by Yuki Neco
On one Saturday night, Sakura Kinomoto was reading a magazine,
and Kero was eating a pudding, when her cell phone rang.
“Sakura, the phone,” said Kero. Sakura picked up the
phone and answered, “Hello, uh... could it be...”
The call was from Eriol Hiiragizawa back in England, who said on
the phone, “Yes, Sakura. Actually, I just remembered one
thing I forgot to tell you.”
“What is it?” asked Sakura, “There could be another
Clow Card, couldn’t there?”
“No. You’ve discovered all the cards when you sealed the
Void Card,” replied Eriol.
“Then what?”
“I just calculated some magical equation,” Eriol
continued, “Applying that equation to the date and year when
Clow Reed died, I found the answer implying that some mysterious
aura will arise tomorrow where Clow Reed died. I don’t think the
aura will be so powerful, but you should beware.”
“The place where Clow Reed died—in the amusement park, you mean,
where your house just existed?” Sakura asked Eriol.
“Yes, that’s right. I presume you can handle it, because the aura
won’t be so powerful to you,” Eriol gently answered, “But be
careful. Tomorrow is the day of a new moon—the day when the sun
and the moon are in the same direction.”
“I can handle it?” Sakura is a little confused,
“How can I... Eriol? Hoe? He hung up...”
“Oh, boy. That sounds like the way Clow Reed did,”
Kero commented, “He was a real egoist. And anyway, what are
you going to do tomorrow?”
“Hmm, I guess I should go to the amusement park to watch
the aura,” Sakura said in a determined look. But as she sat down
on her bed, she remembers something and uttered, “What should I do?
I forgot it! I’ve got to go shopping with Touya!”
Next morning, Touya was calling Sakura from dawnstairs, “Aren’t
you going shopping? Quick!”
Sakura runs downstairs, “Sorry. I’m late.”
“Osoyou! Hey, why are you always so late,
kaijuu?” Touya
picked on Sakura as usual.
When she showed up to Touya, he looked a little puzzled,
“Hey, you again?”
“What?” Sakura freezed for a moment.
“We meet again. So, I see Sakura is already out someplace,”
Touya said softly.
In fact, it wasn’t Sakura who just showed up, but the Mirror Card
pretending to be Sakura. “Umm,” mumbled Mirror.
“Never mind. I know she’s got something important to do,
hasn’t she?” Touya smiled at Mirror, “OK, I’m supposed
not to know of her activities. If she knew I know that, she’d be in
trouble, right?”
“Yeah, kind of,” Mirror mumbled.
“OK. Why don’t we go shopping? Mmm?” Touya said to Mirror.
“S-sounds great!” Mirror left the house with Touya
for shopping.
A couple of hours later, Touya was carrying armful of shopping bags
in a department store, when Mirror offered, “Let me carry some
of those. That’s too much to carry all by alone.”
“Hmm, I’m fine,” he said with a smile, “but all
you have to do is to open the door for me.”
“Uh, sure.” she trots about ten feet ahead, and opened the
door to let him out.
“Thanks a lot,” Touya said to Mirror, “We got through
with all the shopping list earlier than I expected, just because of your
help. Wanna stop at some place for something to eat? Let me buy you
some snack as the sign of appreciation.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” said Mirror modestly.
“Hmm, don’t be so modest. I know the coffee shop over there,
they have good chocolate cake.”
In the coffee shop, Touya talked to Mirror, “This just reminds
me of that Christmas, when you were being Sakura just like now and
you and I bought a wallet for my dad. Thanks for being always nice
to Sakura, supporting her spiritual activities.”
Mirror blushed at Touya’s gratitude, but she mentioned,
“No. I’ve been wanting to say this but, I deeply regret for
the way I did a job on you to harm you when we first met. I do
apologize.”
“Come on, don’t blame yourself like that,” Touya gently
calmed her down, “I understand you had to do such a thing,
it couldn’t be helped. But now you’re quite different. And I’m
honestly thankful to you for coming to Sakura’s aid.”
“You’re very sweet,” Mirror commented,
“I know you really cherish your sister. I’ve known it since
I first met you.”
“You may be right. To speak more exactly, I don’t want to let
it happen that Sakura would feel as deep a grief as that,”
Touya’s eyes became deepened.
“As that?” she repeated his words.
