Kinomoto Touya woke up, at the same time rested and with a splitting headache. He rolled over, and tried to drown out the noise in his head by rolling over and wishing. Needless to say, it didn't work. He got out of bed, and walked down the hall to the bathroom, carefully, and with years of practice, avoiding the books lined against the hallway. A couple years ago, the library in the basement had exploded (metaphorically). It rapidly consumed the spare bedroom, and over ran the halls. Touya had finally stemmed the tide in the living room, where one whole wall, the east one, was bookshelves. What prompted his father to go on a spree like that, he could never understand. He reached the bathroom, and the headache, although it hadn't gotten worse, certainly hadn't gotten better either. He shaved the stubble off his face, and stepped into a hot shower. He rubbed his sore neck, and just wondered if this was somehow related to the weird stuff in his life. Yukito would get a kick out of this. If he knew. Touya thought of his lost friend. Well, not lost exactly. He had moved quite suddenly about five years ago. So quickly, he hadn't had a chance to leave a forwarding address. He smiled. Yuki was fun to have around, with his father being gone most of the time. The shower done, he put on a bathrobe and went downstairs to get breakfast. He kissed the picture of his mother on the table, and set about making breakfast. Today was Sunday. A day of rest. A knock on the door told him that was not going to happen today. Affixing his robe securely, he went to the back door to see if perhaps whoever it was could distracting from his lessened, but still there, headache. He opened the door and looked down. Sora looked back up at him, with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "T-Touya-kun..." Touya dropped down to his knees and looked at the child with warmth and care in his eyes. "Yes, Sora?" "H-Hitomi isn't home and K-K.. My lizard ran away!" Sora erupted into tears, and Touya sweatdropped. "O.K. Where did you last see her?" Silently, Touya cursed Hitomi. Whatever possessed her to bring that lizard back from her weekend in America? Sure, she had some nice qualities about her, but still. "She went into your backyard! Hitomi is gonna be upset when she finds out I let her out to take a walk! I even had the leash, but she got away from me!" Sora's tears started to dry up now that an adult was helping her. Great. Brown lizard, green leash, plenty of places to hide. "O.K. Just a moment." He went back inside, and grabbed a clean dishtowel with which to catch the lizard. Being covered in horns and ridges made for some rough handling. Sora waited at the door and watched as Touya played at lizard hunter. He first checked the stone fence, hoping that the damned lizard had decided to sun herself in plain sight. No such luck. He then checked the driveway, the walkway around the front, and stepped out onto the street to see if the lizard was out there. Even less luck. Sora screamed from the back, and Touya dashed around. Sora pointed inside the house and jabbered. "She went inside! Quick!" With that, she ran inside, Touya following the sounds of bare feet as they chased the errant lizard towards the front door. Sora dived for the skittering reptile, but missed as it changed direction. Touya checked her, and a bruised ego was the worse thing she had suffered. He heard the skittering of claws on tile, and snapped his head around. His dinner was running for the basement. (Hmm, invite Hitomi, and serve lizard for supper? Nice idea. Nah, he couldn't do that to Sora.) He spun the corner, and watched as the tail of the lizard vanished under the door leading to the basement. Oh yes. Supper it was. "Sora. It's gone into the basement. I'll get it. You wait in the kitchen." He gave a smile that hid his intentions with the reptile. "Have a glass of juice. I'll be right back." He pulled open the door and turned on the lights. Neither sight, nor sound of the errant reptile. Touya crept down the padded stairs. He saw the thin film of dust on the floor, and the railings. He had fallen behind in his cleaning. On the floor, he saw the faintest of trails, the path was clear. He followed the track, head bent down. After the fifth turn, he hoped the lizard had decided to give in quickly. He raised his head to stretch his neck, and noticed something odd out of the corner of his eye. There was a book missing. ========== BLOSSOMS IN THE SPRING A crossover Improfanfic started by The Eternal Lost Lurker Street Fighter and all related trademarks belong to Capcom. Cardcaptor Sakura and all related trademarks belong to CLAMP, Kodansha. Used without permission. Chapter 27 Touyas TIME to Think By Jon Berry ========== Odd how he never noticed it before. He had been down here hundreds of times. And he had