's bed. "With this much free time every day, it's getting boring!"

Sakura opened the flap of her book bag. She turned to Cerberus. "I don't have any free time because I'm going to school tomorrow..." She looked in her bag and froze.

Cerberus raised his head. "Hey, what's the matter?"

Sakura clapped her hands on her cheek. "HOOOOEEEE! I left all the summer vacation homework untouched in my book bag!"

Cerberus sprang up. "What!?"

A man in long robes, with a sun shaped staff approached the Kinomoto household. The man that appeared at the Tsukimine shrine not long ago.

Sakura knelt her swivel chair, holding multiple notebooks in her hands. She spoke hurriedly, "Have to finish math exercises, English essay, Japanese literature, independent study, and… and…" Sakura faltered.

"Can you finish them all in one night?" asked Cerberus.

Sakura leaned forward. "Aaah… It'll all work out! It'll definitely be alright!"

Sakura cried out as she leaned too far, losing her balance and falling face forward on the ground.

"This is not good…" remarked Cerberus as he watched his fallen mistress.

Voices were heard from Sakura's window as the black and blue-cloaked man stood in front.

"Kero-chan, help me!" begged a female voice.

"I helped you last year, and you got mad at me!" said a childish voice with annoyance.

"Yeah, but now… Oh yeah! I'm on duty tomorrow too! Hoe! I have to get up early tomorrow!"

"You'll be fine. I'm sure you'll get it all done!"

The man tilted face upwards, revealing his face from under his hat. He was a rather handsome man with dark navy hair and eyes of dull purple. Thin wire framed glasses perched on his nose. The man smiled.

Sakura grabbed her book bag and ran down the stairs: a morning ritual. As she ran down the stairs she met her brother lifting a laundry basket.

"Good morning monster, did you finish your summer homework?" asked Touya. Sakura ran past him. "I finished it all and I'm not a monster!"

Touya grinned slightly.

She ran to a shelf by the kitchen table and greeted a picture of a woman with long wavy grey hair, "Good morning, okaa-san!"

Sakura took big bites of her toast quickly and struggled to swallow her breakfast.

"Are you okay, Sakura-san?" asked her father as he approached with a pitcher of orange juice and a glass.

Sakura gulped the glass of juice, relieving her throat. She greeted her father cheerfully, "Ohayou, otou-san!"

"Good morning, did you finish your homework? And are you okay from staying up last night?"

"Yes, I just finished it and I feel fine!" answered Sakura, though slightly less energetic than usual.

"But how come you're up so early? It's only the opening assembly today," wondered Fujitaka.

"I'm on duty today," replied Sakura.

"I see. From today on is the second semester of your second year in high school. Good luck, okay?" said a smiling Fujitaka.

"Right!"

"I'm going!" shouted Sakura in front of the house and then began to skate to school.

Cerberus groaned from his place by Sakura's window. He was hugging a pencil to his body and papers were strewn around him.

"Oh, I hate math already…" complained Cerberus as Sakura had yet again pushed him to do her math homework all night.

Sakura skated past a familiar corner of her route to school. As she propelled her legs forward, she wondered, "Come to think of it, who's on duty with me today?"

Ahead, a familiar figure walked out of the rows of cherry trees. He yawned and then turned his head towards Sakura with a smile.

"Yukito-san!" cried Sakura as she halted in front of him.

"Sakura-chan," he greeted, holding bags of bread in both of his hands.

"Good morning," Sakura said, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Good morning. Oh, you're really early today," remarked Yukito.

"I'm on duty, so…" said Sakura shyly. She brightened and then commented, "But, but you're so early too!"

"I got up early to buy breakfast." He smiled. "Because lately, no matter how much I eat, I feel hungry still…" He raised his bags and then examined them. "Maybe I bought too much…"

Sakura protested, "No… no at all! To be able to eat a lot is…"

Yukito finished the phrase for her, "It's the proof of good health, right?"

Sakura smiled brightly and nodded.

