Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Chaos Card Captor Sakura ❯ Close to Home ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4: Close to Home

 

Sakura's Room, early that evening

 

Still sitting face-up in her bed and unmoved from earlier that day, Sakura continues staring at the ceiling of her room.

 

“The feelings… they're all gone… almost… Something's there… Not a Kaos Card… but close to one…” Sakura mutters. She struggles to lift her body off the bed, but is still unable to move. “So weak… Kero-chan… Tomoyo-chan… Li-kun…”

 

*-*-*

 

The roof above Sakura's room

 

On the side of the roof opposite the main road, so as not to be seen, Damien sits ponderously on the shingles, staring into the sky as the sun begins to set over the horizon. His tail hangs over the edge of the roof, holding him in position, while his prehensile feet take hold of the gutter. He leans back, staring out with folded arms. “The days are getting shorter again. They got short right before the Master died too…” he thinks aloud, but speaking in a subtle whisper.

 

He holds up his clawed left hand, holding only two Kaos Cards, his enormous reptilian paw making them look tiny in comparison though. `I'm down to my last usable Kaos Card, and my candidate has been selected. I'm doing my part for the Master. If only I could be sure that Lycan was too. How dare he accuse me of betrayal. There wasn't a soul who believed more in the Master's work than me…' he thinks, directing his attention to the opposite end of the horizon, where the first stars of the night begin to glimmer. He sneers into the darkness, as if to scare it away with his scowl.

 

“I curse you forever, Clow Reed. You doom mankind to a blanket of darkness and death with your obstinacy. But little do you know that morning is merely around the corner, and life itself refuses to be denied…” he speaks at the dark horizon. Damien finally leans up and spreads his wings, hovering in the air, but leaving one Kaos Card from his palm behind, carefully nesting it in between a couple of the shingles.

 

“Rest tight for now, blighted one. Test the Little Wolf when he arrives…” he tells the card before disappearing in a quick burst of orange fire.

 

*-*-*

 

Out front of Sakura's house

 

A whitish-tan van pulls up to the driveway at Sakura's house, and Tomoyo and Syaoran step out the back. Syaoran grabs his backpack and throws it over his back, while Tomoyo grabs her duffel bag and a posing Kero, whom she perches over her shoulder.

 

“Whatever, Daidouji-san, but in my book, having six identical vans for `just in case' sounds really excessive and wasteful,” Syaoran tells Tomoyo, as if answering a statement she had previously made.

 

“It got us back here after the, uh… calamity with the last one, didn't it?” Tomoyo replies with a giggle. “Well now that we're here, I can give Sakura-chan the update about the third Kaos Card no longer being a problem, and you can tell her what's been on your mind,” she says to Syaoran.

 

Syaoran looks up at the yellow-walled house, particularly towards the walls where Sakura's room would be. He blushes as a certain thought crosses his mind. “Hey, what exactly are you implying by `what's on my mind' anyway?” he asks with a frantically defensive tone, only serving to exaggerate the redness in his face.

 

Tomoyo begins to pace up the driveway, approaching the door while looking back towards Syaoran. “That's all up to you, Li-kun,” she responds.

 

Syaoran shakes his head back and forth violently, causing the blushing to slowly fade away. With most of it dissipated, Syaoran jogs to keep up with Tomoyo, meeting her at the door.

 

Turning to Syaoran with another guilt-inspiring grin, Tomoyo pipes up again. “Well, are you going to ring the doorbell?” she asks.

 

Syaoran raises an eyebrow. “So first you're telling me how to handle a Kaos Card, but you won't even ring the doorbell yourself?” he asks coyly.

 

Kero flutters off of Tomoyo's shoulder and takes hold of Syaoran's hand. “C'mon, even a kozo like you can work a doorbell,” he begins, raising Syaoran's finger involuntarily towards the button before Syaoran can react. “All you have to do is push here!” he explains, forcing Syaoran to push the doorbell, still before Syaoran had the wherewithal to pull his hand out of Kero's grip.

 

With the dinging sound of the doorbell reverberating through the house, Syaoran's blush returns to his face with a bright red vengeance, causing him to freeze in place where he stands. “You doofus, I was gonna' ring the bell when I was good and ready!”

 

“Kero-chan, that was mean…” Tomoyo scolds, holding back a giggle with all her willpower.

 

“But it gets funnier every time,” Kero responds, but Syaoran swiftly grabs him out of the air.

 

“Want me to show you funny, Stuffed Animal?” Syaoran threatens.

 

Fujitaka opens the door to see Tomoyo and Syaoran at his doorstep. “Good evening to the both of you, Daidouji-san, Li-kun,” he says with a cheery tone.

 

Reflexively, Syaoran stares downwards and holds up Kero to Fujitaka. “Here! It's Saku- uh- Kino- uh- you-your daughter's- i-it's her stoned animal- I-I mean stuffed animal- Kerobero- uh- Kinomoto-sa- um, sir-” he stutters rapidly.

 

Avoiding looking sentient as best he can, Kero glares sternly. `I'll show you stoned animal, kozo…' he thinks silently.

 

“Could we come in please, Kinomoto-san?” Tomoyo interjects.

 

Fujitaka's sight draws itself up the nearby stairwell before returning to the two visitors at his door. “Well I don't think Sakura-san is feeling quite up to accepting visitors right at the moment. Presumably she spent most of last night on her school project and she's still resting up.”

 

“Oh well, we'll just come back later then,” Syaoran replies candidly before turning away and walking off, but Tomoyo grabs his shoulder before he could get away.

 

“Also,” Tomoyo continues. “…Li-kun was looking forward to seeing how Sakura-chan is doing,” she adds.

 

“On her project!” Syaoran adds sternly, still turned away from Fujitaka.

 

Fujitaka opens the door wide. “Sakura-san has good judgment in her friends,” he compliments, stepping out of the way and allowing Tomoyo to enter, dragging Syaoran behind her by his collar.

 

At fully entering the house and standing upright, Syaoran pauses for a brief moment, with a light bulb going off in his head. “Somehow, this just got tremendously uncomfortable…” he mutters as he slips out of his shoes and sets them aside on an indoor carpet.