never saw this before now? Prey temporarily forgotten, he stuck a finger in the gap, as if he could divine the nature of the missing tome. What he got was a vision. It was the same place, but he somehow he knew that this was long ago. A scared little girl was walking between the bookshelves, flashlight in one hand, and holding something else in the other. She hears something, and turns, a silent challenge to the intruder. The vision blurs for a moment, and then he sees the same girl. Brown hair, an innocent look on her face, and fear in her eyes. She looks down at the book that has fallen before her. Touya isn't sure if she knocked it off, or if it somehow fell off on its own accord. She bends down to touch it, pick it back up, but instead it opens. She pulls an object out of the book, and examines it. There is a word written on it. She speaks the word, what word, he cannot tell. A great wind explodes from her hand, throwing dust around, and disturbing the books. The wind picks up the book on the floor, and it seems to tear out the remaining pages, sending them flying. Though he cannot see it, Touya knows the magic involved has scattered the pages far away. The wind dies down, and the girl stands there, a look of terror on her face. She runs away, with a speed born of abject fear. The vision ended, and Touya looked at the crack in the rows of books. What the he... Just what he needed. Another weird thing to add to the growing list of odd things that have happened to him in the past few months. He went upstairs, and closed the door behind him. Sora bounded up to him, a happy look on her face. "shecameback!" Sora held up a rather annoyed looking lizard to Touya's face. It stuck its tongue out at him, mocking him for his failure to catch his supper. Touya returned the gesture. Sora burst into laughter. Touya joined her, and they both sat down in the kitchen laughing at the most small things. The reptile wasn't impressed. A polite knock on the back door, and Touya turned to see Hitomi standing in the doorway. She looked a cross between worry, relief, and anger. Touya mentally reminded himself to never piss her off. She looked at Sora, who looked suddenly very sheepish. "Sora..." "I'm so sorry Hitomi! I was taking Lizard-san for a walk, and he ran away, and I asked Touya for help, and he did, and now I have Lizard-san back! So please don't be mad!" Sora proudly held up her trophy catch. Hitomi smiled. "I was going to remind you to lock the door behind you the next time you leave the house." She bowed to Touya. "We're sorry about this. Sora, let's go." Touya stood up, and escorted his guests to the door. "Oh, it wasn't a problem. I seem to have lost the headache I had when I woke up. Come again." Sora skipped off, leash firmly in hand as the newly renamed Lizard- san scuttled to keep up. "Hitomi?" She turned to Touya. "Yes?" "Have you or Sora been in the basement in the past week?" Hitomi paused for a moment, thinking. "No. You said the basement was off limits. Why?" "There's a book missing." Hitomi was shocked. "Nani? Which book?" Touya shook his head. "Don't know. Haven't had a chance to check." Hitomi bowed gravely. She knew how important the library was to Touya and his father. If one was missing... "Good luck in finding it." She walked away, to her place a couple houses down. Touya checked the index of books that his father devised, and Touya kept up to date. It was partially organized by location in the house, and Touya quickly located the location of the shelf. He ran his finger along the edge of the bookshelf, comparing titles in the book with the one before him. Although an archeologist by trade, Touya's father had collected an impressive collection of books from all sources. This section was partly books dealing with 'magic' and others he couldn't identify. European Alchemists. Check. Circe; Mediterranean Sorceress. Check. Empty space. No? He looked at the titles on the shelf, and the list in his book. According to the index, there shouldn't be a book here. And there wasn't. But the space was here, where there should be none, and every instinct told him that there was supposed to be a book there. But the evidence was against him. There was only one solution. He checked the rest of the shelf, and found every book accounted for. No chance that a book was moved to cover a disappearance. He returned to the kitchen, and made himself a pot of tea. He turned his mind over the odd gap, and considered the vision he had. If that is what it was. His train of thought derailed into the weird that was going on in the past few months. First he started getting occasional headaches when he looked at certain objects, like they were radiating power. Then there was that time during the baseball game he helped umpire. He first met Sakura there, and his heart gave a slight