Chapter 54: Cherry Blossom Branches Shake

******

I am a dreamer…

Hidden power…

A golden twelve pointed star illuminated in the dark. Ten figures standing around me in a circle. Two spots missing. Three shadows standing behind you. Nine figures standing around me in a circle. Three spots missing.  

******

April, Tomoeda, Japan…

Kinomoto Sakura, age sixteen, woke up an hour earlier than usual, jittery and nervous as usual on the first day of a new school year. It was not just another new semester but her first day of high school.

“Sakura-chan, you’re up early,” Kero-chan remarked, handing Sakura the brush. A mere onlooker might confuse the yellow creature as one of Sakura’s stuffed animals, but in actuality, he was the Guardian of the Clow, the golden-eyed beast named Cerberus.

“Good morning, Kero-chan. Can you believe it? It’s my first day of high school,” Sakura said, brushing out her long golden-brown hair damp from the shower. She went to the closet and took out her freshly pressed high school uniform. Careful not to wrinkle anything, she pulled on her black skirt and buttoned down the white shirt, tucking the ends of her blouse into her skirt. Next, she fastened on the navy blue tie with golden lining. Finally, she put on the sky blue blazer with the Seijou High school emblem embroidered on the breast pocket. She checked her reflection in the mirror, recalling how jealous she had been of her brother’s uniform when she was in elementary school and had to wear a sailor uniform. But somehow, she was already a high schooler. After pulling on her knee socks, she ran down the stairs.

“Good morning, otou-san!” Sakura called out. She could hear the sizzling of oil on the frying pan in the kitchen and the smell of hotcakes drifting throughout the house. There was a never-seen picture of her mother wearing a lemon-yellow sundress on the kitchen counter today. “Good morning, okaa-san.” Her mother had passed away when she was three, but her father changed pictures of her mother daily so that her presence in the house was never forgotten.

“Here’s your hotcake, Sakura-san. To think you’re already a high schooler,” Kinomoto Fujitaka, in a yellow apron, stated as he brought over the frying pan from the stove and set a steaming hotcake on top of Sakura’s plate. Though Sakura’s father was in his mid-forties, he looked no older than his thirties and was one of the most popular professors at Seijou Universities, his specialty being archeology. Recently, Fujitaka had received tenure and was now in the process of writing a new article for an archeology journal. 

“My favorite!” exclaimed Sakura as she lathered the hotcake in butter and syrup then wolfed it down. Her mouth was filled with warm sweetness.

“Slow down Kaijou, or you’ll choke,” Kinomoto Touya said, walking in through the patio door with his best friend, Tsukishiro Yukito. “Your table manners are still the same.”

“Onii-chan! You’re back from the hospital!” Sakura exclaimed, chugging down a glass of milk then setting it down on the table. Her brother and Yukito-san, both M.D.s, had recently started residency at the Kinhoshi Hospital and it was harder to see them now. “Good morning Yukito-san!”

“We need to go back by noon,” Touya said, running a hand to his newly trimmed black hair. “Yuki was giving me a haircut—my hair was getting long after spending all that time at the hospital, and I didn’t have time to cut it.”

Yukito held up his scissors, smiling. “And I got to eat your father’s delicious hotcakes.”

After putting her plate in the dishwasher, Sakura asked, “Yukito-san, can you give me a haircut too?”

“Sure—right now?” Yukito glanced at the clock. “Ah, you’re up early today.”

“For a change,” muttered Touya.

Ignoring her brother, Sakura nodded. “I still have lots of time before school starts.”

Soon, Sakura was position on a chair with a large towel over her shoulders, and Yukito sprayed some more water on her hair. “How much should I cut?” he asked, holding up a lock of her long hair. “You want to trim the ends, right?”

“Actually, can you cut it all off?”

“All of it?” Yukito exclaimed. “But it’s so long now—it took you years to grow it to this length.”

“I know—but I grew tired of having long hair,” Sakura replied, playing with the end of her hair ruefully. Her brother and father had decided to cut her hair short when she was little because they were two guys who could not figure out how to braid her hair or tie it in pretty ribbons like mothers did for their daughters. She had liked her easy to handle short hair and maintained the same hairstyle throughout elementary. Right before junior high, she decided to grow it out like her mother’s hair. It had taken great patience and Touya had always teased that she wouldn’t be able to grow it long. Well, she proved him wrong for once.

“Are you sure?” Yukito wound a large towel over Sakura’s shoulders and began combing out her wet hair down to her back.

“Yes.” Sakura closed her eyes, feeling relaxed as Yukito began snipping her hair off from the right side, cutting of layer and layer. His movement was swift and exact and there was a soothing effect as he ran his fingers over her hair.

When Yukito lay his scissors down and then blew her hair dry with a blow-dryer, she stared at the long locks of golden hair fall from her shoulders and onto the ground. Finally, he ran a brush through her soft, short hair. Her neck felt strangely bare, but her head felt much lighter. “Take a look, Sakura-chan,” Yukito said, holding up a mirror for her.

Sakura gazed at herself in the mirror properly, turning her head from side to side to examine her new hairstyle. It was very reminiscent of her elementary school hairstyle from the front, though Yukito had left the back slightly longer, slightly below chin-length so that should she want to, she could still tie it back. She grinned into the mirror. “Thank you, Yukito-san!”

“Its suits you very well, Sakura-chan,” Yukito replied, admiring his own handiwork. With the extra inches off, Sakura’s hair sort of floated about her like a halo when she moved her head, accentuating her long neck and bringing out the brightness of her eyes. He gave a rueful sigh—Touya was going to scold him for making his sister look even prettier.