"I think have to go now," said Sakura, turning her wrist so she could see the arms of the Seiko watch Yukito gave her. She had tried to return it before but Yukito revealed that Touya had secretly paid a portion of it but didn't want to let her know. Her brother was so funny at times. But she didn't understand why would he help pay for a second gift when he already sent her one for her birthday.

"Ah, you're still wearing the watch. I'm glad. I'll see you later," said Yukito, bidding her goodbye.

Yukito watched Sakura skate away with a smile. He recalled his conversation with Touya.

"I really would like to buy something for Sakura-chan for her seventeenth birthday," said Yukito as the passed many shops in the Ginza District of Tokyo.

"Hmm… that watch will suit her," said Touya pointing to a display.

"That Seiko watch? It's really nice but it's a bit out of my budget…" remarked Yukito.

Touya sighed and pulled out his wallet. "Sakura is always late and this will probably make her less tardy."

Yukito laughed and commented, "To-ya is such a nice big brother!"

"Shut up, Yuki!"

Sakura waved goodbye to Yukito and twisted around.

She began to skate peacefully to school, happy with her encounter with her most important person.

Yukito-san is the false form of Yue-san…

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura turned around and caught a piece of candy that Yukito threw to her. Just like when I was younger… He waved goodbye and Sakura turned around with a wide smile. But, but, but Yukito-san is Yukito-san after all!

Sakura slid open the door to her home form and greeted, "Good morning! But no one is here yet anyway."

Sakura closed the door and began to sing cheerfully with her eyes closed, "On duty, on duty, on-du-ty. I even managed to somehow finish summer break homework."

Syaoran paused as he erased the blackboard. He turned around to look at her and then turned back to the black board, unsure of what to do. She'll be embarrassed when she finds out… I better warn her sooner.

"Writing the class journal…" Syaoran cleared his throat. "Changing the flowers, let's make everyone's desk shine!" Sakura sang, placing her book bag on desk.

"On duty, on duty, my…" Syaoran cleared his throat louder.

Sakura opened her eyes to see Syaoran hastily erasing the board. Her ears burned, and she greeted timidly, "Good morning, Li-kun."

Syaoran turned his head sideways and greeted, "Good morning."

"So you heard me…" she asked hesitantly.

Syaoran nodded solemnly.

I see… I'm on duty with Li-kun today…

"Because all the Clow Cards were captured before the summer break, we haven't seen each other for a while, you know?" commented Sakura as they walked down the halls. She had forgotten her initial embarrassment of her little chant in the morning.

"Yeah," answered Syaoran monotonously.

"How was your summer? Did you go anywhere?"

"No," replied Syaoran apathetically. "What about the beach?" Sakura tried again in an attempt for conversation. It was so difficult to engage Li-kun in conversation. In that vision before, Li-kun looked so kind almost like a different person. But in truth, Li-kun had hid his kindness so well that if you did not spend prolonged times with him, you would think he was very cold. She did not know it yet, but a part of her yearned for Syaoran to look at her with those eyes… She had no clear understanding of her vision during the Final Judgement but it bothered her deeply.

"Didn't go," said Syaoran, his tone of voice not changing.

Sakura's expression fell. "So you're really going back to Hong Kong?"

"Yeah. Since the Clow Cards already have a new Mistress, I have to explain to Mother," said Syaoran as he grimaced slightly.

"I see..." said Sakura, halting to a stop. Syaoran turned around and looked at her vacant expression.

He turned around quickly and said with a hint of embarrassment, "It's not like if we'll never see each other again."

Sakura raised her head in surprise. "Tha-that's right. I'm glad," she said with a smile.

Sakura examined the fresh flowers that she placed at the back of the classroom. Tomoyo approached her and greeted, "Good morning."

Sakura smiled and replied, "Good morning, Tomoyo-chan!"

Tomoyo looked at her sadly then looked downwards with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" asked Sakura worriedly.