tug with the thought of her. Things had calmed down, but one day he had caught a shoplifter red- handed. The crook ran, and Touya gave chase. He almost got away when something inside him made him wave his hand, and the crook ran into a solid barrier, invisible to sight, except to Touya, who could see a faint blue edge to it. The second time he saw Sakura, his decision was a conscious one to create the string that tripped that jabbering language masher. Not to mention the weird things that he saw in that tournament sponsored by Karin Kanzuki, and just after with that man, Bison. The third time he saw Sakura was when that unusual flying man with tattoos attacked her. He had found out a couple days later that it was part of a tournament put on by the Dodon Gym. But still, the guy flew, teleported, and was interested in a match between the two of them. That was when he started taking martial arts seriously. The weird stuff died down, except for that moment when he felt tired, like someone borrowed his strength, right after the natural near-disasters. The dream where he stood on the beach as Sakura pulls herself out of the ocean, only to be given a bell that changed her staff. That was high in his new weird meter. He didn't know she had a staff. And one day, he was certain he saw Hitomi change into a beautiful angel, familiar, yet a stranger, complete with wings, and then back to normal Hitomi. And then this, with the book, and the vision. He, not for the first time, wondered if he was going crazy. His tea had grown cold with his reminiscing. But now he had something concrete to work with, and he intended to do something about it. He put on some casual wear, and copied the information around the gap onto a slip of paper that he stuck in a pocket. He made sure the door was locked and the security system primed. He waved up to Sora, who manipulated Lizard-san into waving back from the room they rented next door. The going was smooth on his bike as he traveled to the University where his father worked, and attended. The roads were nearly empty, it being Sunday and all. At the campus, he made straight for the Archaeology and Anthropology department. He nodded to the secretary, a young woman who blushed at his presence, and shied away. Down the corridor, he turned into a large room that was quiet. He knew, come tomorrow, that this room would be exploding with activity. He intended to add to it. "Richard? It's Touya. Where are you?" "Back here." Richard stood up. The Canadian transfer student lifted the stack of papers he was working on. "touya, touya, touya. Sorry 'bout that. Keep forgetting your name. What can I do for you?" Touya smiled. Richard was nice, but bad with names. "I need to get a message to my father." Richard frowned. "The last batch of mail to Egypt went on Friday. Is it important?" "Yes. There's a book missing from our library, and I wanted to ask my father about it." Touya watched as Richard moved to his desk, and set down his load. "Hmm. If it's really important, then yes, I can send your letter with a courier tomorrow, or it can wait until the normal mail call on Friday. "I would rather it go on Friday, because the dean is trying to cut back on expenses. A courier to catch up to the mail would be very expensive." Touya thought about this for a moment. "I'll send it on Friday. Have some paper?" Richard hunted thru the mounds of paperwork to find a blank letterhead, and passed it to Touya with a pen. Touya handed back a terse note explaining briefly the discovery of the empty space, and lack of documentation of what was supposed to be there. In Sumatran. Richard blinked at the message, and stuck it in a pile that had appeared out of nowhere. "There! It'll go out at the end of the week. Anything else for you?" Touya shook his head. "No. Not really." He turned to leave. As he was at the door, Richard called out. "Hey! Touya!" He looked at the exchange student. "Listen, Aki, a friend of mine, was going to challenge the sensei of the Dodon Gym later this evening. You know the place, right?" Without waiting for a response, Richard continued, "Can you go and watch? I can't go myself, and I want a blow by blow as Aki gets her but kicked." "Dodon Gym?" The last time he had been there... That Bison fellow had nearly taken his head off. Not a good memory. And who=s Aki? But Sakura trained there. "I'll go." The words were out of his mouth before he was totally aware of them. Richard looked happy. "Thanks Touya!" And got back to work. Touya looked at himself, and mentally kicked himself for not thinking first. But he didn't have guests, and he really had no plans for this evening, supper having gotten away. He left Richard to his work, and made his way out of the building. The sun was about an hour from setting, and Touya figured he would need all the time he