 

Tomoyo pats Syaoran on the shoulder. “Li-kun, don't be like that. Sakura-chan's dad is letting us inside, as opposed to sending us home or letting us stand outside all night,” she responds.

 

Syaoran grabs Tomoyo's shoulder and pulls her ear close. “No it's more than just that. I mean that something is giving me that seriously, massively uncomfortable feeling…” he whispers with a hint-hint tone.

 

“Well of course, my apologies,” Fujitaka answers. “What kind of host am I being? Let me put on some tea for the two of you,” he says as he proceeds towards the kitchen and vanishes out of sight around a corner.

 

“Maybe I'm not making myself clear…” Syaoran whispers strongly. “… but `uncomfortable' is a bad thing! A very bad thing! A very bad unique thing!” he hints.

 

Tomoyo grabs Syaoran's hand. “Your feelings are very unique, yes, but no one is forcing you to say those things right now. You can tell Sakura-chan when you feel that you're ready to. Other times will come.”

 

Syaoran stares on with a blank blush on his face as he follows Tomoyo up the stairs. “I think I'll take you up on that waiting offer,” he replies eagerly, but is interrupted as, halfway up the stairwell, Tomoyo blocks his advance and turns her head towards him.

 

“But Li-kun, no matter how long you choose to wait, you'll have to live with the consequences of your decision to do so. Because the only certain tomorrow that you have is a little square on the calendar,” Tomoyo says to Syaoran in a proverbial way before commencing the rest of the way up the stairs.

 

Syaoran nods his head back and forth. `You don't know the half of it. Because when I say “unique”, I mean “dangerous”… Will I really get another chance?' he thinks to himself, his eyes drawn to the top of the stairs, but having the grip of his left hand wrapped around his right forearm, grasping at something bunched up under his rolled up sleeve.

 

*-*-*

 

Sakura's room

 

The door to Sakura's room cracks open, allowing a bright blue eye to look through the crack before opening the door wider. Tomoyo leans in enthusiastically, but her shoulders droop as she sees Sakura with her face buried in her pillow as she lays facedown on her bed wearing a pair of light blue pajamas.

 

“Sakura-chan? Sakura-chan? Wake up, Sakura-chan and come see what the Guardian Beast dragged in,” she offers, stepping clear of the door, but Sakura remains motionless on the bed.

 

From the hallway, Syaoran hunches his back and stares skeptically at Tomoyo. “Do I have to?” he groans, almost whimpering.

 

Tomoyo holds a finger to her lips. “Shhh… Sakura-chan's fast asleep,” she whispers.

 

“I am not…” Sakura mutters, lifting her head out of the pillow long enough to speak before plopping her head right back down again. She rolls over onto her back. “I'm up already, Tomoyo-chan. What is it?” she asks, her voice cracking uneasily.

 

Out in the hallway, Syaoran leans against the wall, sighing a deep breath of relief after hearing Sakura's voice. `I'm not too late yet,' the thought comes up in his head. `Though… she doesn't sound like herself.'

 

Sakura slowly begins to sit up and rub her eyes before yawning and stretching. “Is it morning yet?” she asks.

 

“No, it's still the same day you fell asleep. It's almost sunset,” Tomoyo answers.

 

Sakura looks out her window to see the sun now beginning to set over the horizon, but isn't quite yet halfway over the horizon. “Hoee, I've slept the daylight away!” Sakura whines before flopping over onto the bed stomach-first. “So why am I still so tired if I've been sleeping all day?!”

 

Overhearing this, Syaoran's stomach twists uncomfortably, as the same feeling that he got when he walked in renews itself through his whole body. `She's hurting because of these Kaos Cards. How could I mistake those cards for a bedtime story?!' he thinks, staring down remorsefully with clenched fists buried in his pockets. “If only I was more diligent…” he whispers.

 

“Diligence is an admirable virtue,” Fujitaka tells Syaoran, standing right in front of him while carrying a tray with a teapot and four inverted teacups with matching plates.

 

Syaoran looks up at the source of the speech, seeing Fujitaka looming over him with a friendly smile on his face. Syaoran backs away, leaning closely against the wall to realize that Fujitaka had effectively cornered him.

 

Fujitaka lowers the tray, allowing Syaoran to grab hold of it. “Could you please take this to the girls, Li-kun?” he asks innocently.

 

Syaoran stands frozen with the tray firmly in his grip. Speechlessly, he nods his head. `Yep, that's Sakura's dad alright. Now I know where she got that ominously friendly expression from…' he thinks to himself. “S-s-sure, s-sir,” he stutters.

 

Fujitaka kneels down to eye-level with Syaoran. “For a close friend of Sakura-san's, Kinomoto-san will do just fine.”

 

Syaoran blushes. `I'm her “close friend”? First Daidouji-san, then Wei, and now Sakura's dad have all figured it out. Even that twit Keroberos has some inkling. Is it really that obvious, or am I just over-thinking this whole thing?' he thinks. “Y-yes sir- uh, Kinomoto-san,” he stutters, leaning off of the wall and carrying the tea tray into Sakura's room, walking along while nervously not bending his knees.

 

Sakura rolls over again, sits up on her bed and curls up into a ball, pulling her knees up to her chin. “Some tea would really hit the spot right now…” she mutters, not noticing Syaoran walking in.

 

Tomoyo smiles at Syaoran as he arrives in Sakura's room. “Well look who finally decided to show up,” she comments.

 

Syaoran turns his head to see a distraught-looking Sakura sitting on the bed of the cramped little room. She looks straight ahead, hunched over and with her eyes halfway open, lacking their usual exuberance. Her hair is also a lot scruffier than usual, running off in different directions rather than in the smooth form that she usually brushes her hair in.

 

Syaoran nervously holds up the tray so that the teapot obscures Sakura from his field of vision. “Uh… um… er… uh… tea!” he finally spurts out.

 

Recognizing the voice, Sakura turns her head to see Syaoran carrying the tea tray in his rigidly straight arms. “Li-kun!” she exclaims as she stares with her eyes glued open with shock. She blushes profusely, attempting to hide her beet-red cheeks behind her knees and arms.

