#clampsecretsanta2015

 "Let's go to the rec center next, and over there to see the classrooms—" How did Kamui even get roped into this escapade exploring CLAMP Campus? —"and we really should sample the food at that one new cafe over there with the red roof, because I heard the girls on campus talking about how the desserts are to die for. And I could never pass up on sweets—" Kamui had been blissfully sprawled across his bed, ignoring the dark trials of the world for a minute (aka incoming homework). He had been contemplating whether he should lazily grab cold food or order out for dinner until Keiichi had dragged him out into the streets for a "bit of frolicking in the sunshine". Okay, now that he thought about it, Kamui was not surprised Keiichi took recommendations from a bunch of faceless girls. —"but then," Keiichi continued without even a small inhale while he lead the two of them around a corner, "after we do that, we need to go see a good game out in Tokyo. Like baseball or basketball. But then we'll have to carry all our bags back to the dorm first. And that will be tiring, so I’ll buy you some popcorn—" The stampede of race horses broke free of the gate. Kamui's head swam in the tangle of words pounded into his poor, innocent skull. No, no, no, he would not carry a bunch of shopping bags so far and then trudge around Tokyo’s busy streets. Keiichi was going too far. "Segawa-kun?" Kamui interjected. Keiichi caught his breath so quickly Kamui could feel his own breath catch in his lungs. How could Keiichi backpedal in an instant when it winded him? "Yes, Shirou-kun?" Keiichi asked. Keiichi flashed the brightest smile that, Kamui swore under oath, shone like a fresh batch of daises popping up for the first time during the spring time. Kamui remembered why he had been trapped in this day long adventure. "Let's..." Kamui trailed off. He racked his mind for any nice sentence in the fear of sounding rude. "Go somewhere quiet." Despite that everything so far had been Keiichi's idea, he nodded eagerly. "Where, where?" Good question, Kamui thought. That was an excellent question. Appearances were very important for a new reputation. He had to pick somewhere plain but enjoyable. Already everything from CLAMP to the farthest reaches of Tokyo should have been covered. (Keiichi was that irritably thorough.) Where else was there to even rest? The balls of his feet ached (there would be blisters, he could feel them grow). Kamui looked longingly at a bench situated across the street. But no. Not that. If in doubt, just point. It would probably land him somewhere horrible, but— —who was he kidding, pointing never worked, it would get someone angry— But he had no other choice, because Keiichi wanted an answer right now. Hurriedly, Kamui squeezed his eyes shut. He lifted his finger and randomly pointed in a direction to the right. He prayed that he his aim landed him in a good place. A beat of pause elapsed as Kamui waited. Kamui wondered if Keiichi was shocked. He wondered if Keiichi, his new boisterous roommate, though he was insane and annoying. "Oh, there?" Keiichi asked. He sounded excited. His voice sounded more excited than usual, which was a feat within itself. "You're right. That reminds me, we haven't picked up our books for class. I'm glad you thought ahead!" Kamui opened his eyes and checked. Indeed, he was pointing the CLAMP Campus bookstore. Plain, but not enjoyable. But at least a bookshop was functional and quiet. The approval in Keiichi's tone made Kamui's stomach drop out underneath him. Like a charm, he never failed to attract some absurd attention . . . but . . . it was good that Keiichi approved of his not-so-plan. Kamui vaguely remembered the laundry list of books he needed stashed in his pocket. He had no excuse to back out anymore. Even if he was wanted to back out, Keiichi was leading Kamui by the hand to the bookshop’s entrance. When in the hell had he grabbed his hand in the first place!? Kamui soon found himself in the shop. The line to the cash register wound around the entire store past the books section to the school supplies and clothing apparel. As a freshman to the school, it was all kind of scary and big. But everything was just so fancy and shiny Kamui could not keep his gaze under control. Keiichi dragged him back to the books and started heaping them into a small blue basket. Despite protest, Keiichi grabbed Keiichi's books from his hands after he picked them out on his list, pointedly carrying them proudly. Kamui preferred not being treated like a baby, but Keiichi’s smile was so infectious he did not have the heart to reject him. "Did you get everything?" Keiichi flipped through his own schedule and checked something off in the corner with a pencil. Kamui frowned. He racked his brain for any last minute