“Eh, Kaijou—you look like an elementary kid again!” Touya exclaimed back downstairs after taking a shower. He stared at his younger sister, slender and radiant in her high school uniform. On a second look, the shorter hair actually made Sakura seem taller and more mature, but he would never admit that to her.

“Well you haven’t grown up at all since high school yourself, ‘nii-chan,” replied Sakura without flitting an eye. Gone were the days she would stomp around and pout at her brother’s merciless teasing.

“Here’s your bento, Sakura-san. The hairstyle looks very nice on you,” Fujitaka said, smiling at his daughter. It was like his little Sakura was back. Except she was not so little anymore but a young lady the age that Nadeshiko was when she married him. He sighed a father’s quiet sigh when he first realizes that his little girl has grown up.

“Sakura, do you want me to drop you off at school—we’re leaving for the hospital soon,” Touya asked. He had recently purchased a new car with the money he had saved from all his part-time jobs and was mighty proud of it too.

“It’s all right—I can just rollerblade,” Sakura replied, fastening the clasps of her brand new roller blades and grabbing her book-bag and bento. Then she glided out of the front door. “Ittekimasu!” she called out.

“Good luck on your first day of high school!” her father called back, waving from the door.

“Wait, Sakura-chan! Catch!” called out Yukito, dashing up to the front gate and throwing her something. She caught it and opened her palm to find a lemon-drop candy in her hand.

Though she no longer felt weak in the knees and sighed hanyaan, she still felt a warm flutter in her stomach as she held tightly to the candy. “Thanks, Yukito-san! Take care of onii-chan and make sure he doesn’t get ostracized at the hospital because of his horrible personality!”

“Say what?” grumbled Touya, leaning against the front door, watching his little sister disappear around the curb. “What kind of high schooler still roller blades to school?”

It was a mild April morning, and Sakura glided down the cherry blossom lane, showered by a greeting of pink petals. The sweet spring wind swept back her unbound hair. She swerved in and out of all the students heading off to their first day of school. When little girls dressed in the black and white Tomoeda elementary students gaped at her with wide eyes, Sakura gave them a little wave. They were so tiny—she was that short once. The little girls beamed and waved back, nudging each other. “Look, a high schooler said hi to us. The Seijou High uniform is so pretty—I can’t wait till I’m old enough to wear it.”

The girl’s friend whispered back, “Hey, isn’t that the nee-chan who played Juliet? I think I saw her in my sister’s magazine before.” Chattering happily, they entered the Tomoeda Elementary School building, dreaming of the day they would become high schoolers.

Out of habit, Sakura almost passed the Seijou High campus to go to the junior high building. Luckily, Daidouji Tomoyo was standing in front of the school gates by her black van, her eight bodyguards lined up to send off Tomoyo for her first day of high school. Tomoyo was probably the only high schooler to be driven to school by a chauffeur and escorted by eight bodyguards and had been Sakura’s best friend ever since third grade, when they were in the same class at Tomoeda Elementary. Every year since then, they had been in the same class, and they had promised to enter the high school gates together same as when they entered the junior high school gates.

“Tomoyo-chan!” she called out, braking her rollerblades into a halt.

“Sakura-chan!” Tomoyo, in her light blue blazer and black skirt, squealed. “You cut your hair! Kawaii!!!” She could not resists the temptation of squeezing Sakura into a tight hug even though they had seen each other only the previous day, because she was reminded of Sakura-chan from elementary school.

“Hoeee~ Tomoyo-chan—I can’t breathe,” gasped Sakura, blushing. The pair had already accumulated stares from other students.

The upperclassmen rolled their eyes and muttered, “Freshmen—just wait till day get through the first week.”

“Look, it’s Sakura-chan and Tomoyo-chan!” Mihara Chiharu exclaimed, running up to the two girls, followed by Yamazaki Takashi. “Are you two heading over to the gymnasium for the entrance ceremony? Naoko-chan and Rika-chan will be saving us spots.”

“Yes, we were just about to go there,” Tomoyo said, holding up her newest camcorder.

Sakura glanced around and said, “Hey, you guys go ahead. I’ll catch up, all right?”

“All right, we’ll save you a spot,” replied Tomoyo, glancing at Sakura questioningly.

As the clock struck eight, the students beelined towards the gymnasium, the freshmen especially jittery and boisterous after spring break. Sakura pushed through the crowds in the opposite direction. The school gardens were lined with trees in full blossom, perfuming the warm air with a floral scent. She continued around the school gates, admiring the greenery, and frowned when she saw that the end trees had already wilted. The courtyard was now silent; the opening ceremony must have started already. Over the barbwire fence, she could see Tomoeda Elementary. How carefree she had been back then, giddy each morning when she had received a candy from Yukito-san, scared that she might be tardy again, thrilled when there was a school festival, dreading when it was midterms. So simple it was then, when each day held some sort of wondrous delight. Though she was scared of what destruction might occur, capturing Clow Cards had been fun, learning the powers of each card, discovering how she could mix forces, flying through the air for the first time—meeting Kero-chan and everyone else…

But no, she was no longer Card Mistress. She had locked away her cards after the incident with the Plague. Sharp footsteps on the pavement interrupted Sakura’s thoughts. A tall, long-legged girl in the Seijou Uniform entered the school gates—she was also late for school. However, she seemed in no hurry to get to the entrance ceremony. The girl looked slightly older than Sakura and had wide-set lavender eyes that seemed almost pink in the midst of all the cherry blossoms. Her hair was a pale platinum, the color of sunlight on daffodils. Was she a foreigner, Sakura wondered. She didn’t look very Japanese at all. The lavender-eyed girl tilted her head at Sakura, who blushed to be caught staring. Then, the girl continued strolling towards the school building at her own pace, the heels of her boots clacking on the cement.