 

Kero energetically flutters towards the teapot as he lifts it off of the tray and hauls it over to Sakura's desk. “Alright, tea's on! Tomoyo, pour one for me! Me first, me first, me first, me first, me first!” he exclaims gluttonously, not realizing that he had taken Syaoran's optical shield away from him.

 

Tomoyo takes one of the teacups from off the tray that Syaoran carries, as well as a matching plate. “Now, now, Kero-chan, be patient. I'll pour you as much as you want,” she responds, leading the greed-headed Guardian Beast out into the hallway.

 

Without the teapot in the way, Syaoran stares blankly at Sakura, who stares back with an equal crimson tint in her own cheeks. As Tomoyo and Kero had left the room, despite being right outside the door, Syaoran and Sakura were relatively alone.

 

Syaoran breaks his stare first, directing it at the window, out of which the sun had set almost halfway down the horizon. “S-sorry to come over so unexpectedly,” he spits out.

 

Sakura smiles innocently. “No, it's alright. I should've been up, dressed, and working on my summer project hours ago, not sleeping through the whole day,” she excuses Syaoran.

 

All of a sudden, Sakura jerks forward, putting her feet on the floor as to not fall off the bed. She grabs onto her chest and places a hand over her mouth, as if she was about to throw up.

 

Manning up, Syaoran rushes over besides Sakura and places the tray on the table before placing a hand on the convulsing girl's shoulder. “Are you okay? What just happened?!” he asks with concern. He kneels down and turns Sakura's head towards himself with the gentle touch of his right hand on her jaw.

 

Sakura lowers her hand away from her mouth, uncovering a smile. “Don't worry, I'm okay, Li-kun. I think it's just all the stress of that summer project hanging over my head.” She grabs hold of Syaoran's right wrist through his sleeve to move his hand. Noticing something irregularly-textured and rigid under his sleeve, she holds up Syaoran's right arm. “Li-kun, is your arm okay? Did you get hurt?” she asks innocently, exaggerating an already deep blush from an otherwise frozen Syaoran.

 

Not getting much of a response from Syaoran, Sakura holds his right hand as she raises her other hand, reaching towards Syaoran's sleeve to roll it down, but Syaoran interrupts her by grasping her hand tightly around the wrist, causing Sakura to flinch away in an instant of distress.

“Don't!” Syaoran insists as he grabs at Sakura's wrist, causing Sakura to look back at him with a frightened perplexity. He pulls his hand out of Sakura's weak grasp and backs away from her before rolling up his right sleeve. But as soon as he grabs his sleeve, he freezes up and looks into Sakura's confused emerald eyes, answering them back with a stern stare. “Stand back,” he warns before proceeding to roll up his sleeve.

 

Sakura attentively sits back on her bed, backing all the way up with her back to the wall and her knees pulled up to her chin. As Syaoran exposes more of his forearm, Sakura's eyes widen with an ambiguously scared, shocked, and confused expression. “Li-kun… what happened to you?” she utters fearfully.

 

Syaoran stares down at the ground shamefully as he holds up the Kaos-spawned Inferno Crossbow that had seemingly been surgically affixed to his right forearm. The setting sunlight glistens softly against its bleached surface, acting as if more metallic than bone. On the skin of Syaoran's forearm, several of the capillaries under his skin swell up, exposing bulging veins, the device having merged more intimately to his very skin to a greater extent than before. “I… I wanted to tell you sooner. I'm sorry…” Syaoran whispers solemnly, keeping his gaze away from Sakura.

 

Sakura rushes off her bed and nearly jumps on Syaoran to scrutinize the newly-uncovered device she had felt through Syaoran's sleeve earlier. She feels the morbidly-crafted device fastened to Syaoran's arm with the gentle touch of her small fingers. Its sleek design is smooth to her touch, like marble, but it bears the decayed discoloration of bone. Its very texture is warm to the touch, but comfortably warm, as opposed to being blisteringly untouchable. “Li-kun… are you still okay? Who did this to you?” she asks, looking up to Syaoran, who keeps his head turned away from her. “Tell me!” Sakura begs desperately.

 

Syaoran compliantly yet steadily turns his head and looks Sakura in her worried, distraught face. At the sight of Sakura's trembling pupils staring back at him, he immediately turns back away, feeling a sensation in his gut equivalent to having his intestines torn out. “It's a Key of Kaos…” he says softly.

 

“A Key of… Kaos? …W-what's that mean?” Sakura asks nervously, playing dumb with her words, despite her quivering body attesting volumes to a hidden nervous depression. Letting Syaoran's arm go and backing away, she sits back down on her bed, staring forward blankly. She again wraps her arms sorely around her stomach as she hunches forward.

 

Seeing Sakura hunch over in apparent pain causes Syaoran to quickly turn away and roll his sleeve back over the Inferno Crossbow. “Forget it. I shouldn't have even shown you. I still don't know what I'm doing here.” He proceeds towards the door, but he feels a weak grip on his hand pulling him back.

 

“Wait, Li-kun,” Sakura begs weakly through a painful wince. Her hand had found its way to Syaoran's, wrapping as tightly as she can muster. “It's okay. I've been having these stomach cramps all day anyway. I think it's because I slept through the whole day without eating anything.”

 

Still looking away from Sakura, Syaoran's eyelids open slowly but widely. His shocked expression directs itself out the window. The sun had set over halfway across the horizon, but not much further.

 

Sakura smiles up at Syaoran, attempting to get some kind of reaction out of him. “Or, it could've been the whole summer project stress thing… but I've never had summer projects done on time anyway,” she adds with juvenile giggle.

 

“Knock it off!” Syaoran snaps sternly at Sakura, causing her to flinch backwards. “I wasn't born yesterday. I know all about the Kaos Cards, so don't try to hide it. Daidouji-san told me everything. Honestly, what could you possibly have been thinking, going after the Kaos Cards so rashly?” he asks, as if disappointed in his air-headedly perky ally.