ideas. A lightbulb cranked on in his head. "I forgot my mathematics textbook. It should be over here." Kamui scooted to the mid-section isles. He browsed through the section numbers and dividing subject tags, looking for the correct one. "It has a blue cover. Um, it's over here, I think. . . ." After five minutes Kamui found the mathematics textbook. To his confusion, that was not the thing that caught his eye. Picking up the book, he spotted an incredibly strange book that had been stashed behind it on the shelf. The book was blue like his mathematics textbook. Kamui could see how the book had been mistakenly thrown into the pile and not noticed, but the rest of the book looked nothing the same; a gold border surrounded the book and stars twinkled off in the background. In the very middle, a fierce black dragon glared out at him with its wings tucked towards its body. In curvy golden letters "Clow Book" was written at the top above the wing tips. "What's this?" Kamui muttered. He picked the book up and smoothed his fingers on the book's soft spine. He could feel his fingers tingle with the effort, entranced instantly. Keiichi surveyed the book. His eyes grew wide, fascinated with the picture. "Oh, that book looks so cool!" Keiichi gently took it from Kamui's hands and flipped it over. On the back were more depictions of stars and the circular motion of wings and rounded crescent moon circles. He tried to crack out the side but, to his surprise, he seemed to have trouble unlatching it. Keiichi’s eyebrow quirked hopefully, then he frowned in disappointment. "Strange. It's stuck or something." Kamui was at a loss. Something about the book seemed off to him. In a good but troublesome manner. This book was not ordinary, that was for sure. "Is it even for a class? It looks like a magic book and not something with schoolwork inside." “Maybe it’s an astronomy book? It does have a lot of stars,” Keiichi added helpfully. Even Kamui thought that was a plausible idea. No description was written on the back, or even a publisher on the spine, so Kamui’s guess was as good as Keiichi’s. “Possibly.” After a moment of debating, Kamui added, "And what's a 'Clow' anyway?" Keiichi shrugged, defeated easily. Since Kamui had met him a week ago Keiichi always had the polite grace to answer anything to his best ability, but he honestly seemed as stumped as Kamui felt. "Doesn't matter! Let's buy it and see if we can get it open later, okay? Maybe we'll discover something amazing." Kamui highly doubted that. But Keiichi's good mood gave him the slight jitters to follow suit and see what the mystery was all about. "But I don't have any extra money with me." To make his point clear, Kamui dug in his pockets for spare change. He ended up pulling a crinkled green candy bar wrapper from two weeks ago. Keiichi waved his hand dismissively. "I'll pay for it," he offered. Kamui gave him a half-panicked no-you-do-not-have-to-do-that reprimand, but Keiichi laughed and clapped him on the shoulder with a hearty thump. Kamui's heart did some kind of weird flip-flop bird-locked-in-a-cage fluttering. "It's okay! I want to see what's in the book anyway, and it'll be a great thing for us to bond over if we can get it open." Before Kamui could protest again, Keiichi grabbed his hand for the second time that day in public. "C'mon, the line to the register is getting shorter. This is our chance, and I’ll even buy you another candy bar for our studying session tonight!" Keiichi plopped the book in the cart and once again, infuriatingly in the best way possible, briskly lead Kamui to the long line. Once the line had thinned out enough and the two arrived at the cash register, Keiichi loaded all the books on the counter. The woman glanced at the Clow Book with uncertainty. She tried to ring it up last, but she simply said without a bar code on it, it was impossible to find without asking someone else. She asked a coworker for any clues. The man had no idea. She shrugged and handed it Keiichi free of charge. Kamui had a bad feeling about this, A gut-wrenching feeling. But he had no time to think about it as Keiichi merrily lead him out of the bookshop and into the sunlight.