What a pretty person—I wonder if she’s an upperclassman, Sakura thought. Then she stared at the school clock tower—she was completely late for the opening ceremony!

******

Hong Kong…

Li Meilin clutched her bag tightly to her as she walked into the Li Hospital, the director of which was her uncle Li Ganliu. Many of her cousins and relatives who were talented in healing had been recruited into the Li Hospital once they finished medical school. Though there were quite a few familiar faces amongst the doctors who were in the hallway, none of them greeted her. She ignored them also and continued her way to the elevator well, to the top floor. That was the private floor where only Li’s or top officials were admitted. When she reached the glass doorway, she punched in the private access code to admit her into the hall of suite rooms that her cousin had given her. Room 905 was probably one of the smaller rooms—but better than anything downstairs, where the other patients were accepted. Wiping her sweaty palms on her skirt, she gave a brisk knock.

“Who is it?” asked a gruff voice from inside.  

Meilin hesitantly entering the door. She didn’t know whether to sit or stand, so she stood awkwardly in one corner of the hospital room. “Hey Kai.”

“What are you doing here?” Mizuki Kai demanded, looking up with rounded gray-blue eyes.

It was strange seeing Kai in the pristine hospital gown, his hair ungelled. He looked so powerless all of a sudden, like a boy, not the self-assured man that he pretended to be. He sat up on the hospital bed, arms folded across his chest. The television was turned on, but he wasn’t watching.

“You just disappeared. How come you didn’t tell me you were admitted to the hospital?” Meilin asked.

“I don’t want you to see me like this,” replied Kai flatly. “I was going to show up when I’m all recovered.”

“When’s the surgery?”

“Tomorrow morning,” Kai said.

“Will it…hurt?” Now that she was actually here, Meilin found she had nothing better to say to him. It insulted her that he looked irritated to see her there rather than touched. It also irritated her that he always went off and did things on his own, without ever giving her a warning.

“I’ll be under full body anesthesia. I wouldn’t know,” Kai said. “Don’t stick around when I’m getting the surgery either—it’ll get on my nerves.”

“But it’s scary being in the hospital all by yourself.”

“Don’t worry. I have plenty of pretty nurses looking after me,” replied Kai, grinning, as if to reassure Meilin and taunt her at the same time.

Meilin scowled. “Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about you then. I won’t bring porridge and flowers when you recover. I won’t sneak in Perro-chan to visit you either, nor buy you copies of the latest Shounen Jump.”

“Don’t. When I’m all recovered, I’ll come bother you again.”

“How long… will it take you to recover from the surgery?” Meilin asked. “A week? Two weeks?”

“They say several months to half a year,” replied Kai. “They took an x-ray earlier and told me that the bullets are in fragments and have drifted a bit—it’ll be sort of a hide and seek game for the surgeons to get them all out. And all the toxins have to be removed from my blood over the months for it to return to normal.”

“Toxins?”

“Yes. The blood poisoning from the bullets,” Kai said.

“You never told me… it was this serious,” Meilin replied. “How did you even go around?”

“I had a more important task at hand. And I’m not telling you this to get your sympathy either. I just want you to know so that you don’t think I’m a wussy when recovery process drags on. It’ll go by quick enough. So don’t come here again.”

Pouting, Meilin took off her jacket and then dragged the chair to the bedside.

“What are you doing?” Kai demanded.

“Staying with you, that’s what I’m doing,” Meilin stated, taking out volumes of manga, magazines and even a P2P from her bag. “I’ll entertain you until tomorrow. So that you won’t get scared by yourself.”

“I told you I’m not scared,” Kai sighed. “But I admit I’m a bit hungry.”

“Should I get you something to eat?”

“I’m not supposed to eat for twenty-four hours before the surgery,” replied Kai. “How about you tell me about all the delicious meals you’ll cook for me after I recover?”

“Well… You’ll only have to eat mild food afterwards, so I’ll make you my special vegetable porridge and steamed buns and fried rice. My mom’s taught me recently how to braise pork to make the meat all tender and juicy.”

“Sounds delicious… My stomach’s rumbling. Can you hear it?”

“Yes… it made that sound when you kidnapped last year. Wow, it’s already been a year since then.” She chuckled. An odd friendship had been struck between the two then, a former phantom thief hunted down by INTERPOL and a whining Chinese girl who happened to be the unlucky victim taken hostage by this very thief. “And I’ll make you curry rice and tempura too, if you crave Japanese food… That’s the only Japanese food I know how to make. Oh, I know you like oranges, so I’ll make you a citrus cake—I’m no good at baking though... I always burned my cakes during home economics.”

“I like burnt stuff,” replied Kai.

“It’s not good for you,” she scolded.

So the two talked until the wee hours of dawn—because Kai would not have fallen asleep anyway. Meilin told him all the dishes she could cook, then all the restaurants she would take him to in Hong Kong, all the places they would visit, and all the movies coming out in the summer that they would go watch. As the night waned on, Kai began talking about his childhood, returning to little memories he thought he had long since forgotten.