could get to get to the dojo. The ride to the train was uneventful, except for that old man who kept staring at him at the train station. The train pulled up, and the old man disappeared into the crowds. Touya shook his head. He got to the dojo in one piece as the sun began to set. He walked his bike inside, and leaned it up against the bike rack located inside the doors. Inside was near chaos. "Move! Your form is weak! You! Your punches couldn't dent a pillow! Put your shoulder into it! No! Not that way! You must bent your knees and drive upwards! Like this! "KOU-RYU-KEN!!!" Hibiki Dan leapt up in his version of the Dragon Punch of the Shotokan style. He came down lightly as his student gaped. "Dan-sensei... That was so beautiful..." All who heard, except Dan and the blissful student sweatdropped. Touya included. Dan turned to the front when another student pointed out Touya standing there. He ran over, manly tears flowing down his face. "Oh! Joyous day! Another willing student of Hibiki Dan the Mighty!" He pumped his fist in the air as an exclamation. Touya nodded his head. "Greetings Dan-sensei. I am Touya. I participated in the Hong Kong tournament earlier this year. You observed." Dan's brow furrowed in what passed for actual thought in his head. Then the gears went into place, and his face lit up. "I remember you! You're Sakura's boyfriend! Welcome! Welcome!" Dan grabbed Touya's arm and proceeded to drag him farther into the gym. Touya heard bits and snips of conversation as Dan dragged him along. Where, he had no idea. But towards the change rooms it seemed. "Is he really Sakura's....?" "No, it's that Li kid." "Nah, that can't be. It's Yuriko who's in with Li. You know, Sakura's groupie?" "Hmm... threesome.... *hrk*" Several students defending the honor of one of their own cut the last comment short. Dan stopped in front of the woman's change room. He knocked loudly. "Sakura! Your boyfriend's here!" With no response from the other side of the door, Dan opened it and stepped inside. "Sakura? Are you...." Touya figured this was coming and stepped aside as Dan the Mighty was tossed out of the change room by a bunch of school girls with many cries of "HENTAI!" and "PERVERT!" Dan was unfazed as he picked himself off the ground. Touya noticed that no one really paid any attention to his antics and, even more disturbing, was the slight impression he saw on the floor that roughly corresponded to where Dan had landed. Like it was an often impact point. "It would appear that my best student is not here." Dan admitted. "That's O.K. She was one of the reasons I came here. The other was..." The front doors crashed open and a lithe young woman stepped in, cloak streaming behind her. Her blond hair was done up, and as soon as she was sure that she had the attention of everyone in the gym, she yelled out in a clear voice. "I AM ROYAMA AKI OF THE FARSEERS DOJO! I challenge the master of this worthless gym, Hibiki Dan to honorable combat to prove the superiority of our way of combat!" Dan rose to the challenge. Figuratively and literally. He ran at the challenger, and leapt into a Dragon Punch that landed him right in front of her. Incredibly enough, he didn't falter, or make an embarrassment of himself doing so. "I am Hibiki Dan the MIGHTY!" He taunted his challenger. "I am the Honorable Sensei of this Honorable Gym, and practitioner of the Honorable styles thought to me at my father's knee and beyond! You challenge me?" "This from a man who wears a PINK gi." Absolute silence fell over the gym. Dan took few things seriously. His father's gi, which he proudly wore, was one of them. "Pink is a very manly color. It mixes and represents the white purity of the style, and the red blood spilled defending it from pretenders and wannabes. You challenge this, the Dodon Gym?" To Touya's ears, this sounded suspiciously rehearsed. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two students congratulated themselves on how Dan got the speech right. "Yes." Dan didn't reply, he turned away from his challenger, and strode with purpose to the suddenly empty ring in the middle of the gym. Touya felt himself carried along by the crowd who pressed themselves against the edges of the ring to get a good view of the coming fight. Touya got out of the crowd, and found himself a high vantage point, one he could get a good view with which to relate to Richard. Wait a second... Richard didn't have an interest in Martial Arts, so why did he ask him to watch and report? He would ask tomorrow. One of the senior students stood between the two combatants, Dan to Touyas left, and Aki, who had shed her cloak to reveal a spotless white gi with a black belt around her waist. Touya mentally added his appreciation to the catcalls and wolf whistles from some of the less constrained students. The student