Later that night, before Kamui realized how screwed he would be for the remainder of his life, he laid on his bed playing a new game on his GameBoy. He held it above his head and tapped furiously at the buttons. Kamui heard Keiichi rise from his bed across the room, and the swish of Keiichi’s brown jacket falling over his shoulders. "Hey, Shirou-kun, I'm going to pick up food from the nearby cafe for dinner I mentioned earlier!" Keiichi called over to Kamui from the dorm doorway. “And what do you want there are so many options and I want manju or botamochi—" Kamui's head hurt from the bombardment of options Keiichi offered. How one person could be so excited for food from a campus’s cafe was beyond Kamui’s sensibilities. But, well, this was a place on CLAMP, and CLAMP’s food was always top-notch gourmet style. He hurriedly listed off something random to Keiichi before he bounded out the door. Well, if there was one thing that he believed in, Keiichi would not disappoint. Suddenly, the room was a lot less cheery even with the GameBoy on.. It was very lonely, and for a rare moment Kamui could think to himself. Kamui shut the game device off and placed it on his bedside table, inhaling deeply, thoughtfully. For a minute he wondered if he should call his mother and tell her how he had settled in today to the dormitory. No, he could do that tomorrow. Already there was an enemy to contend with. An evil enemy he had spent March not trying to think about. For once out of the depths of hell, Kamui decided, he would wrangle with the impossible problems in his homework folder. That was a mystical phenomenon in itself when  Kamui's brain simply short-circuited reading mathematics problems. Wrestle with the tiger, so to speak, would get him in Keiichi’s good graces. Keiichi had promised to teach him how to manage assignments, so Keiichi would be proud of him for getting a head start on his homework. And—and—no, he did not know why he wanted Keiichi to be proud of him at all, but he kind of wanted him to think he was studious and well-rounded, okay! But first. . . . Kamui noted the Clow Book pointing from a lopsided angle from the stack of books on their shared desk. It seemed so ordinary but out of place at the same time. Figuring out that book would be better than working on his homework at any time of the day. Okay, maybe Kamui would fail at this capturing Keiichi's good graces thing. But he could not get his mind off that book for some reason, oddly enough. Brushing aside the other books, Kamui picked up the Clow Book. Earlier Keiichi had not been able to unclasp the lock on the side. Kamui had even little chance; he was not quite that macho or buff, and his slender frame caused problems like this. Granted, it did seem to be snugly fastened. "Why would anyone make a book that couldn't open?" Kamui sighed and picked at the lock. To his astonishment, the latch flipped open briefly without any real brute force. Well, Keiichi was stronger than he had given himself it for and had broken the seal without knowing it. Blinking, he flipped the latch again to fully open it and take a peek inside. That was the worst mistake of Kamui’s life. A light seeped through the book’s edges. Just as if a gust of wind passed through the dorm’s open window—which it had not—the book blasted open. Kamui stared as the heavy book rose out of his hands and floated above his head— All hell broke loose right then and there. Kamui could only cover his face with his hands to stop anything loose from hitting him in the face. The white light blinded him. He dug his palms over his eyes, but it still was not enough, and Kamui stumbled back against the desk chair. He tripped on the chair leg and dropped back in the chair with a hard crash. Through his fingers he saw an entire hoard of cards fly out of the book and soar out of the window, one by one, until all fifty-two magical cards had all but disappeared in pinpricks of white light on the horizon. Dumbfounded, Kamui stared with his jaw wide practically scrapping the floor. No, no, no! Cards did not fly away! Normal, proper cards did not fly away out the window for the rest of the world to see. Cards did not—what in the— Kamui should have just followed his first instincts; do not touch the shiny new book. Homework was good, and playtime was bad. He should have left it alone and kept Keiichi out of his bad ideas even if Keiichi had proposed the idea first. And then—something soft but scaly smacked him in the face. More specifically, the soft thing smacked him on the cheek directly. It felt like a . . . wing? Slowly, he turned his gaze to the left. When he witnesses what it was, his blood ran cold to see the black wing flap in his face before closing against the small body. Kamui jolted back in the chair and stared at the shape emerging from the Clow Book in a glow of golden light. Its eyes were tightly shut, but its wings raised to its sides as it floated out from the center of the book. Calmness and serenity painted its face. A black dragon with powerful and long wings was in Kamui’s dorm room. A baby dragon had popped out of the book. No, that was putting it mildly. The dragon may as well have been a cute plush toy. But, on the other hand, Kamui highly doubted that a plush toy would leap out of a book, or even a children's book for that matter. The dragon's eyes cracked open. Sullen, dangerous red eyes narrowed at Kamui all too