“That was when I was a fourth grader, Mom died from
illness,” Touya began to speak in a deep voice, “I still
needed my mom, so I was in a deep sorrow.”
“Yeah, I know how you felt,” she sympathized with him,
“Losing the one you most love is so painful, beyond my
description...”
“Oh, I see you lost your former master dead, a long time ago.
That’s why you know how painful it is,” Touya continues,
“Mom’s death was a grave tragedy in my family, especially
to Sakura. She was still three, she didn’t understand what death was.
Sometimes, ignorance could be too cruel. She was looking for Mom,
asking me when she’d ever return home, never gave up. She was
crying her heart out and kept looking for Mom. She didn’t know
how to give up, all because she didn’t understand our mom was dead.
I couldn’t bear to look at her. I don’t want to see her in sorrow
like that.”
“I see you really love your sister,” Mirror said and
dropped her head.
Touya found tears dropping from Mirrors eyes, then said,
“Sorry if I made you recall your bitter memory.”
“Never mind, it’s not that,” Mirror replied.
Out of the coffee shop, Touya and Mirror are walking in Tomoeda shopping
district. Mirror kept looking below not to say a word, but she was thinking
to her self, “Although I’m a Clow Card, I happened to fall in love
with a man for his warmhearted gentleness. It might be an impossible loving
emotion... and besides he really loves his sister.”
The moment Touya was about to talk to her with a sympathy, a voice
came across from behind them, saying, “Hey, there. You’ve
got to stop here. The girl you’re with is...”
Touya looked back, and then he saw a fortuneteller who was looking
into Mirror with a suspicious look. “Oh, no, she’s that
infamous crazy fortuneteller. People say her fortunetelling
is lame,” he said to himself.
“Hey, are you talking to me and my sister?”
Touya provoked the fortuneteller, then she said, “Are
you kidding?! This can’t be your sister. She looks nothing
else than some evil spirit.”
“Oh, shoot...” Touya grumbled, put his left arm though
all his shopping bag, grasped Mirror by the left hand, and run.
“Aw!” Mirror screeched with a surprise.
“Hey, do you run fast?” Touya asked Mirror, then she replied,
“Yes, a little faster than an ordinary human being.” “OK,
let’s make a run for it.” “Sure!” Touya and Mirror ran
away from the dubious fortuneteller hand in hand. “Come back! You’re
gonna be possessed!” the fortuneteller yelled from far behind.
“Hmm, I see she has some sense of spiritual kind, though her fortunetelling
is pretty lame,” Touya said to himself when dashing though the street
together with Mirror.
Weaving throughout streets and avenues, Touya and Mirror succeeded in getting
out of the sight of the dubious fortuneteller. “Hunh, seems like
we’ve escaped,” Touya said panting.
“Seems so,” Mirror agreed.
“That fishy fortuneteller made me run such a distance, even
though in my holiday!” Touya was whining.
“Heh heh, I’m a little tired, too,” Mirror smiled when
she was looking at Touya.
“But, you run really fast. Amazing,” Touya commented,
and then Mirror said, “But my heart is beating hard.”
“Oh!” Touya widened his eyes open.
“What’s wrong?” asked Mirror.
“This is the first time I see you smile like that,”
Touya said so, and then in a second, Mirror blushed.
“Well, anyway,” Touya continues, “I want you to
help Sakura as ever, when she needs your help. By the way, thank you
for everything today. I had a good time with you. I hope someday
we’ll meet again, right?”
“Yes! I hope so,” Mirror smiled at him.
Sakura’s cell phone rang, and Sakura answers, “Hello,
Eriol? You were mean to hang up when I was still talking!”
Sakura kind of complained.
“Sorry, but I didn’t mean it. It was that Ruby Moon tripped
on the telephone wire, and disconnected,” Eriol faked the
reason just as usual.
“Anyway,” Eriol continues, “You successfully calmed
down the mysterious aura, didn’t you?”
“Hey, how did you know?” Sakura asked.
“Just a feeling,” Eriol replies plainly, “because the
Cards are originally my kids. By the way, I also see all the Cards rely
on you, Sakura. You’re the perfect master of the Cards.”
“Thank you, Eriol,” Sakura blushed.
“Especially, the Card you released early in the morning had a
very good time today, and she feels grateful for that to you,
Sakura. That’s because your brother is as warmhearted
as you are.” Eriol added.
Sakura feels a little puzzled at this statement, “Hoe?”