“Okaa-san used to bake us the most horrible cakes for our birthdays—we all had to smile and eat it anyway,” he began with a nostalgic smile. “But they grew progressively worse each year because we always complimented her cakes, and she grew overly self-confident in her baking skills. By my tenth birthday, she wasn’t even using a recipe anymore. ‘Cooking is all intuition,’ she said. The cake was so inedible that outo-san switched it with a store-bought cake when okaa-san wasn’t looking, and then coated with some home-made orange frosting so that it looked exactly like okaa-san’s cake. He even replicated her handwriting and wrote out all fancy “Happy Birthday Mikai” like the decoration on her cake. So, we all had a good birthday cake for the first time, and okaa-san didn’t even notice the switch. She merely thought that her own skills improved so much and stated she would do the same next year. Ah, but there was no next year…” Kai paused in his story and looked down. Meilin was leaning over his bed, fast asleep. Gently, he brushed back a stray strand of hair from her face. He said softly, “If I knew then it would be my last birthday cake from her, I would have eaten every piece, gladly.”

Though the nurses had offered him sleeping pills since they expected him to sleep well before the surgery, Kai spent the night watching Meilin breathing softly, hand gently rested upon her head. In a couple hours, he will undergo full-body anesthesia to prepare him for the surgery. Was he scared? He might have been if he had been waiting alone. After all, he had always been rather squeamish around blood. But, strangely, he felt calmer than he had ever before in the two and a half years he had been Kaitou Magician. Tomorrow… no, just in a couple of hours, he would undergo the surgery he had been delaying for months and months.

You told me you detested me more than any one else in the world. But please don’t hate me, my Miho, because I can’t live being hated.

At the break of dawn, the nurses came to prepare Kai for the surgery. Kai had reassured Meilin that the surgery was a simple process that should be finished in a couple hours, but nonetheless, Meilin felt her heart pounding as Kai lay down on the stretcher.

Leaning up from the stretcher on the way to the operation room, Kai said with a weak smile, “Go back home now, all right? I’ll come by tomorrow and let you know how it went.”

“Silly, you can’t leave the hospital so soon after the surgery,” Meilin said.

“Don’t look so worried—it’s not like I’m going to go die. I’m going to get better now. I’m going to get back on track. I’ll become a brother that Miho can be proud of again.”

“Kai.” Meilin felt teary eyed, not because she was worried for Kai, but because she recognized that this surgery was Kai’s first step to trying to make amends for himself. He was trying. For Miho’s sake.

“Remember, you promised to make me your homemade dumplings when I get better,” Kai said.

“I will,” said Meilin.

“And tell Perro-chan not to worry.”

“I will…” How could Kai look so calm before such a big operation? Meilin swallowed the lump forming in her throat—stupid Kai, planning on taking such a big operation without telling anyone.

“And my will is in my laptop case. I leave you Perro-chan and my favorite periwinkle studs.”

Meilin frowned angrily and would have shook him hard if he wasn’t already in so much pain. “Don’t be silly—it’s not like you’re going to die or anything.”

“Meilin dear, half my family’s troubles resulted because of my father’s lack of preparedness. We lost our house, our trusts, even our insurance money because outo-san never thought about the future. It never hurts to be prepared.”

“All right,” Meilin said meekly. It was best to humor him, after all, before such a scary procedure.

“And Meilin… I…” Kai lay back down on the stretcher as the nurses pushed him toward the operation room.

“Yes, Kai?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

******

Japan…

The students were already streaming out of the gymnasium by the time Sakura made her way in that direction.

Breaking from the crowd, Tomoyo took Sakura by the arm and asked, “Where were you, Sakura-chan? You missed the opening ceremony. It’s already time for homeroom.”

“Sakura-chan! Tomoyo-chan!” Yanagizawa Naoko called out, pushing her way through the congregation of students in the hallway. “We’re all in the same homeroom again, 1-2!” Then again, Seijou High was an escalator program where students moved up from the junior high, so most of the classes tended to stay the same.

“Naoko-chan—we’re all in the same class again! That’s such a relief,” Sasaki Rika said, reaching out a hand through all the shoving upperclassmen. None of her friends forgot the heartbreaking separation between their former homeroom teacher, Terada-sensei and Rika. But Rika did not lose her soft smile and her nurturing ways, and her friends admired her all the more for holding up so strongly. “Oh, there you are, Sakura-chan. I didn’t see you in the gymnasium. Your hairstyle is so cute!”

“Isn’t it like our elementary school Sakura?” Chiharu added with a smile, recalling how Sakura would sometimes come into class with her short, fluffy hair sticking out in all directions in the morning back in third grade, days when her brother had left to school early because of soccer practice. Hence, Chiharu had taught Sakura how to tie it into two pigtails herself.

“Ah, who’s our homeroom teacher?” Sakura diverted the subject, running a hand through her wind-tousled hair, embarrassed to have drawn so much attention to her haircut. “Onii-chan told me to beware of Bad-Breath Yamaguchi-sensei and Ogre Onitsuka-sensei.”

“Oh, I heard about Yamaguchi-sensei!” Naoko stated. “Oy, Yamazaki-kun, you look completely lost! Why so gloomy?” There was no response

“Yamazaki-kun is awfully quite today,” Sakura remarked.

Chiharu giggled. “He had his tonsils removed—he can’t talk even if he wants to. Well, let’s go to homeroom then!” Chiharu dragged Takashi away by the arm.