quickly, and he snarled at him. Once again, he slapped Kamui right in the face. Kamui rubbed his cheek. Now he was both confused and angry "What was that for!?" Kamui yelled. He balled his hands into fists. The dragon's voice came surprisingly strong but  soft for his size. "You opened the book, that's what happened to me!" he roared. "Well, excuse me, I didn't mean to do anything that would disturb your sleep," Kamui shot back. He slammed his hands down on the chair's arms and pushed himself to his feet. Really, the very last thing he had meant to do was anything absurd like this. He would have liked to avoid this mishap. "It's not my fault you came out of the book! Now that's rude. How was I supposed to know?" The dragon puffed out a billowing trail of grey smoke. Huffily, he flew around the room and surveyed its messy contents. Kamui's side of the room was decidedly much less pristine with junk and clothes scattered at the foot of his bed (he would clean that up soon, really). On the other hand, Keiichi's bed was perfectly well-made and his drawers not cluttered with any loose sleeves hanging out. "Honestly, teenage boys," the dragon sighed. He shook his head. "How do you live in this disgusting heap of a place? It's so small. I used to live in a mansion with a wide garden. I wouldn't even know how to live in my true form in such cramped quarters!" Indignation crept up Kamui's spine. This was all he could afford, and the dragon was putting it down. He darted to grab for the dragon with both hands, but the dragon evaded him with a swoop to the right, the book following behind him. This still did not stop Kamui from defending himself. "Hey, it's a nice dorm! A really nice dorm!" Kamui knew this as fact. CLAMP Campus was renowned for its best hospitality to each person that lived there. This dragon had no idea what it was talking about. "I don't care." The dragon lifted its wings again and flapped them, as if testing to see how well he could move in the dry air. He dropped down on Keiichi's bedspread and relaxed. "I'll rest my wings here. Your bed is a sight for sore eyes. I can't even bring myself to look at such as unmade, filthy disaster." Kamui was about to leap into action again. The dragon shook its head. "Oh, quiet. I at least am civilized and know my place in front of my new Master. Even if you are a bumbling fool." He raised his wings and bowed towards Kamui's bed as an invitation. "I will accept you when you’ve done something that captures my interest, but in the meantime it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. Now, please do sit and stop gawking so slothfully so we can get the pleasantries out of the way." Kamui grit his teeth. Despite everything, he sat on his bed and clutched at his bedspread. Yes, he really should have just done his homework like a good student. "So," the dragon began, "my name is the Kiryuu. I am a sparkling dragon of the heavens, and don’t you forget it. For you sake, I will allow myself to stoop to your level. You may call me Ryuu for short." He allowed a pause so Kamui could appreciate the "generosity" he offered his new master. "I am the guardian beast of the Clow Book you opened. I don't know why you're strong and able to open the book. You’re pretty puny, you know? But you're incredibly powerful fledgling magician under that tender skin you call a body." He puffed out more smoke in an amused chuckle. "You're going to help me save the world from destruction." Do . . . what? Kamui would do what? "I don't want to be responsible for the stake of the entire world!" Kamui was not good in the spotlight. Honestly, he would fall flat on his face and faint. He had his friends, and he had a new life here in Tokyo after leaving back from Okinawa two weeks ago. He wanted to relax and live normally and not gallivant around looking for magical cards probably in the form of beasts like this one running amok Tokyo. Wait. Was that what the cards had on them? Beasts? Kamui had not seen the covers. "Well, you don't have to be the greatest magician the world's ever seen overnight, kid," Ryuu replied tiredly. "I know you're a weakling right now. But you have the potential to overshadow many great sorcerers of my time if you put your mind to it. Never Clow Reed, but you’ll come close for my liking." Kamui ignored the unveiled insults. He wondered what time Ryuu meant, but it didn't really matter. "And those cards? What are they? Where did they fly off to? And who’s Clow Reed?" Asking Keiichi about Clow earlier flooded back to Kamui’s memory. "Clow Reed was my previous master. He was a great magiciaian. And that, I did not know. The cards could have gone anywhere in this city," Ryuu admitted. "They're magical cards of Clow Reed's creation, and they're all pretty tricky, but I'll train you up from the meat you