 

Sakura rubs her weary eyes with her wrist. “Li-kun, it's really okay. I'm just tired, that's all. I'll be fine if I just get some food and a good night's sleep. Zettai-”

 

“I'm not kidding,” Syaoran interrupts sternly, rolling his sleeve back down to show off his Inferno Crossbow. “This thing wasn't just handed to me. I had to fight hard against a Kaos Card and defeat it in order to just stay alive, much less to seal it away. So don't go thinking that you're the only one who knows what's afoot here.”

 

Sakura shrinks away behind her knees, away from an intimidating Syaoran. “…daijobu…” she finishes quietly.

 

Syaoran walks over to Sakura and places his hands on her shoulders. “I'm a Card Captor of the Kaos now too. You don't have to push yourself anymore. I'll defeat all the Kaos Cards by myself. If two Kaos Cards take this much out of you, imagine what the full set will do.”

 

Sakura blushes subtly as she looks up into Syaoran's eyes. “Li-kun, if we're both Card Captors of the Kaos, we should do this together. You don't need to do everything by yourself.”

 

Syaoran's eyes stray to Sakura's desk. His left hand wraps around his right wrist, right at where the Inferno Crossbow had fixed itself to his arm. “My Key of Kaos… It's telling me that your Kaos Cards are in your desk.” He turns away from Sakura and reaches to open the top left-hand drawer of Sakura's desk. Opening the drawer, Syaoran is greeted by a malevolent return glare from the Elixir of Fire, as well as two face-down Kaos Cards in an otherwise empty drawer.

 

Quickly swooping in, Sakura weaves around Syaoran and reaches into the drawer, grabbing the Elixir of Fire straight by the bottle, and frantically yanking it out of the drawer before Syaoran can react. Taking the bottle and clutching it close to her chest, she retreats back against the wall of her room, with Syaoran's suspicious eyes tracking her the whole way. Sakura curls up into a ball on her bed, hiding from Syaoran behind her knees and trying to hide the Elixir of Fire.

 

“Li-kun, please… don't be mad… Please, don't take it away…” Sakura mutters in terror, continuing to shrink away from Syaoran.

 

Syaoran stares somberly at Sakura's sudden nervousness. He holds out his open hand. “Just let it go and give it to me,” he requests calmly. “Unless, that is, it's already taken control of you-”

 

“You're wrong!” Sakura insists in a burst of confidence before sulking back in her former fetal position. “I-I-I mean… y-yo-you're… you're wrong…” she says in a much more submissive, fearful tone. “The Elixir of Fire is how I defeated the Kaos Cards that I've captured so far. Without it, I'm just too weak. You see… I need the Elixir of Fire in order to be strong,” she explains to Syaoran.

Syaoran, in response, still holds out his hand, affording Sakura every opportunity to hand over the Elixir of Fire. “No, you're wrong. That stuff doesn't make you stronger. And if it does, it isn't worth what it does to you.”

 

“And what would you know?” Sakura replies with boldness. “Li-kun, you're the strongest person I know. But that's just why you wouldn't understand the Elixir of Fire. You don't know what it's like to be weak like I am. …No, like I was. But when I use the Elixir of Fire, I'm confident and brave. It helps me unleash my inner power. It helps me be strong. Like you are,” she drones on.

 

Syaoran lowers his open hand and stares deeply into Sakura's eyes. “Don't mistake being stronger with being better. But if you must aspire to be strong, I suggest that you stop idolizing me. I've been me for over a decade, and being “strong”, if that's the adjective you want to use, is overrated. If you think I've never known weakness… then I'd say that you never knew failure,” he says, jarring a shocked return stare from Sakura.

 

“Li-kun, what are you saying?” she asks, looking up at Syaoran, eager for an answer. “Is this about… y'know…” she continues, looking away from Syaoran and expecting a death glare for even asking.

 

Syaoran sighs and takes a seat on Sakura's bed, and Sakura scoots next to him. “When we were fighting to capture the Clow Cards, nothing they threw at you could ever stop you from defeating them. No matter what, you would always be alright. `Zettai daijobu'. You'd say that over and over again like some kind of mantra, and it was the only kind of strength that I didn't have: the strength to believe in yourself. But to think that you traded in your invincible spell for…”

 

Sakura opens her hands up and looks down at the Elixir of Fire. “…for this?” she asks.

 

Syaoran grabs Sakura's shoulders and tilts her chin with just the slightest touch of his finger. “You're still a Card Captor of the Clow Cards. What do you think they would say to you if they saw you like this? To see that their master had disowned them because she wants to be more powerful.”

 

Sakura's eyes wander shamefully as she pauses, refusing to answer Syaoran's question. “Y-you don't… you don't understand…” she mutters.

 

“How would Fiery feel if you said that its flames didn't burn hot enough?” Syaoran poses hypothetically. “Or if Fly couldn't go high enough? Or if Dash couldn't run fast enough? Or if Windy's gusts weren't strong enough? Your Clow Cards chose you as their master because they believed in the power you had. You just have to believe in your cards the same way they believe in you.” Syaoran pauses before again holds his hand open. “Give me the Elixir of Fire. Your place is with your Clow Cards. Leave the Kaos Cards to someone who failed the Final Judgment...” he says.

 

Sakura's eyes snap wide open as her grip on the Elixir of Fire tightens. She scoots away from Syaoran and stares at him in shock. “The Final Judgment?! That's what this is about?” Sakura asks sternly. “You failed there, so you want to `prove yourself' against the Kaos Cards like this is some kind of macho act! Ugh! Well if that isn't the most… the most… `Li Syaoran' thing you've ever tried to pull-”

 

Bubbling over with mixed emotions of anger and hurt, Syaoran grabs Sakura by the shoulder, pulls her close and delivers to her a thunderous right-handed slap across her cheek, sending her plummeting face-first straight to the floor. Hitting the floor hard, Sakura's limp hand releases the Elixir of Fire as she begins to softly break down and cry, all for her perspective audience of Kero and Tomoyo to see.

 

Tomoyo places her hands over her mouth in shock as she stares straight at Syaoran like he was possessed. “Li-kun, you…” she mutters fearfully.