The classroom was crowded with students busy contesting to get the best seats. Sakura was relieved to find that her class consisted mostly of familiar faces from Seijou Junior High—some kids were from other classes but she recognized most of them. Only one or two were completely new faces. Tomoyo and she took the back row window-side desks, the most coveted desks. If any other student claimed those seats, there would have been a fuss, but since Tomoyo claimed it, no one questioned her.

“Good morning, Sakura-san, Tomoyo-san. Did you two have a nice spring break?” Hiiragizawa Eriol said, setting his book bag down on the desk in front of them, looking quite handsome in the blue blazer, white shirt and black tie knotted impeccably at his throat.

“Yes, and you, Eriol-kun?” Sakura asked. “Are Miho-chan and her mother doing well?”

“Very well indeed,” Eriol replied, sighing. “Too well. They’ve gotten into quite a few mother and daughter rows over the past several days.”

“Over what?” Tomoyo asked, bemused.

“The usual female things.” Eriol’s eyebrows twitched. “Like why doesn’t Miho have a boyfriend yet, how she needs to learn better table manners or nobody will want to marry her, how I should switch to contact lenses and get a tan…”

“What does your appearance have anything to do with Miho and her mother?” Sakura blinked, bemused.

“Well, Miho’s mother seems to think that if I were a little less nerdy and had a girlfriend, it would set a good example for Miho. Apparently, I’m not a good role model for Miho,” said Eriol with a straight face.

Tomoyo stifled a giggle; Sakura nudged her underneath the desk.

“How’s Miara-san’s eyesight?” Sakura asked. “Is there any sign of improvement?”

Eriol shook his head. “But she’s learned to get around the house without any help—and it helps she’s always has had good intuition, so she can make do even without her vision.”

Now the class was almost full, only two seats remaining empty. Akagi Aki was soliciting students to get them to nominate him as class president. Meanwhile, Yamazaki Takashi was unusually gloomy in his desk, unable to communicate all the fantastic first day of school tales he was brimming with. As expected, Mizuki Kai was not there—his name was not in the first year classroom roster at all. Tomoyo figured Kai had not returned from Hong Kong yet—surely Meilin was keeping him company.

“L-look,” Naoko whispered to the girls, pointing. “Y-yamazaki-kun”

They all noted in unison, “His eyes are open!”

Yamazaki Takashi was positively bug-eyed, suffocating in his inability to tell his first day of high school stories that he had been saving up since junior high. He took out a notebook and began scribbling furiously onto the brand new sheets of paper. Grabbing Chiharu by the arm, he pointed to his notebook.

Sighing, Chiharu said in a monotonous tone, “Takashi-kun would like to announce that traditionally on the first day of high school, to be initiated to the ranks of the student body, freshmen had to undergo a series of impossible tasks set out by their upperclassmen. Because of the high mortality rate of freshmen due to this hazing, the school is now noted to have several notable ghosts haunting various classrooms. In Seijou Junior High, the seven mysteries include the bodiless hands playing the piano in the middle of the night in the music room, the shattering glasses in the chemistry lab that attacks students, the bloody ghost in the third floor girl’s bathroom, the hanged girl from the gym storage room…”

It was actually more frightening to hear Chiharu read it so straight-faced because Takashi’s stories could be brushed off as jokes because of his comical demeanor. Luckily, Sakura was spared from hearing the rest because the classroom door slid open.

“Ah, it’s Eron-kun and Erika-chan!” Naoko exclaimed. “I thought they weren’t coming since they weren’t at the opening ceremony.” The entire class looked up because this was the first time they were seeing Chang Eron in months. His sister had accepted his graduation certificate in his place last month.

The twins had always been a striking pair, but in their long absence, people had forgotten how eye-catching they truly were. If Eron had been ill in the past months, it did not show at all because he was as beautiful as ever in his new uniform, his violet-blue hair tied back neatly. He stopped in the middle of the classroom when Sakura caught his eye.

Tomoyo glanced nervously at Sakura—this was Eron’s first public appearance since the release of the Plague. How was Sakura taking all this in? She could not tell, because Sakura showed no shock nor anger in her face. Instead, she merely looked away and took her seat next to Tomoyo.

Eventually, the students settled down into their seats as homeroom was about to begin. The classroom door slid open again, and the students waited for their new homeroom teacher to enter. In walked in a tall, graceful woman dressed in a navy blue suit, her long red-brown hair fanning out behind her as she set her books down on her desk.

“Mizuki-sensei!” Sakura-chan exclaimed—she had missed out in hearing who their homeroom teacher was because she missed the opening ceremony. The other student who recognized her from fifth grade were grinning, knowing they lucked out in their homeroom assignment.

Tomoyo’s first reaction was to glance side ways at where Eriol sat—he had his usual languid smile without showing any sign of recognition of Mizuki Kaho.

There was a loud chatter amongst the students—those who had not had her were excited to have such a young and beautiful homeroom teacher—those who had her before knew that she was a great teacher and were relieved that they were not getting Bad-Breath Yamaguchi.

Mizuki Kaho looked around the classroom smiling. “I see quite a few familiar faces from Tomoeda Elementary School. I can’t believe so much time has passed already.” Her eyes rested upon Eriol. Eriol smiled back. “I have recently completed higher studies in England but have returned to teaching because that’s what I truly love doing. So, let’s make this a great school year together!”

“Let’s see. First things first. I see all of you have chosen your desk mates already. But I think it would be more interesting if we mix it up a bit, instead of sitting with the same people you always sit with,” Kaho stated.