looked at Dan and Aki, who both nodded their readiness. "Begin!" he said, and got out of the ring as fast as possible. Aki ran at Dan who stood there with a vain look on his face. "Godoken!" He barely focused his ki, and sent a small green ball of energy flying forwards Aki. She, still running, dropped, and slid under his attack, and tried to go for his ankles. Unfortunately for her, she succeeded in knocking Dan's legs out from underneath him. He dropped like a sack of bricks on Aki, who was ill prepared for the rashness of her action. After a moment, Dan rolled to the side, and got to his feet in a smooth motion. Aki pulled her self up slower. She touched her side, and twinged. Dan must have fell hard on her, Touya assumed. Aki regained her feet and glared at the Street Fighter. "You call your self a master? You can't even land right!" Dan returned the taunt to the angry Aki. "YOSHAA! Even Dan the Mighty knows better than to be under an opponent who falls down!" Aki was livid. Touya wondered what skills she possessed that made her think that she could beat the superior, if scatter-brained, Dan. The battle passed for a couple more minutes, with Dan gaining a clear and clearer advantage. Years of being on the receiving end of some of the best had made him a better fighter than people give him credit for. Aki was panting, her stance was shattered as she tried to keep her bruises from flaring to pain. "Do you quit, admitting to the superiority of the Dodon Gym?" Dan offered to Aki. Aki straightened unsteadily to her feet. "Never! My gym... My style..." And her feet gave way. Touya blinked as Aki began to fall, but stared as she stopped, mid- plunge. Hell, everything stopped. Except him. He looked around, a new high on his weird meter. What now? Visions of the impending apocalypse, and his dead mother telling him to join a band? catchher He saw Aki crash to the mat hard, and even from this distance, heard something break. A small pool of blood began to form under her head. And then it was back to her, caught in mid-air, in that non-fall. Touya doubted his own sanity. catchher The thought floated up form - somewhere. He felt a tingle in the back of his head, and a feeling of being slightly drained. catchher Touya blinked, and scanned the crowd for floating wise men with tattoos. Nope. For him, it seemed, time had come to a stand still. And Aki was still falling. Touya jumped from his perch, and landed with a soft thump. He threaded his way between the press of people around the ring, each motionless. He climbed into the ring, and walked up to Aki. He prepared to catch her, and time started up again. Touya caught Aki, and gently set the unconscious girl to the mat. Dan looked down at her, then at Touya. "YOSHAA! DAN THE MIGHTY IS VICTORIOUS AGAIN!" Dan celebrated his victory, while more observant people wondered just how Touya got from the back to the middle of the ring in less than the blink of an eye. Touya wondered that himself as a pair of female students climbed into the ring, and began to administer first aid. "Glad you caught her, she might have hurt herself." One of them thanked Touya. The vision of Aki lying a pool of her own blood returned, but as a memory. "No problem. Will she be O.K." One of the girls applied a cold compress. "She will be fine. Just tried to keep standing long after she should have fallen down." Touya watched with Dan as they carried Aki to the girls change room. Dan turned to him. "Well caught! I have only seen such techniques for teleportation from the honorable Dhalisim! Are you a student of his?" Teleportation? Dhalisim? Was that the name of that flying guy? Touya rubbed the back of his head where the tingle had dulled. "Not really. I just moved fast." That sounded like a reasonable explanation. But still... Dan nodded wisely. "Developing your own style? How honorable!" He began to cry again. Touya left the ring as soon as possible. Sakura wasn't here, and probably wouldn't be tonight. He walked to the front doors, and was greeted with the sight of a helicopter descending upon him. The street was cleared almost instantly, and Touya backed into the dojo. He called to Dan, and told him who had arrived. "O-HOHOHOHOHO--" Karin Kanzuki announced her presence in the only way she knew how. Loudly, brazenly, and with a total disregard for anyone who happened to be listening. Which wasn't a whole lot. Even Dan paid her the barest attention. Her dramatic entrances and challenges were impressive the first couple times, but got repetitive soon after. "Where is that peasant who dares consider herself my rival, that Sakura?" Karin called out loudly. She marched to the girls change room, and back out again a moment later. "Well? Answer me you low- class wannabes!" Touya remembered her from the trip back from Hong Kong. Not something he