Tomoyo raised a hand dramatically to her cheek. "Lately there has been not much occasions for you to wear my especially made costumes." Tomoyo raised her head. "I still have many, many, many costumes that I would like you to wear," finished Tomoyo, clasping her hands together.

Sakura sweatdropped and sagged.

"And then to film you in those costumes…" babbled Tomoyo, clasping her cheeks. Tomoyo's eyes shone. "It would have been so wonderful!"

"T-Tomoyo-chan…" said Sakura in a small voice, waving her hand in an action to calm her videotaping obsessed friend down.

"So great!" continued Tomoyo in bliss.

"Good morning!" greeted three voices in sync from behind them.

"Good morning," greeted Sakura, turning around to see Naoko, Chiharu and Rika.

"Good morning," greeted Tomoyo politely.

"Thanks for the letter you sent me, did you get my reply?" asked Chiharu.

"Yeah, I got everyone's reply already," said Sakura with a smile. "Oh, and Mizuki-sensei wrote me one too."

"She replied to you too," replied Naoko with a smile.

"Everyone to their seats," called their new teacher, Tanaka, a young and very kind male teacher. "I would like to introduce a new student."

The classroom erupted in gossip. Murmurs were whispered around the classroom as they wondered where the new student had come from, and whether he was handsome, or she was cute. Not many new students came to Seijou High, it was composed of more familiar faces from elementary school or juniour high.

Sakura turned her head and smiled at Syaoran. "It's just like when you came in!"

"Come in," called Tanaka.

A young man with navy blue hair and eye's of dull purple arrived in the classroom. His hair was split in the middle and his skin was pale. His eyes were larger than a Japanese's man's but had a slightly Asian look to it. It was obvious his parents were from different origins. Those eyes were framed by thin glasses. His frame was slim which added to the pale skin to make his appearance look fragile. Various sounds of "kyaa!" and "kawaii" were heard from the pretty boy's rapidly growing fangirl's base. The male population sounded disgruntled.

Syaoran lowered his head and propped it up by an elbow. At least he wouldn't be the "Wonderfully Gorgeous and Mysterious Foreigner" anymore. Deep in the recesses of his mind though, part of him was slightly annoyed that those girls who had proclaimed to be in love with him had suddenly fell for a new transfer student. Women were so fickle.

Sakura watched the new transfer student with curious eyes. He seems kind…

The transfer student swerved his head towards her. Sakura gasped slightly as the student stared into her eyes. Syaoran's eyes narrowed as he glowered.

"His name is Hiragizawa Eriol and he has come from England," said Tanaka when he finished writing Eriol's name on the blackboard.

"I am Hiiragizawa Eriol, nice to meet you," said Eriol with a slight bow.

The majority of the female population giggled, spouted typical phrases (kakkoii and such), and looked at him with dazed eyes.

"Hmm…" wondered Tanaka as he scanned across the classroom, "There is a vacant spot beside Li."

Syaoran gave Eriol his full-blown glare, which simply slid of him, as he appeared to be not the least affected by it.

Eriol walked to his new desk and stopped when he neared Sakura. He smiled and greeted, "Hello."

Sakura stared at him as a strange feeling passed over her. What is this? Did I meet him… somewhere before?

Syaoran's eyes alternated between the two. What the hell did pretty boy think he was?

Tomoyo watched the scene with curious eyes.

Sakura ceased her writing and paused in thought, "For some reason, I feel like this is not the first time we met."

"Same here," said a male voice.

Sakura raised her head to see Eriol resting his arm on the tree that she was leaning against. She sweatdropped.

"Hiiragizawa-kun!" cried Sakura as she scampered away.

Eriol ran towards her and asked concernedly, "Did I scare you?"

Sakura shook her head and said, "No, it's just that I was a little surprised."

Eriol relaxed and smiled, "I'm glad. May I sit next to you?"

Sakura nodded.

Eriol sat beside her on the grass, silent.

Sakura turned towards Eriol and studied his face. She quickly turned away, realising that she was staring.

Eriol spoke, "Somehow I also feel that this is not the first time we have met."