 

Kero stares at Syaoran, not even flapping his wings as he hovers in midair, completely flabbergasted as well. “Kozo… I really didn't think you had it in you…” he says with bleak astonishment.

 

Syaoran stares down with contempt at the broken Sakura. “No… that was the most `Li Syaoran' thing I've ever pulled…” he mutters deeply. Crouching down to Sakura's level, he reaches towards the Elixir of Fire and picks it up by the lanyard, examining it. He stares into the eye sockets of the skull-shaped container, and is greeted by a quick glare. “Now you leave Sakura alone, or so help me Clow I will extinguish you…” he grimly threatens the Elixir of Fire with such passionate fury that Tomoyo and Kero back away in fear, barely recognizing Syaoran at all. Ignoring Tomoyo's and Kero's reactions, he paces over to Sakura's desk and drops the Elixir of Fire into the still-open drawer where Sakura had grabbed the bottle from. Syaoran calmly closes the drawer, but not before the Elixir of Fire lets out a quiet, almost desperate glimmer.

 

From inside the dark, shut-off drawer, the shadows in Elixir of Fire's eye sockets appear to lift away, replaced by a glow as if the bottle were opening its eyes. It emits a deep, other-worldly cackle so low it is nigh inaudible. “Extinguish me? Heh heh heh heh heh… I would like to see you try,” the voice resonates.

 

Tomoyo and Kero both stoop down to scoop Sakura up, and Syaoran soon joins them. Tomoyo attempts to throw Sakura's arm over her shoulder to stand her to her feet, and Sakura slowly regains her physical bearings as she plants her bare feet firmly on the hardwood floor.

 

Sakura looks over her shoulder at Syaoran with a reluctant fear as she cradles her sore left cheek in her free hand. “Li-kun… y-you… you hit me…” she whimpers softly.

 

“You're welcome,” Syaoran answers, which causes Tomoyo and Sakura to look back at him with an expression of confusion. Syaoran then places his hand on Sakura's shoulders as he stares protectively into her eyes. “The Elixir of Fire had taken you over. I couldn't just sit by and let you fall victim to it again. This is why I want you to stop going after the Kaos Cards. If that infernal soy sauce is the only way for you to defeat the Kaos Cards, I'd rather face them all on my own rather than dragging you down into this.” Without thinking, Syaoran lifts his right hand off Sakura's shoulder and softly strokes Sakura's sore left cheek with the gentlest touch.

 

Kero floats in between the euphorically romantic couple of Sakura and Syaoran, looking Syaoran in the face. “Uh, kozo, you might be forgetting something…” he says reluctantly.

 

Syaoran frowns suddenly at Kero's mood-wrecking intervention between him and Sakura. “What?” Syaoran asks with an irritated undertone.

 

Kero folds his arms. “If you haven't forgotten, Lycan, the Guardian Beast of Despair, has selected Sakura as the Card Captor of the Kaos, the same way Damien selected you. So whether you like it or not, Lycan will be back with more Kaos Cards and will push Sakura's magical powers to their limits, rather than waiting for you to show up and save the day. As long as there are more Kaos Cards on the loose, Sakura needs the Elixir of Fire to defeat them upon your absence and incapacitation,” he explains.

 

Syaoran lowers his arms off Sakura's shoulders and folds his arms. “You're not honestly advocating that Sakura use the Elixir of Fire again, are you?”

 

Sakura's eyes widen briefly.

 

“Um, Li-kun-” Tomoyo butts in, noticing Sakura's change in expression.

 

“Not now, Daidouji-san,” Syaoran cuts Tomoyo off before pointing a finger at Kero. “I'm not going anywhere. I'll protect her no matter what. There is no reason for her to use the Elixir of Fire with me at her side doing the grunt work against the Kaos Cards. Sakura has her Clow Cards to protect her from the Kaos Cards should anything go wrong.”

 

“Li-kun?” Sakura pipes up optimistically, taking her arm off of Tomoyo's shoulder.

 

“What? What is it?” Syaoran answers with bubbling frustration.

 

Tomoyo leans her mouth over to Syaoran's ear and puts the back of her hand over her mouth. “Li-kun, I was trying to warn you, but you shushed me. You forgot the keigo for Sakura-chan's name!” she whispers, causing Syaoran to go stiff at the knees and red in the cheeks.

 

Kero flutters out of the way, exposing the cheerful and bubbly stare of his master. Sakura smiles at Syaoran with such bright emotion in her face that the rest of the world would seem to fade away in the light of Sakura's cheer.

 

“Li-kun, you called me Sakura,” Sakura notices. “My dad says that you're not supposed to call someone by their first name only unless you're a close friend, which can only mean one thing…” she eludes.

 

Syaoran stutters wildly. “I-I-I-I-I-” is all that he can get out.

 

Sakura's cheerful aura suddenly wears off as she stares somberly at the ground. “You don't respect me,” she finishes depressingly, causing Syaoran to faint melodramatically.

 

Syaoran climbs back to his feet. “Yeah, yeah you're right- wait no, no, no, you're wrong- I mean I do respect you- I'm not trying to be rude I swear!” he spurts out frantically.

 

Sakura smiles up at Syaoran. “Don't worry, Li-kun, I understand. It must be hard to keep using keigo when it's not a part of your native language. I don't mind. You can call me Sakura if you want to,” she responds with a close-eyed grin. She steps forward towards Syaoran, but she loses her balance in mid step and begins to fall forward limply.

 

Syaoran reacts quickly and catches Sakura, yet he blushes when, presumably by reflex, Sakura's arms find their way around his waist. “Sakura? Sakura?” he calls out gently at first, but repeats his calls with greater urgency as Sakura remains unconscious.

 

Tomoyo again puts Sakura's arm over her shoulder and stands her up, and Syaoran takes Sakura's other arm over his shoulder as his gaze heads out the window.

 

“Li-kun, something's wrong,” Tomoyo notices.

 

“Gee,” Syaoran retorts sarcastically.

 

The sun had completely set over the horizon, leaving the silhouettes of the buildings on the horizon to glow a soft orange. This glow stretches a short distance over the horizon and the rest of the sky is dominated by a dark, cool blue night dotted with numerous tiny stars.