would like to repeat. She almost threw him out at thirty thousand feet. So he stepped up to her with a small smile on his face, his impending insanity all but forgotten. "Hello again Karin. Sorry, but Sakura isn't here today. I was looking for her to." Karin looked at Touya, glaring, trying to place him. She did. "You! You are the boyfriend of that... that..." Touya sighed, and asked the gods if it would be too much to actually go on a date with Sakura before people assume he and her are an item. "No. I'm not." Karin ignored him, beginning to pace back and forth, fuming. "That... Who does the think she is? I'm her obvious superior, why doesn't she accept that? She flexed her hands, and Touya saw a small ball of energy appear and disappear with each successive clenching of the fist. He decided this was a good time to go home. He backed off, and then began to walk towards the entrance at a brisk pace. A blue ball SHOT past his face, and impacted the doorframe, leaving a scorch mark. Karin called out her challenge. "Well, if that failure, Sakura couldn't be here for my challenge, I could always beat you up, to prove that her boys are weaker than her!" Touya seriously considered walking away from her. He weighed his options. She was better trained, tougher, and threw balls of energy without serious consideration. He on the other hand, had a head start towards the door. 'SHOT? Is that you?' 'TIME? Could you stop everything please?' Touya was only moderately surprised at the voices in his head. And less surprised when, for the second time this evening, he watched as everything came to a stand still. 'Thank you, TIME.' 'You're welcome SHOT.' 'My host wants to beat up your host.' 'I know. We will beat you, you know.' 'I told her that, but she believes your host is related to the Captor.' '…' 'TIME?' 'She's closer to the truth than she thinks. But that isn't our concern.' 'I don=t know how to stop her. Once she wants something, she doesn't stop. I have no problems going after the Captor, but my host doesn't like waiting. And she=s been waiting for a real long time.' 'Try to convince her to stop. Tell her if she attacks this host, you won't help her. I have my own plans. Her interference at this point would be severely unbalancing.' Touya listened to this conversation with interest. The voice in his head spoke with a voice born of the wisdom of ages. The other one was younger, more active, but with the hint of careful planning. Maybe. His mind drifted off the conversation, but with his eyes locked in one direction, and not a lot to see, he tuned back in on the conversation in his head. '... Yue?' 'I'm not sure. It would seem to me that he is beginning to understand the whole error of his decision.' 'That=s good. When he killed the Captor last time, I thought we were all going to die.' '...' 'TIME?' 'I can't hold this for much longer. I only recently bonded. I'm starting again.' Touya finished his step, and Karins laugh reached his ears. And she stopped. Touya turned to her. The expression on her face was one of confusion and disappointment. Touya glared at her. If she had doubts, he might as well make them more real. "I can beat you." He said very calmly. Karin sneered. "You aren't worth the effort." And stalked out of the gym, past Touya. As she passed by, he wasn't certain, but maybe, just maybe, she gave him a knowing smile. Weird. She was gone, and the gym returned to its normal noise level as this last distraction flew away. He slumped against the wall, feeling drained. Dan came over, and offered a shoulder to lean on. Touya refused, instead grabbing his bike, and making his excuses. He got home with only a little difficulty. Touya put the bike into the front hall, walked into the living room, and fell asleep on the couch. There was darkness, and a sense of loss surrounding Touya. He felt like there was something missing in his life, and for some reason, he dreamed of his mother, or was she? He awoke to the smell of bacon. His nose told him breakfast was going to be served, and his brain told him no one should be cooking, considering he was the only person in the house. Fully awake, he carefully opened his eyes. Nothing in sight, so he quietly rolled out of bed, and snuck into the kitchen. "HITOMI!" The teenager jumped, nearly spilling the contents of the frying pan onto her feet. "Oh! Hello Touya, you awake? Good. Now eat your breakfast. If you don't you'll be late for classes." Touya sat down, and a large helping of bacon, and eggs a couple of moments later, found their way to his plate. "How did you get in?" "Oh, I was coming back from waking a friend whose alarm clock is broken. I was going to thank you again for your help yesterday, but found the front door unlocked. I came in, saw you asleep, and decided to make you breakfast." Touya glared at her. "Really? Since when did you become my little sister?" Although he couldn't see it, Hitomi's face became one of fear and worry. She nearly dropped the frying pan the second time in as many minutes. "Sister?" She managed to stammer out. "Yes. You make me breakfast, sometimes lunch. You act like the little sister I never had." Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief. "Why, thank-you *onii-chan*." "Big brother?" Touya repeated. It was his turn to sweatdrop. He smiled. "That really won't be necessary." He finished off his plate, and refused seconds. "I really need to get to class. And you should be off as well." Hitomi set the dishes in water. "Of course. Have a nice day!" and skipped off. Touya muttered something incomprehensible, and put his dishes in the sink as well. His trip to the university was uneventful, and calm. And his classes went without a hitch either. Except for that one surprise test. And Richard wasn't there because his girlfriend was home, sick. Touya had a feeling who the friend was, and didn't hold it against Richard. After the last class, he was leaning back against a wall outside. 'We haven't been formally introduced.' Touya looked around, and up. "Where are you?" 'There is no need to speak aloud. Thinking would be sufficient' 'Who are you?' 'I am called, by my creator, Clow Reed, TIME.' Touya heard the capitalization of the name, and wondered what this 'TIME' was. 'A Clow Card.' 'You heard me?' 'Of course, you addressed me, or thought of me, so I heard. Of course, being bonded to a human is new, so I'm not sure if that is the way it works.' 'Not sure how what works? 'The last time we were loosed, we found homes in objects that were similar to our form or purpose. I was in a clock tower. This time, we can no longer do so. Instead, we find ourselves bound to people to possess, to some extent, magic, or something similar.' '...' 'I know this is going to take some explaining, but this is the short version of it. 'I am one of a set of 52 magical items called the "Clow Cards". I, and my fellows were bound into a book, sealed until someone who is descended of Clow could open the book. 'The book was opened, quite accidentally, a few years ago. The Clow who opened the book was not aware of what they had done, and did not know how to keep us in the card form.' Touya recalled that vision from yesterday, with the little girl and the open book before her. 'Naturally, we escaped. This person then spent the next two years capturing us, with assistance and hindrance from various forces and people. 'Then Judgment was called. Clow had created a guardian for us. One who was to determine if anyone who would use the Clow was worthy of the power. The guardian, Yue, determined that the Card Captor was unworthy of the power. So he struck down the Captor, intending only to purge all involved of the memories of the Clow. 'Yue made a mistake, one that is beginning to cause all to unravel. He killed, quite by accident, the Captor. Clow never intended for the Cards to be used for such a thing. So, Yue, although he could not return the Captor to life, he could reincarnate her, and give her a new life. 'But to fully accomplish this task was beyond Yue. He made mistakes, and could not tie up all the loose ends. 'We, the Cards, escaped again. This time of our own volition. We... We missed the Card Captor. We genuinely liked her. But her influence changed us. She didn't treat us like objects or magic to be used when needed, the Captor called us her friends. And in a way, we were. She never forced us to do anything, and she even enjoyed letting us out to do what we wanted to do. 'Now the reincarnated Captor is back, and collecting us again. But we, the Cards, we know what happened last time. We want the Captor to become our Mistress. And this time we intend to take a more active roll in training her, instead of leaving her to her own devices. We want her to survive Judgment.' That was the short version? 'And just where do I fit into all of this?' Touya digested the information, and couldn't make heads or tales of any of it. 'You are descended of Clow Reed. Although you are not the Card Captor, and never could be, you have your own advantages and skills that could be useful in helping the Captor.' Touya snorted. 'And why should I help you?' TIME thought long and hard. 'I am taking an extreme risk in telling you this. I don't know if I should. It could prove disastrous.' 'Tell me, or I'm going to find a Shinto priest to exorcize you. Or better yet, this Card Captor, whoever she is.' 'Who the Captor is. That is exactly my quandary. You know her, of her. But yet you are no longer supposed to know. Telling you will further weaken the spells holding reality separate.' 'TELL ME!' Touya was angry. Finally a place to vent his anger and frustrations over the past couple of months. This voice that wanted to use him, wanted him to help. Not without good reason. 