“So, in this paper bag I have a name of all the boys in the class. I thought it would be fun to have a boy-girl pair for the seating arrangements, and since we have an even number of boys and girls, I thought we will let the girls pick the names out of the names from the bags.” Mizuki-sensei held up a brown paper bag. Chiharu groaned—it was just like Mizuki-sensei to want to mix up everything. They all still remembered the Sleeping Beauty play they put on in fifth grade. Mizuki-sensei decided to assign roles regardless of gender, so that Sakura ended up playing the Prince and Syaoran played the Princess. She exchanged worried glances with Rika, who was her desk mate. But most of their classmates were jittery in anticipation—after all, they were at that age where any prospect of interacting with the other sex excited them. “Boys can each find a desk, while girls line up and pick out a name to see who you will sit next to.” There was scuffling as everybody grabbed their book bags and belongings.

“Hoe… But we’ve always sat next to each other,” Sakura told Tomoyo sorrowfully.

“We can sit near by still,” reassured Tomoyo.

Sakura reached into the bag and drew out a name. Carefully, she unfolded the sheet of paper. She groaned. Chang Eron. Out of the fifteen boys in the classroom, why him?

“I didn’t get Takashi-kun,” Chiharu lamented, holding up her paper. “We’re not meant to be!”

“Shh…” Tomoyo tucked her piece of paper into Chiharu’s hand. “Take it.”

Chiharu stared at the name written on the paper Tomoyo had given her. Yamazaki Takashi. “Tomoyo-chan—”

“It’s all right—it’s doing the rest of us a favor—you’re the only one who can keep him under control.” Tomoyo smiled.

Then, Chiharu grinned. “This is a fair exchange.” She handed Tomoyo her piece of paper.

Tomoyo stared hard at the piece of paper. Hiiragizawa Eriol. It was a strange twist of luck. She didn’t particular mind who she sat next to, because besides Sakura, there was nobody she really had preference for. But to have Eriol as a desk mate. That was a different story. Gathering her books and bag, she tentatively sat down in the desk next to Eriol’s.

Eriol smiled at her. “Yoroshiku onegai shimasu, Tomoyo-san.”

Tomoyo nodded her head. “Let’s have a good semester, Eriol-kun.” She looked up to see who Sakura’s partner was.

Since most of the girls had settled in their seats already, Sakura had to awkwardly walk around Eron to get to her seat and set her books down in the empty desk next to Eron’s. The only consoling factor for Sakura was that it was a coveted window seat, and also, the seat directly in front of Tomoyo’s. She couldn’t meet Eron’s eyes, but he didn’t seem to mind being ignored. Instead, he was gazing quite mesmerized at their homeroom teacher.

******

Hong Kong…

Contrary to Kai’s wish, Meilin did not leave the hospital. It was spring vacation so she had no school; she had no friends to hang out with, and none of her relatives associated with her anymore because she was linked with Syaoran, the one unspoken of. Besides, her mother knew Meilin was at the Li Hospital and had given her permission to stay there. Surprisingly enough, her mother had taken a liking to “Tanaka Mikai,” Meilin’s Japanese exchange student friend who was to have a bone marrow transplant. Perhaps it was because of the sob story of ‘Tanaka Mikai’ having been diagnosed leukemia while studying abroad or perhaps it was because “Mikai” was a charmer, but he was the first non-Li playmate that Meilin’s mother approved of for her daughter. He had been invited over for dinner a couple times, and Meilin’s mother had even put together a hospital kit for him, including a hand-knit stomach warmer.

Meilin sat outside the operation room in what seemed like the longest hours of her life. For the first time in the fifteen years of her life, her mind was completely filled with someone not herself, not Syaoran and herself, not the Li Clan, but of one who had been a complete stranger just the year before. It was nearly evening, and she had sat on the hard plastic bench all day long without eating or drinking. The operation light should have turned off hours ago, yet there was still no news from inside. 

She recognized one of her cousins walked out of the operation room, looking haggard and worn, and ran up to her. Her stomach lurched as she saw the dark brown stains on the doctor’s green smock. “Jingmei-jiejie, What’s going on? Is he all right?”

“Ah, it’s you Meilin. You know the patient? There are… some complications,” her older cousin replied. She wiped the sweat from her brows with a sleeve and slicked back a loose strand of hair from her tight bun.

Her voice came out in a squeak. “What complications?”

“Well, the x-rays showed that the bullet had been splintered into many pieces, and it’s proving more difficult than expect fishing out all those pieces—they’ve floated so much because so much time has passed since it got buried in his skin.”

“But the healers—“

In a lower voice, Li Jingmei said, “There is only a limit to what the Li Healers can do—they can alleviate the pain and lessen the blood flow. But to heal properly, there’s no easy way out—you have to follow the procedures and take things step by step.”

“Doctor Li!” A nurse in a blood-smattered surgeon smock came out of the operation room. “Doctor Wang wanted me to let you know the patient is continuing to bleed profusely. We need to transplant more blood to him, quickly.”

“What are you waiting for?” Jingmei demanded.

“The patient’s blood type is O negative,” replied the nurse. “There was another O negative patient who needed blood transplant earlier today, and we are low on stock of that type. We need to make an emergency call for donors.”

“What’s the problem?” Meilin asked. “Can I give him my blood? What can I do?”

Shaking her head, Jingmei replied, “Mizuki Kai has an extremely rare type of blood—it’ll be hard to find donors with the same blood type as him.”