are into a strong warrior. Then we'll collect them." The dragon shut the Clow Book and rested it on the book next to him. "While you opened a can of worms, the cards are only scattered around this city. I doubt they went much farther." Now it was official and set in stone. Kamui was going to end up looking for magical cards running amok in Tokyo whether he liked it or not. Kamui allowed this to sink all in. Okay, Tokyo. Tokyo was a huge place, but he supposed that narrowed it down a bit unless like saying, well, the cards were in off-places like a random Pacific island or somewhere in the North Pole. And Kamui would have absolutely no money to his name to reach such places. Maybe that was what the dragon was for, though—to fly him to new places. "If I'm your Master like you just said," Kamui said slowly with a scowl, "why can't you respect me like you should?" Ryuu yawned, completely nonplussed with his tone. Long, pearly white teeth flashed in his mouth. "You haven't done anything to earn my respect, kid. Now this other guy you live with, I hope he knows a thing or two about treating a dragon right." Kamui just glared. This was going to be a long journey. Or, well, whatever this upcoming ordeal would be. It would be a lot of pain and suffering to his name. "Okay, but you just can't tell Segawa-kun anything," Kamui requested. Ryuu's dissatisfied demeanor spoke volumes. Kamui bristled. "I mean it! You cannot come out when he's here at the dorm, and you have to clean up after yourself, and you cannot ruin my ordinary life. I worked hard for my life." "I'm sure you enjoy your ordinary life," Ryuu said with the driest tone possible. "As a matter of fact," Kamui replied with a smirk, "I enjoy it so much that I want it to continue forever." Perhaps his luck never held out that long, but a man could dream. "Yes, yes." Ryuu was even less impressed. "Like anyone that comes in contact with Clow's magic is ordinary when the magic is done with them." Kamui was about to ask what exactly Ryuu meant by that (he would live a peaceful life, a happy life even if it killed Kamui!). But then . . . that dream splintered like a hammer against wood once, as if on cue, the dorm room knob jiggled and the hinge clicked open. Panicking, Kamui leapt off his bed in a panic. Keiichi was back! He was going to see a talking dragon on his bed and guilt (for something) everywhere the eye could see. Keiichi would freak out, or faint, or he would get hurt because of the dragon being a dragon. Kamui would have to drag him to the Infirmary and formulate a complete story because Keiichi would need a psychologist to work out his trauma— "You have to hide!" Kamui yell-whispered. Ryuu looked mildly appealed to even hear this commanded of him, and he shook his head. "I will not hide! How insolent of you to think I can't handle myself!" Ryuu missed the point. Well, it mirrored Kamui, he guessed. Kamui had missed the point of pretty much everything that had happened in the last few minutes. As fate would have it the door finally opened. Keiichi sauntered in with a brown box full of take-out food, and he waved as soon as he walked inside the room. Even at a moment like this, Kamui could not help but notice just how happy seeing Kamui made Keiichi. Even dinner made Keiichi way too happy to be a real person. "Shirou-kun!" Keiichi greeted. He plopped the box on their small table in the corner. "Here, I have all your favorites, and I bought something extra because it was on sale. I’m sure it’s delicious, so let’s dig right on in to our meal!" That was the moment Keiichi's motormouth grinded to a halt. That was the moment Keiichi locked eyes with Ryuu's puffed up stance on his bed, and that was the Kamui's normalcy dripped down the drain of hell and into the snake’s mouth. Keiichi did not scream. His eyes rounded, his lips twisting in amazement. "Shirou-kun," Keiichi said. His voice was calm and bland. That was tone was cautious like something was on the edge of it waiting to crest over into excitement. "Y—Yes? What is it, Segawa-kun?" Kamui asked. He was caught red-handed anyway, so he might as well go down with his ship and handle the results. "You never told me," Keiichi whispered. "You never told me something like this." Wait. This was not what he expected to hear. At all. "Eh?" Kamui frowned and stepped over to Keiichi. Tentatively, he waved a hand in front of his friend’s face. Keiichi barely blinked at him, stunned. "What did I never told you? What do you mean?" Well, to be fair, there were many things one could not explain about their whole life's story in one short week. Kamui digressed. Emotions blossomed on Keiichi's face. First there was anxiety. Then there was joy. "That you wanted a pet dragon!" Keiichi dashed at his bed and leaned close to Ryuu. He did not touch