Sakura smiled and commented, "It's strange, isn't it?"

Eriol paused in thought and said, "We might have met before."

Sakura looked at him in confusion. He turned towards her and said, "Maybe we have met before in our previous lives."

Eriol stood and asked, "Do you mind if I ask your name?"

"M-my name is Kinomoto Sakura," answered Sakura nervously.

Eriol smiled and said eloquently, "The name of a beautiful flower that blooms in spring. May I call you Sakura-san?"

Sakura flushed and said, "O-okay, Hiiragizawa-kun."

Eriol bent down slightly and extended a hand, "Please call me Eriol, Sakura-san."

Sakura smiled gratefully and accepted his offer to help her up.

Syaoran's head appeared behind the corner of the school with a glare and Tomoyo appeared after him, camera in hand.

Syaoran's veins popped. Argh! Pretty boy was putting moves on her!

Tomoyo giggled and said, "It's like a promising scene in a shoujo manga! Keeping an eye on Sakura like that…"

Syaoran lost his temper and stomped over to pretty boy and that girl.

"Tomoyo-chan, Li-kun!" greeted Sakura happily.

Syaoran approached Eriol and gave him a level stare.

Tomoyo spoke to Sakura, "We better hurry to class. We have a ten minutes before it starts."

"Eriol-kun, do you want to come back with us to the classroom?" asked Sakura.Syaoran's eyes narrowed. ERIOL-KUN!?! What the hell! I've known her for more than a year and she's still calling me by my last name! Bastard! Syaoran gave him a sullen glare, feeling his disgust and contempt for the new transfer student amount within him, and Eriol simply smiled back at him, not the least dissuaded by Syaoran's glares.

"Oh my! Oh my!" exclaimed Tomoyo, clasping her hands to her cheeks.

"What is it?" asked Sakura innocently.

Syaoran stomped on the way home as Sakura and Tomoyo walked behind him. This was no good. Every time he glared at pretty boy, he would just give that unfaltering smile back. It was so frustrating. Everyone flinched, (except for a certain stuffed animal and overprotective brother) and pretty boy acted like it was nothing! That bastard!

"Li-kun, are you okay?" asked Sakura, making Syaoran turn around. "You've been making weird faces all day."

Tomoyo replied for him, "It's because Li-kun has found something new to worry about, right?"

Damn, camera girl noticed! Syaoran's faced burned and spouted, "What? Tha-tha-that's not it!"

Sakura looked at him concernedly, "If I… If there's anything I can do, let me know. You helped me so much when we were gathering the Clow Cards. This time I want to be of help to you."Syaoran looked at her in shock, his mouth gaping open. His mind began to work furiously. What do I want? The cards… no, they are yours. What I want is y… What the hell?! Blood rushed to his face, and he became all too aware that he did not need to compete with her for the cards anymore.

"But you're going back to Hong Kong soon," said Sakura softly.

With a grim expression, Syaoran said, "I'm not going back."

"HOE!"

He looked quickly away, "At least not for the mean time."

"Really!" exclaimed Sakura as she skated in front of him. "I see now! That's great!" Sakura smiled wholeheartedly at him. "I'm so happy!"

Syaoran stared at her with his face slack. He did not notice that his face was burning and the rapid pounding of his heart.

Sakura noticed an ice cream truck and turned, "Ah, look there's some ice cream. I'll go buy some!"

Syaoran reached for his wallet.

"That's okay! It's my treat! Wait for me!" called Sakura as she skated away.

Tomoyo leaned towards him conspiratorily and smiled. "Because a new rival has appeared, if you went back to Hong Kong, it would be like giving her up, right?"

Syaoran clenched his fist and proclaimed, "I SAID THAT'S NOT IT!"

Tomoyo giggled.

"I got them!" cried Sakura as she skated towards him with orange creamsicles. She passed the ice cream around, and was about to take a bite of her own, but it was plucked out of her hand.

She looked up to see her brother sucking on the popsicle like a zombie. Syaoran did his natural reaction towards the overprotective brother; he glared.