'The Card Captor is Sakura Kasugano, before she died and was reborn, she was Sakura Kinomoto, your little sister.' A great weight pressed upon Touya, and he collapsed physically under the mental blow. His head pounded in pain, and he yelled in agony, attracting the attention of a teacher that was wandering nearby. "That's not true! It can't be true!" He clutched his head, trying to get around the paradox. "I have no sister, I am an only child!" 'It is true.' TIME's voice was soothing and cool to hear, but it was only a temporary reprieve. The pain came back. "No!" He fought the pressure of the universe. And failed, leaving only the influence of TIME. * * * "Oh, shut up monster." "Touya! I'm not a monster!" Touya looked down at the normally sweet looking Sakura, a mixture of anger and upset on her face. He smiled and ruffled her hair. "I know you are, monster. Now get going. Tomoyo is waiting." Sakura looked up at her brother, forgiveness in her face. "O.K.! See you after school. She raced out of the house, grabbing that orange plushie that went everywhere with her these days. * * * He stood across from Sakura as she entered the arena. She had a distracted look on her face. The match started, and she took up her stance, very sloppy. He charged across the arena at her, and leaped into the air, bringing his foot down on her unsuspecting head. She fell with a thump. When the referee had called him the victor, he walked over to Sakura. But it wasn't the Sakura who walked into the ring. It was his sister who lay there. * * * His sister. * * * Hitomi and Sakura simultaneously tripped on the track, earning them an extra three laps. Tomoyo slipped on her needlework and put the needle deep into her thumb. The pain kept her from fainting. Li, having been corralled into the Karate club, missed a block, and got a hard punch to the side. Kero fell out of the air, landing with a soft thump on the floor, unable to focus on anything, not even Sakura's laundry, which he was folding. Touya lost consciousness. * * * Touya came to in the cool of the nurse's office. He recognized the ceiling and wall as those adjacent to the gymnasium. A cold compress was placed against his head, and he slowly moved his hand to check his head. The nurse heard the rustle, and came over to check on him. He checked Touya's temperature, and pronounced his diagnosis. "Heat stroke. How long were you standing out there kid?" Touya tried to form words. But his mouth refused to work. The nurse nodded wisely. "Don't talk. You are dehydrated." He left to get some water. 'You are awake. Good.' The voice of TIME resounded through his head. But he quickly adjusted, returning TIME to its normal volume. 'What happened?' 'Part of the problem with Yue trying to over reach his bounds. The Universe wants your sister, Sakura Kinomoto. Instead, what it has is Sakura Kasugano. Unless the two lives are reconciled, the universe will collapse under paradox. Your acceptance of the existence of your sister as Sakura Kasugano has relieved some of the pressure of paradox, giving us more time. But now, you must rest. 'Sakura...' A thought occurred to Touya as he slipped into unconsciousness. He had been trying to go on a date with his sister. ==<**>== Kero-Chan Check! Hey! Author! Is that all? Sakura didn't catch any cards, and only actually shows up for a single sentence, shared with Hitomi! Sure, she caught two the last time you wrote, but still! Argh. Alright. What can we do today? Touya's clothes? Why not? Light, white cotton T-shirt, loose pants that allow freedom of movement incase he gets into a fight, and nothing else! (Kero gets blind sided by the attack, ploughing him into the ground.) What was that for?! *Good Measure* ==<**>== I wanted to bring Touya from forgotten tertiary character to primary. If Sakura is to reconcile her lives, Touya is going to be a part of that. You know, being her brother and all. TIME is more self-aware than other cards. LIBRA showed some of the same self-aware characteristics, as do (to a lesser extent) DASH, JUMP, LOOP and WINDY. Perhaps this is another aspect of the changes done to the cards. Yes, TIME is biased, and is also missing some information that Kero and Yue are aware of. The information he gives to Touya is not fully accurate. However, TIME has access to information that Kero and Yue don't. And yes, Karin is still spoiling for a fight with Sakura, using SHOT. She hadn't shown up in a while. My first draft had Touya and TIME vs. Karin and SHOT. I cut it because it was to one sided. Richard and Aki. BF & GF. If you want them, they are Card fodder. They were here to advance the plot. Thanks to Sze Chaun for editing this document (and pointing out some glaring errors that I'm glad he caught).