“Then what’s going to happen to him?” Meilin asked, grabbing her cousin’s arm. “Why weren’t you prepared for this?”

“He wasn’t supposed to lose this much blood—we already transplanted a good amount to him earlier,” the nurse replied. “But it’s taken us longer to locate the shards of foreign material in his body, and he kept on bleeding.”

“Well, we have to find somebody with the same type of blood as him!” Meilin exclaimed. “Who—“

“Family, relatives,” Jingmei said. “Does this patient have any family members that can possibly be donors—”

“He doesn’t have anyone here,” Meilin said.

“Doctor Li—I’m afraid if the patient loses anymore blood at this point…” The nurse adverted her eyes from Meilin’s fearful gaze.

Dr. Li Jingmei frowned. “We can send out a broadcast through the hospital for potential donors.”

“The patient is losing more blood by the second!” exclaimed a nurse in a blood-stained smock who rushed out of the room. “At this rate—”

“No… NO!” Unbeknownst to herself, Meilin had tears streaming down her face. “No…”

“Meilin, you’re in the way. Go sit in the waiting area, and we’ll let you know of any progress,” said Jingmei, pushing away the distraught Meilin.

“O negative… Who has O negative blood type?” Meilin repeated to herself frantically. Light footsteps sounded ahead of her.

“I do,” came a silky smooth voice. “I can be a donor.”

Meilin looked up in shock at the familiar voice. Then she sighed in relief.

******

Japan…

During the break between first and second period, Sakura sat stiffly at the edge of her chair, pretending to look over the textbook. If she didn’t have the inside seat, she would have walked over to her friends’ desks, but doing so would require Eron to move for her, and she couldn’t quite face him yet.

“I don’t have some contaminable disease, you know,” remarked Eron at his first attempt to start a conversation with her, leaning back in his chair. “You don’t plan on holding your breath the entire school year while sitting next to me, do you?”

Sakura realized she had been holding her breath and slowly exhaled. Sitting next to him had been making her anxious and tense because she did not know how to react to him. But his dry humor got the better of her and made her turn around to glance at him for the first time since they had taken their seats. “I wasn’t holding my breath.”

Eron’s frown melted into a slow grin. Not the mocking one he usually wore but one of amusement. “You cut your hair. Long hair suited you better.”

At this nonchalant comment, Sakura scowled and replied, “Well, I like short hair better.”

“There—you’re at least looking at me now. I’d rather have you angry at me than to have to face a deskmate who refuses to acknowledge my existence for the rest of the semester,” said Eron.

“I’m sorry, but if my presence makes you feel uncomfortable, then maybe we can request Mizuki-sensei for a seating change,” replied Sakura, staring at her desk again.

“Aren’t you changing around the words—it’s me who makes you feel uncomfortable.” Eron sighed. “Well, you can continue to ignore me. Or, you can request to change desk partners.”

“What do you want me to do?” asked Sakura.

“Stay. And hear me out.”

“Why should I listen to anything you say anymore?”

Eron paused for a second, before replying, “Because that would be the Sakura-like thing to do.”

“What is the ‘Sakura-like’ thing to do?” Sakura retorted, finding herself growing more an more irritated by the minute. “I don’t know myself, and how can someone like you know me? Why should I even listen to the likes of you?”

“That’s a good question,” replied Eron, sighing. It was going to be a long school year. “But isn’t it convenient sitting next to each other in class? We can have this sort of conversation without anyone really paying attention.”

Sakura was saved from replying as the literature teacher walked in.

First day of school back from vacation was always chaotic, as students adjusted into their new schedule. For Sakura, having an older brother had prepped her well into knowing what to expect from high school. If anything, it was a pity she did not feel more excited about finally being a high schooler. The initial excitement of meeting everyone again after spring break and also being relieved to have a nice homeroom teacher had worn off already.

Since Mizuki Kaho had always been popular with the students, it was difficult to find a moment alone with her, especially now that male students had become acutely aware of the other sex and were delighted to have such a beautiful teacher. But Sakura finally caught her homeroom teacher alone at the end of the school day. It had been six years since she had last seen her, but Sakura found Mizuki-sensei had grown even more beautiful than before. 

“Mizuki-sensei!” Sakura exclaimed, blushing. She couldn’t help feeling a little giddy whenever she talked with Mizuki-sensei. “You never let us know that you will be coming back to teach us.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t let you know beforehand—it was a last minute decision on my part,” replied Kaho, smiling at Sakura. It had been five years since their last meeting. But Sakura was no longer the adorable grade-schooler, but now a slender, lovely young lady. Even lovelier than Eriol had described her to be. But something had changed though. A sixteen year old should not look like she was so world-weary, especially someone who was usually so bright and cheerful as Sakura had been.

“I’m so glad that you’re my homeroom teacher.” Sakura looked up with bright green eyes. “So many things happened while you were gone.”

“So I’ve heard,” replied Kaho quietly.

“But things will be all right… won’t it, Mizuki-sensei?” the somber high schooler asked, not with conviction in her voice but with an air of uncertainty.

There a brief pause. “Hopefully, Sakura,” was the quiet response.

It was for the first time Sakura noticed that Mizuki-sensei and Kai both had the same sad smile, the smile of someone who was concealing something. She wondered how Kai was doing, if he had decided to follow through with the surgery after all.