Yukito's head popped up from behind him. He scolded, "That's mean, Touya. Taking it like that."

Touya sweatdropped slightly and offered, "You want some too?"

Yukito shook his head, and he approached Sakura. "I'll get you a new one." "Th-thank you."

Touya glanced around the premise warily. Sighting nothing, he sagged and complained, "I'm tired."

"Why?" asked Sakura wonderingly.

"There's this new foreign exchange student in one of Yuki's classes that I visited," explained Touya as he pulled on the neckline of his shirt.

"We have an exchange student too in our class but why would one make you tired?" asked Sakura with confusion.

"Touya-san! I was looking for you!" yelled a brown haired girl cheerfully as she latched onto Touya's shoulders. Her bangs were cut above her brown eyes and framed her face at the sides. The rest of her hair was long and rested above her hips. There was one long braid that hanged from the right side of her head. Touya made an attempt to shake her off… and failed. The girl noticed Yukito standing beside Touya and gave him a triumphant smirk. Yukito blinked and then smiled without menace at her.

She noticed Sakura, like a hawk looking for prey. "Ah, you must be Touya-san's little sister?"

"Yes. I'm Kinomoto Sakura," replied Sakura politely.

"I'm your senpai, Nakuru. Akizuki Nakuru," introduced the cheerful girl.

Nakuru leaped off Touya, in a spur of a moment, and landed in front of Sakura gracefully. Syaoran gaped slightly. Reminds me of my sisters… no… worse than my sisters… Nakuru edged closer to Sakura as Sakura edged back respectively. Nakuru examined her for a moment and then grabbed Sakura by the cheeks. She rubbed her face against Sakura's and said, "I'm telling you! You're so cute!"

"Hey! Don't be such a-" yelled Touya with annoyance before Nakuru popped beside him and plucked the popsicle from his hand.

She ran off with the Popsicle and paused, turning around and waving. "Come and visit the school again tomorrow, Touya-san!"

"Ice cream…" said Syaoran in a state of shock.

"She took it," said Tomoyo numbly.

"Is something wrong?" asked Yukito when he noticed Touya's grim expression as he stared ahead at the fleeing schoolgirl.

"Nothing," said Touya softly.

"Thanks for the ice cream!" yelled Nakuru, as she waved rapidly, one arm and legs wrapped around a lamppost.

A pretty person, wondered Sakura, but our exchange students are not the least alike…

Several dark grey clouds began to hover around above them and water splattered on the pavement of the road. The patter of the water increase as the rain became heavier.

"Oh, it's raining…" said Sakura, as her uniform became darker due to the water, that rained from the sky steadily.

Touya shouted in sudden realisation, "Oh crap, the laundry!"

After rushing home, helping her brother rewash the laundry and putting it through the dryer, Sakura sat in her room with the guardian beast, folding the laundry. Her brother had gone on one his famous part times, which from when she was younger, she would encounter him strangely enough on a regular basis. Her brother had worked everywhere, to support himself through university to ease the family's budget. It would not be long when she herself would graduate, though she was undecided of what her future plans were to be.

"So, an exchange student?" asked Cerberus as he helped Sakura fold a t-shirt.

"There's another one in one of Yukito-san's classes," said Sakura, placing a neatly folded t-shirt in a pile.

"Your transfer student, he's from overseas, right? What's he's like?" wondered Cerberus.

"His name is Hiiragizawa Eriol." Sakura picked up one of her father's shirts and thought aloud, "Eriol-kun looks a little like dad…"

The steady patter of rain was heard as it collided onto Sakura's window. Sakura and Cerberus approached the window and looked through, or attempted to look through it, as the water steadily sloping down the window made it almost impossible to see clearly.

"It still hasn't stopped," commented Sakura, wondering if her father could drive through the unpredictable weather.

"What weird rain," remarked Cerberus, noting that it had not lightened ever since it began to heavily pour.

"This strange rain has been only falling in Tomoeda," reported the female newscaster, "In the districts around Tomoeda there is no indication of rain. Officials have no explanation for this weird phenomena."