 

Syaoran frowns into the night sky. “Nighttime. It's started,” he says, gently lowering Sakura's arm off his shoulder as he proceeds to pace over to and open the window.

 

Kero zips beside Syaoran quickly as he sees Syaoran climb outside the window. “Hey, hey, kozo! What's gotten into you?!” he shouts in protest to whatever Syaoran might be attempting.

 

With his left foot out the window, Syaoran leers back at Kero. “I should've dealt with this when I first walked in and sensed something wrong.” He turns his attention back outside. “Someone planted a Kaos Card out here,” he explains, lifting himself completely out the window.

 

Tomoyo gently lays Sakura down on the bed back-first as she scoops up Syaoran's backpack and joins Kero at the window. “A Kaos Card? I thought Sakura-chan was supposed to be a Card Captor of the Kaos Cards or something. Why would Damien try to hurt Sakura-chan when she's supposed to be on his side?” Tomoyo asks with perplexity.

Syaoran looks deeply into the night sky, finding his gaze responded to by the flickering of starlight. “I don't know. But from Sakura being so tired like she is, I'd say this is the work of the Plague Card. It's formed a locus of power somewhere nearby to infect Sakura. Fortunately, just having come off of a possession from the Elixir of Fire, she's only sleepy right now, but not gravely ill yet,” Syaoran hypothesizes.

 

“Plague?” Tomoyo asks Kero.

 

Kero turns toward Tomoyo to answer her question. “Plague is another Kaos Card aligned to destruction, meaning that Damien was the one who set this up. Plague's powers induce sickness and nausea on its targets. But Plague's aura of effect allows it to afflict entire cities of people. If Damien really hates people that much, why did he sic Plague on Sakura? Why didn't he just use it on all of Tomoeda while he was at it?” Kero asks hypothetically in the middle of his explanation about the Plague Card.

 

“I'm going to find out,” Syaoran boasts. He rolls up his right sleeve as the roof below him glows. The Circle of Kaos appears below Syaoran's feet, slanted by the roof, as Syaoran lifts forth the Inferno Crossbow on his forearm.

“Key hiding the Powers of the Inferno, show your true form before me. I, Xiaolang, command you under our contract: Release!” Syaoran recites. The bird skull wraps over Syaoran's fist, and the wings of the skeletal object spread out. The glow from the Circle of Kaos subsides as Syaoran points the Inferno Crossbow out into the empty night. “I told you, Daidouji-san, that Kaos Cards are usually only active at night. Chimera could adopt the sleep patterns of a diurnal animal, but Plague has no such ability. Plague just activated itself when I broke Sakura's grip on the Elixir of Fire, so its presence should be close by. Once I capture it, I'll find Damien and get to the bottom of his motive behind his little assassination attempt,” he explains, pointing his Inferno Crossbow around, trying to find the hidden Plague Card.

 

“You're not the only ones trying to get to the bottom of this…” a demonically ferocious and angered voice echoes out from the night sky, causing Syaoran, Tomoyo and Kero to look around in all directions. From high in the clouds, a dark-skinned being's four enormously-clawed paws penetrate the dark sky, falling from what appears as a portal from some unknown dark realm. The wolf-like beast measured an enormous size, easily the size of a battle tank. Its muscular torso penetrates the edge of the portal in the sky, followed by a horn-laden bony mask with similar design to the Elixir of Fire, this mask being only tangible-appearing feature of the creature aside from the claws. Attached to its back is a long spinal column, ending in a powerful, spiked tail. On the thorax-segment of the spine grows a set of enormous bat wings with a shadowy membrane imitating the nightmarishly dark skin of the creature itself. Despite the creature's wings being near invisible against the backdrop of the night sky, the creature's wings flap about, allowing it to stay levitated in the air while also kicking up a violent wind that forces Syaoran to brace himself on the edges of the window or be blown to the ground. The creature lets out a bellowing, ear-splitting roar.

 

“It's Lycan!” Kero notices.

 

Tomoyo clasps her hands over her ears tightly, but is still able to hear Kero, but just barely. “Lycan?! I thought you said that he was the Guardian Beast of Despair, not Destruction! What's he doing here?!” she asks loudly.

 

“Not a clue!” Kero yells back.

 

Syaoran points his Inferno Crossbow desperately at the menacing Guardian Beast before him. “You'd better leave Sakura alone too! If you hurt her, I swear I'll gun you down!” he threatens courageously.

 

Lycan turns his burning red gaze towards Syaoran first. “You must be Li Xiaolang, the chosen of that cur of a Guardian Beast, Damien. Finding you was much easier than I would have expected. I will deal with you when appropriate. For now, you will tell me where the treacherous snake Damien disappeared to, and what exactly he is doing to my Card Captor!” Lycan thunders out demonically.

 

Syaoran recoils against Lycan's booming voice as he re-focuses the aim on his Inferno Crossbow.

 

“STOP!” Tomoyo shouts out. “Someone could see this big scene! Li-kun, you have to do something!” she urges Syaoran frantically.

 

“Oh, I wouldn't worry about that,” Lycan answers Tomoyo. “Thanks to the power of my superior Kaos Cards of Despair, the fools around cannot hear, see or feel the power that I exert with my existence…” he explains ominously.

 

Syaoran stares back at Lycan in total shock and awe of his coldness. “You … you killed all those civilians?!” he asks, lowering the aim on the Inferno Crossbow slightly.

 

“Pah!” Lycan retorts loudly. “To kill would be to show mercy. I, however, am not as merciful as my counterpart. Imagine what it is like to be unable to see. To be unable to hear. Unable to feel. Unable to sense anything. Forced to fearfully wander the world endlessly… hopelessly. That is what I have done…” Lycan explains boastfully.

 

“That's horrible!” Kero responds emphatically, following Syaoran outside. The Circle of Clow appears below him. “Kozo, you find the Kaos Card. I'll deal with Lycan,” Kero says to Syaoran. Syaoran responds with a nod as Kero's wings swell up to large proportions and overtake his miniscule body. After a pulsation of light, the feathered wings retract, revealing a large, lion-sized, golden-furred panther with bronze, ornate armor adorned with a single large ruby over his ribcage, and another over his forehead.