******

Hong Kong…

“Mikai… Tell her that I love her… and that I am sorry…”

The first thing you sense when you wake up from a long sleep is the background noise, the chirping of birds, the clacking of heels on the floor, the low murmur of voices all around. Next, your eyes become blinded by a brilliance, the light of the sunrays piercing in through the shades, a light so excruciatingly bright to the eyes after a deep sleep.

When Kai finally opened his blurry eyes again, he was greeted with the sight of a girl with long black hair cascading onto his face, dripping large drops of tears onto his cheeks. Salty.

She flung his arms around his neck. “Kai, you’re all right. Thank goodness, Kai, I was so scared.”

“Am I… in heaven? Or hell?” Kai blinked again, but the radiant face did not disappear. God had been merciful to him after all.

“Don’t be silly, Kai. You’re right here, on the bed in the Li Hospital. You’re fine now. The surgery went fine.”

“Mei…lin… Why are you still here?” he croaked. His throat was parched and his tongue felt woolen. He tried to move his limbs but found that he wasn’t fully awake from the anesthesia yet.

“This young lady waited through your nine hour surgery and has been by your side ever since you came back here,” the nurse said, smiling in relief to see the awakened boy. She primped his sheets and checked his IVs. “You lost so much blood during the surgery, we were all scared.”

“Blood?” Kai stared at his arm, where the IV were attached with tape. One lead to a clear bag and another to a red one.

Meilin nodded. “They were low on stock of your blood type, O negative, and we were all so scared. But luckily…” Meilin turned around. “You need to thank her. If she weren’t here…” She trailed off, shuddering, not wanting to think what the consequence would have been like. Realizing she was tearing up again, Meilin sniffled loudly and ran out the room, mumbling something about having to use the restroom. But as she walked out, another person entered the room.

Kai turned his head, blinking to clear his hazy vision as a tall woman with long auburn walked into the room. Mayura-sama…

The woman bowed her head slightly and stood by his bedside, smiling warmly. “This is the first time we have the pleasure of meeting, though I have heard much about you.”

No, it wasn’t Mayura-sama. This woman had warm marigold colored eyes and was taller.

“My name is Mizuki Kaho.”

“You…” Kai was at loss of words. “You were my blood donor.”

“Yes, luckily I happen to be an O negative also—very lucky I was here at the right time,” Kaho replied, smiling.

“So, you’re Mizuki-san,” Kai replied, his head rolling back on the pillow as he stared up at the ceiling. “I’m in your debt once again —you looked after Miho these past five years. You’re the one who rescued her when the house burned down. Now, you came here and saved me too.” 

“We’re cousins too, Mikai-kun— is it all right for me to call you that? I only did what was natural between family members. I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything for you sooner. Six years ago, I returned to Japan as soon as I could, but when I did, it was too late, and you had already disappeared.” Kaho stared at the boy stretched on the hospital bed, pensive. He should be in pain again, now that the anesthesia was running out.

“What brings you to Hong Kong?” Kai asked his cousin slowly. All this time, Mizuki Kaho had remained out of the picture. What had brought her on the move also? Or what had she been waiting for?

“I have accepted a teaching position back in Japan—it begins tomorrow, and I dropped by here on the way to Japan from England.

“I see. Then you’ll be residing in Japan for a while,” Kai said, sighing in relief. He could rest assured that his sister and mother had the dependable Kaho and Eriol watching out for them.

“Well, my plane flight is in two hours. I better head towards the airport now. I hope you a speedy recovery, Mikai-kun,” Kaho said. “I know you have many questions. If you want them answered, first regain your health then seek me out. You know where I will be.”

“Wait, Mizuki-san—“

“Call me Kaho.” She smiled at him, before donning sunglasses.

“Kaho-san!” Kai called out again. “Thank you for everything—I’ll repay all you’ve done for my family someday. Please look after Miho and okaa-san till...”

“The greatest repayment is for you to recover and be able to return home as soon as possible,” Kaho said, finishing his sentence. “We’ll be waiting, Tanaka Mikai.”

When the door closed again, he rolled back onto bed, closing his eyes. He could picture Mayura-sama smiling at him one of her rare, warm smiles. I told you you’ll manage fine, boy. Now get on with it—I have no patience for laggers.

Kai smiled. Yes, Mayura-sama. I know I can’t stop here. I’ll keep going.

The door opened again and Meilin walked in with a tray of food. “Ah, did Mizuki-sensei already leave? I wanted to say goodbye to her.”

“Meilin?”

“Hmm…” Meilin fussed with the foldable table.

“You really waited the whole time I was in the operation room?” Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.

Meilin looked away blushing. “It’s not like I was worried or anything—with that resilience, as if there was anything to worry about.”

“Thanks, Meilin.” Kai smiled, reaching out with arms weaker than they had ever been but hands warmer than ever before, to caress her flushed, tear-stained cheek. “You don’t know how touched I am. And I’m not a type for sentimental talk. Do you know, I think I just felt my heart beat faster.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“Do you want to feel it?” Kai reached for her hand and placed it on his chest a little below the stitched incisions from the surgery. “See?”

“Low blood pressure because of the surgery,” Meilin said flatly, snatching her hand away. He was warm again. Like he should be. Kai was going to get better. The worst was over.

“Ah, but yours is beating faster too,” said Kai, grinning slowly.

“It’s not!” exclaimed Meilin, stepping back from the bed in defiance.

“Did I not tell you that bracelet on your wrist also has a pulse detector?”

“Liar!”

“Why would I lie to you, Mei-chan?” sighed Kai, placing a hand over his bandage chest. He was sore all over, but he was still alive.