"That is no rain," said Cerberus softly as Sakura turned to him in surprise.

Suddenly, a stream of light began to emit from Sakura's top drawer.

Cerberus and Sakura looked confusedly at each other for a moment and then exclaimed, "The book of Clow Cards!"

Sakura slowly opened the drawer of her book and from with in only saw a shimmering bright light. The light flashed over them, and Cerberus exclaimed, "What!" before the light became blindingly bright.

After a moment of thought, Sakura picked up the long untouched Clow Book, lying at the bottom of her first shelf. She looked up and noticed that her room had gone in a state of inertia, like if Time had been cast, except that it was covered with the faint presence of the sky, complete with the twinkling of the stars, the source of Sakura's power.

"Kero-chan?" called Sakura confusedly, examining her surroundings.

The book held in her hands began to glow. Sakura looked down at it wonderingly. An echoing deep male voice spoke from within the book, "I might be troubling you from now on, if that is so, please remember that 'everything will be definitely alright."

"This voice… this voice is Clow-san's," realised Sakura, as the light illuminating the book became so strong that it passed over her yet again.

Cerberus snapped back to consciousness. "Sakura…"

"Kero-chan, Clow-san's voice just came from the book…" said Sakura, raising the book held in her hands.

"Clow's voice," questioned Cerberus. They both looked at down at the book in surprise. "What?!"

The cover of the previous Clow book had turned into the colour of pink. Underneath the title of the book, was a gold five-pointed star, with a deep pink star underneath, making it look like a ten-pointed star. From the star, a pair of white wings extended. A banner of red rimmed with gold, with many gold stars hung underneath the winged emblem. The book was clasped together by a golden chain with the golden symbol of the sun as the lock, Cerberus's magnificent true form no longer displayed on the cover. On each side of the clasp, the miniature symbol of the sun and moon were drawn on the cover.

Cerberus read the title of the book, incredulously, "S-A-K-U-R-A?"

"My name! What does this mean?" wondered Sakura confusedly.

Hiiragizawa Eriol smiled in the darkness.

Sakura looked up from the book. "Kero-chan, did you sense what I did just now?"

"Yeah, I sensed it too," answered Cerberus uneasily. He looked towards the window, "It may do with the freak weather we have been having lately…"

Sakura smiled uneasily as she was under Tomoyo's camera once again. She was dressed in a blue and yellow cloak, a yellow and orange one piece which contained the usually puffy shorts and long pale yellow boots that reached above her knees.

"So why this?" said Sakura uncertainly as she was yet again made to model Tomoyo's creative and unusual designs.

"Mysterious rain in Tomoeda! This is also Card Captor's call, right?" answered Tomoyo as she skittered around Sakura. Tomoyo smiled gleefully and placed a hand on her cheek. "My, it has been such a long time since I last filmed you!"

Sakura looked to the side to see Cerberus staring off to a distance. "Kero-chan?"

"Be careful Sakura, I sense a very powerful aura."

There was a small flash of light as electricity was discharged from the heavens.

"But all the Clow Cards have been gathered," said Sakura.

"Ah…" replied Cerberus softly.

Hiiragizawa Eriol, in a black and blue robe decorated by a golden symbol of the sun, stood nearby, hidden by the shadows. The clouds began to swirl into a hurricane, high in the sky.

"What is this?" said Cerberus as the three backed together. The clouds grew heavier and formed more solidly. A spout of water dove down from the centre of the hurricane, towards Sakura. Sakura dodged to the side as Tomoyo took a step backwards, falling to the ground. Sakura pivoted around at Tomoyo's cry. After a moment of contemplation, she ordered, "Kero-chan, I'll leave Tomoyo-chan to you!"

"Okay!" agreed Cerberus, flying towards the fallen girl with his wings extending. After the wings covered his body, the full-grown Beast of the Seal emerged. Cerberus dove towards Tomoyo, and used his wings to shield her from the blast of water headed towards them.