 

Lycan squints at the still-miniscule form of Keroberos before him. “I still see not the power which you boast of in your true form, Keroberos…” Lycan belittles.

 

Keroberos snarls at Lycan before taking flight above the house. He shoots forth from his mouth a raging stream of bronze fire, straight at Lycan's bestially enormous form. But instead of causing Lycan to catch fire, the flames sink into Lycan's skin, passing on into a vanishing point within Lycan's body, as if Lycan's very skin opened a portal into a nowhere-dimension for Keroberos's mighty fire attack to pass harmlessly into. Keroberos ceases his attack in shock as he can barely wrap his mind around how stunningly unaffected Lycan was, and how Lycan's body seemed not even to exist to be able to attack.

 

“To fight the Guardian Beast of Despair is to meet Despair itself,” Lycan responds as his form fades into the night sky. A split second later, Keroberos is slashed by an enormous eldritch claw, inexplicably coming from out of the sky itself. Keroberos's fur is sent flying off his body as the slash sends him reeling. After this other-dimensional offense, Lycan reappears before a now fallen Keroberos atop the roof of Sakura's house.

 

“Keroberos!” Syaoran calls out, trying to see if there remained any fight in the already battered Guardian Beast.

 

“You cannot win either, Xiaolang,” Lycan threatens Syaoran. “You must find the Plague Card before my Card Captor is killed by it. Use your Kaos Card and bid haste, for my labors with Kinomoto Sakura are not yet finished!” Lycan orders.

 

Syaoran bites his lip as he holds up the Chimera Card. Long shadows stretch across his face, induced by the glowing Circle of Kaos below him. “You'll call her `Kinomoto-san', Lycan. You don't deserve to call her by name…” Syaoran responds deeply before tossing the Chimera card out before him.

 

Lycan glares back at Syaoran with a hint of intrigue by the confidence and nerve with which Syaoran had confronted him with.

 

“Impute to me the sharp senses of a wolf, the greatest of all predators: Chimera!” Syaoran commands, shooting a red bolt of energy from his crossbow at the Kaos card in front of him.

 

The release of the Kaos Card lets loose a blast of white energy that wraps Syaoran in a cyclone. Within the translucent cone of the hurricane-like activation of the Chimera, Syaoran's nose stretches out and elongates. Furthermore, his ears grow long and pointed. Finally, his hazel eyes turn a bright yellow as his pupils narrow into lines rather than an orb. With Syaoran's metamorphosis complete, the cyclone of Chimera's power dissipates.

 

Syaoran begins to use his heightened senses by twitching his ears and nose, as well as turning his head in all conceivable directions. As his line of sight returns to the roof of Sakura's house, he turns to his left as the twitching of his nose and ears become even more erratic. Having homed in on what appears to be just empty shingles, Syaoran aims his Inferno Crossbow at a gap in the shingles. “I've got you now, flea. You can't escape. Return to your original form: Kaos Card!” Syaoran commands as his Inferno Crossbow shoots at a spot on the roof right in between two shingles.

 

Tomoyo eagerly leans out the window to see Syaoran seal the Kaos Card, but all she could see was a red bolt lodged into the roof, between a pair of shingles. “Uh, Li-kun, I think you missed…” she hints at Syaoran.

 

Syaoran cracks a canine-fanged grin. “Wait for it…” he says, holding up a finger optimistically.

 

The Circle of Kaos suddenly appears in a flash below Syaoran's feet. The bolt of red energy dissipates from its stuck position and it flows into Syaoran's hand, reshaping itself into the form of a Kaos Card. The red glow of the card subsiding, the card's back displayed the dark red Circle of Kaos over the light grey background. Turning the card over, Syaoran sees at the bottom the words “The Plague”. The picture of the card shows an eight-legged beetle creature with intricate patterns on its shell with resemblance to the smooth contours of fire.

 

*-*-*

 

(Sakura's room, later that night)

 

“Kero-chan! Kero-chan!” a high-pitched and revitalized Sakura calls out in a dark void. This darkness is finally penetrated when Kero at last opens his eyes to see Sakura, Tomoyo and Syaoran perched over him.

 

Kero opens his eyes slowly as he finds himself lieing with his back down on a pillow on Sakura's bed. Lifting himself up, he twitches his wings before floating up a short distance into the air as he stretches out. He yawns loudly as he continues to stretch his arms out. “I'll be fine. I take it from the fact that I'm still alive that the kozo managed to get rid of Lycan, right?”

 

Syaoran lifts up his right arm, with the retracted Inferno Crossbow still on his arm. He holds up the Chimera Card and the Plague Card in his right hand. “Yeah, after I sealed Plague, he just vanished. Good thing he did though, because I don't know what I could've done with you and Kinomoto-san both down.”

 

Sakura tilts her head slightly in Syaoran's direction. “Hoee? Don't you mean Kero-chan and `Sakura'?” she asks.

 

Syaoran returns Sakura's glance. “No, I mean him and `Kinomoto-san',” he responds, shaking his head and standing to his feet. “This really isn't the best time for that. It's late and I've gotta' get home now,” he responds, heading for the door and grabbing the doorknob. “Thank you for having me over.”

 

“No, thank you for making me feel better,” Sakura responds with a grin.

 

Syaoran looks back towards Sakura out the corner of his eye before opening the door and walking out. He gently shuts the door behind him.

Tomoyo also stands up and heads for the door. “Sakura-chan, you should get some rest tonight. I'm going to meet up with Li-kun and have my bodyguard drop him back at his apartment,” Tomoyo explains, also heading out the door and closing it gently behind her.

 

*-*-*

 

(outside Sakura's room)

 

Tomoyo shuts the door behind her and sees Syaoran leaning against the wall in the hallway. He still holds up his two Kaos Cards, but he now rolls his sleeve over the Inferno Crossbow and he slips his two Kaos Cards into his backpack.

 

“Something the matter, Li-kun?” Tomoyo asks quietly.