"Sakura," called Cerberus, informing his mistress that he had accomplished his task.

Sakura fled from the heavy stream of water than seemed intent on chasing her. She glanced backwards to see that the water had narrowed the distance. Sakura slowed, waiting for the water to approach her and then rolled to the side, letting the water crash into the pavement.

"Sakura, don't just run and avoid it, use magic!" commanded Cerberus, not pleased with his mistress's poor performance. Sakura nodded and pulled the key from under her shirt.

"O Key which hides the forces of darkness, reveal thy true form before me," chanted Sakura, extending her gloved hand which held the Sealing Key, "I, Sakura, command thee under contract. Release!" The was no reaction from the wand. Sakura's eyes widened, and she cried out persistently, in hope that something would happen," Release! Release! Release!"

Cerberus watched his mistress called for the wand in desperation, futilely. "Release! Release! Release!"

Tomoyo lowered her camera as Sakura began to falter. "Release! Release..."

Sakura closed her hand around the key, and brought it close to her heart. "Why..."

"Watch out!" cried Tomoyo as another blast of water speed towards Sakura. Cerberus dove towards Sakura, scooping her up to barely avoid the attack.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" asked Cerberus, when he and Sakura were settled on the group.

"Kero-chan, the Key..." said Sakura in dismay.

Cerberus nodded solemnly and looked upwards to the sky, the clouds swirling violently. This aura... Impossible. It can't be. But...

"Sakura-chan! Are you okay?" asked Tomoyo as she ran towards the two.Sakura nodded as an answer.

Cerberus broke the reunion between the girls, "Sakura, invite the snow rabbit over tomorrow."

"Yukito-san?" wondered Sakura confusedly.

"Why Tsukishiro-san?" questioned Tomoyo.

"Yue is the one I need to talk to," stated Cerberus grimly.

"Yue..." said Sakura softly.

Cerberus continued to explain, "I want to check with him on something. Why doesn't the new Key turn into a wand? And also..." Cerberus softened his voice. "...this aura."

A distance away, Eriol stood on top of a lamppost, watching Sakura's retreat, the rain falling around him…

Author's Notes: Page: sleepdeprived.cjb.net
Sorry for taking so long (I realise it's been more than a month) The hwk load of OAC is totally nuts and I was sick for a week.
The Ginza District is a major shopping area in Tokyo.
I have learned that Japan's university holiday is longer than a high school's. To see look here http://www.kyoto-su.ac.jp/~trobb/terms2.html.
Syaoran usually nicknames people, therefore I've given Eriol, "pretty boy." "Glasses boy" would have been more Syaoran-like, but "pretty boy" is more fun! ^_^
Nakuru addresses Touya by -san instead of -kun because Touya is her "elder" in this fic.
Mana~chan!!! One of my first reviewers! I haven't seen you in ages! *Waves* Ah, fluff, when I'm happy I write it, anyway, reading some new shoujo manga has affected me. Besides, Sakura arc is so fluffy! -_- And Care, Syaoran is Sakura's. =P I just wor- *ahem* appreciate from afar.
J. D. virgo, it's alright. I have the Sakura Arc, the Second movie, and the manga already. It's just that my memory fazes out that I can't remember the episode clearly. Besides, after re-watching the episodes, I write better fight scenes. (-_-'Okay, people who can't pay for support services on ffnet and want to know about updates, send an email to me (or write a review (though I prefer email since I don't get review updates anymore) and please put down your email, I don't want to search around a dozen author profiles!), and I'll inform you of updates myself. kinomoto--sakura@home.com Don't be shy, it's no problem at all!
I took the promised Syaoran screenshots from the third opening and I even made an animated gif and matching background out of it. (I told you I'm a big fan of the guy!) Though my favourite scene of him is in the second movie when he attacks the Void. I have hit the 100 000 word mark and 200 reviews on ffnet! Hmm… this calls for a celebration! But I warned you… the cast party is random insanity… Be sure to read the whole disclaimer!