 

Syaoran stares on somberly. “She thinks I'm a foreigner. Keroberos calls her by name all the time, but Sakura doesn't pay a moment's notice.”

 

“You should've said something,” Tomoyo responds.

 

“I DID!” Syaoran insists. “I… I mean I did find and seal Plague when it was hiding under the shingles, even though it was only the size of a flea. By sealing it, I saved her life. Doesn't that count for something?” he asks.

 

Tomoyo grins at Syaoran's misunderstanding. “I'll admit, if it were anyone else other than Sakura-chan, she probably would've known by now. But if it was someone else, would it be worth it?” she asks, eliciting a perplexed return stare from Syaoran. “You have to tell Sakura-chan exactly how you feel, or she won't know. She may not be the best at reading between the lines, but if you were to tell her how you felt about her, she'd never forget it for as long as she lives.”

 

Syaoran takes his weight off the wall and heads towards the stairwell. “For as long as she lives, you say…” he mutters.

 

Tomoyo follows Syaoran as he heads downstairs to put his shoes on. “You're still worried?”

 

Syaoran reaches for his shoes to slip them on. He glances at Tomoyo out the back of his eye. “While Sakura might not be good at inferring, I am. Lycan was furious about something. But blind fury isn't part of his nature. He's normally a logical, cold, and apathetic…” he drones.

 

Tomoyo tilts her head as she reaches to put on her own shoes. “A logical, cold, apathetic… what?” she asks.

 

Syaoran shakes his head. “I was trying to avoid using the word `character',” he responds. “At any rate, something bad must be happening with his plan. That's the only thing that could make Lycan that kind of angry.”

 

Tomoyo places a finger on her chin. “But isn't something that's bad for him going to be good for us?”

 

Syaoran opens the main door and leaves the house. “That's why Lycan is so angry. He's in a mode of desperation. And you're most likely to do something reckless when you're desperate,” he explains. “Lycan is getting frustrated. Which, to us, can only mean that something very bad is going to happen in the near future.”

 

Tomoyo places a hand over her mouth. “Well, what do you suppose we should do about it?”

 

“I'll tell you what we'll do,” Syaoran answers. “I want you to keep a close eye on Sakura whenever you can. Call her frequently to make sure she's okay. I'll do what I can in the meantime myself.”

 

“Which is?” Tomoyo asks.

 

Syaoran smiles as he stares at Sakura's window from the outside of the house. “Trust me. Nothing bad is going to happen to Sakura if I can help it.”

 

Syaoran heads straight for the back of the van and opens the rear doors. Tomoyo quickly follows him into the back of the van, and the two shut the doors from the inside. After the engine revs up, the van drives off.

 

*-*-*

 

(back in Sakura's room)

 

Tomoyo had just shut the door behind her and Syaoran, allowing Sakura to let out a deep sigh of relief as she lays her head over on her bed. “I'm so glad Li-kun was here,” she mutters. “Kero-chan… about what you said this morning… You were wrong.”

 

Kero turns his head. “Are you still loopy or something?” he asks.

 

Sakura folds her arms and rests her chin on them. “You told me I didn't need Li-kun's help. You were wrong,” she answers serenely.

 

Kero rolls his eyes. “I'll admit it, I was skeptical about the kozo at first. But if he's really dumb enough to stick his neck out for my master, who am I to tell him not to kill himself?” he responds.

 

Sakura shakes her head. “Uh-uh, that's not it. It was like when I had that dream about the Nightmare Card. Li-kun was there… and he tried to protect me from Lycan then, too.”

 

A look of mischief crosses Kero's face as he floats right in front of Sakura. “Sakura and Kozo, sittin' in a tree-”

 

“KERO-CHAN!” Sakura scolds loudly. “It's not like that!”

 

“Oh?” Kero asks skeptically. “Enlighten me, then. What's the deal with the kozo all of a sudden?”

 

Sakura smiles blissfully. “That dream really got me thinking. He's always trying his best to protect me. Even after all the Clow Cards were sealed and I was declared their master, he didn't resent me for passing the Final Judgment. It's like… he was relieved that I was safe… Even now, against the Kaos Cards, when the stakes are so high, he would rather get hurt himself than let me get hurt. I've never seen Li-kun this way before. I wonder why he's acting like this…”

 

Kero shrugs his shoulders. “Who knows? Forget about it for tonight. Otherwise, you won't be able to get any sleep at all,” he advises, floating over to his drawer / makeshift bedroom.

 

Sakura rubs her eyes wearily. “It's so confusing. I don't know what to do now. But I just can't forget this, not even if I tried. It's so strange…” she comments.

 

Kero pauses before entering the open drawer with his dollhouse-sized room in it. “Please, do yourself a favor and try not to think about it,” he pleads.

 

Sakura shuts her weary eyes as she stands up and slips under the covers of her bed. “I guess you're right. He did say he'd protect me. And when he said that… I believed him.”

 

Kero pokes his head out the drawer. “Well if memory serves, he also slapped you. Some protector. I'd never lay a hand on you, no matter what it came to!” Kero responds.

 

Sakura sits up in her bed. “Kero-chan, you don't have hands. Besides, you both protect me in your own ways. I just wished I hadn't said all those nasty things to him.”

 

Kero hopelessly leans over the edge of the drawer and lets out a heavy sigh. “It was just the Elixir of Fire talking! I knew it, Tomoyo knew it, and even the kozo knew it! Besides, everything you said was right on the money. He had it all coming to him, but he shouldn't have gotten all hot-headed and taken his frustrations out on you,” he reasons.

 

Sakura holds her left cheek and repeatedly runs the fingers of her left hand over it. Tears begin to well up in her eyes as she remembers the feeling of Syaoran's hand across her cheek. “Li-kun… I wish that you'd tell me…” she whispers to herself.

 

Kero rolls his eyes before he ducks his head into his little cubby hole of a room. He grumbles about indiscriminately as he closes the drawer from the inside.

 

Sakura at last lays her head down on the pillow. She bunches up the covers over her shoulders as she rolls onto her side and shuts her eyes. `Wherever you are, good night, Li-kun… and I'm sorry…' she thinks to herself before allowing a relaxing rest to overcome her.