him, but he knelt in front of him, and he stared with big, adoring eyes. Keiichi bowed his head politely in greeting. "Hello! I'm Segawa Keiichi, and it's an incredible pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dragon!" Ryuu seemed taken aback. Even so, he nodded with dignity and grace once he realized Keiichi was not screaming with terror, following the custom he had just seen. "Same to you, human. I am pleased to meet you." Question marks danced above Kamui's head. He cringed. Keiichi had the red carpet thrown out for him, but Kamui was left in the dark like usual. Ryuu had turned Keiichi to the dark side right in front of Kamui's eyes. Kamui might as well roll with this. "Yes, I wanted a dragon. It was my childhood dream?" Kamui wondered aloud. Fuuma had joked about having a dragon as a kid. Kotori had wanted a lapdog, and Fuuma had regretfully agreed to make his sister happy. "But that's not a bearded dragon, Segawa-kun. He’s, um, I actually don’t know." A bearded dragon was the most normal animal he could attribute to Ryuu's case, but Ryuu was too obviously a pure blooded dragon to classify as a mere reptile. "I resent being lowered to that status," Ryuu grunted under his breath. He blew a small flame from his mouth. "I am a fearsome dragon, a dragon of sparkling light and the heavens. At least this human here appreciates how marvelous I am." "I do, I do!" Keiichi piped up. "A marvelous pain in the ass," Kamui muttered. Nobody seemed to hear. Pets were not allowed in the dorm without special clearance anyway, but Kamui did not think Ryuu really counted as a pet. And no way in hell would he go to Imonoyama Nokoru, the head chairman of the academy, and ask for an exemption. Suddenly, something deeper seemed to settle on Keiichi's face like he had just come down from his euphoric state. His eyes widened as he really examined Ryuu and took in his appearance, and he looked at Kamui with the strangest look, like reality had slapped him head on with a cold, hard brick. "A dragon. In our dorm room." Slowly, Kamui felt himself nodding to meet his gaze. The expressions on Keiichi's face would have been comical in any other moment. "That's the gist of it," Kamui agreed. Keiichi's head tilted. A moment later he shook his head again, clearing his head of whatever hesitation had settled in. He turned his attention back to Ryuu. "May I touch your wings?" Keiichi asked. Ryuu bristled a bit. He did not seem as offended with Keiichi as he had been with Kamui, and he relented easily enough. "Since you asked kindly." Still, Keiichi was polite enough not to cross boundaries. He gently poked a small blue scale on Ryuu's wing. "Ohhh, you have such soft wings," he murmured, mouth turning into a little "O" of wonder. "I didn't know dragon wings could be soft and fluffy. I thought they were rough and scaly. But it's not." Bait. That was bait Kamui could finally take advantage of. Kamui would show just who the boss was around here, and Ryuu would be left in the dust. "Yeah, what's with that? You could be a lot more threatening, but you're like a stuffed animal," Kamui chimed in, more just to aggravate the little pest. Actually, it was humiliating he found so much irritating about the dragon. Ryuu spouted fire at Kamui. Shocked, Kamui ducked and barely kept his hair out of being burnt. He landed against the soft back of the desk chair again. It was hardly enough fire to really hurt him, but Kamui was seethed from where he lopsidedly sat. "I will have you know that my true form is monstrous. This form is to be inconspicuous and manageable," replied Ryuu with passion. "Clow made me into an absolute terror. You'll fear me once I turn into my true form! I'm not powerful enough yet." "Why can’t you transform now? Can't Shirou-kun give you his power if he really tries?" Keiichi asked, genuinely curious to find out more about his new friend. His enthusiasm dampened a bit just to hear he would have to wait to see something truly great. Still, he was clearly interested in the answer, or inevitably what else he could do to help speed up the process. Ryuu took a deep breath. Kamui waved his hands to hush him, but Ryuu told the story of the Cardcaptor once again. Except this time Ryuu was thorough in his explanation. "Well, Kamui here has to collect more of the Clow Cards for that to be possible. The Guardian Beast of the Clow Cards can't be powerful without something to protect, and I need their addition power. Now Kamui is Cardcaptor Kamui, and he has quite the adventure in front of him. He'll save Tokyo and keep the cards from going berserk and causing mayhem in the streets." Ryuu nodded firmly with each word. Perhaps Ryuu embellished the severity of his case just a little bit, but Keiichi was strung along like a Christmas light to the tree of Ryuu’s wisdom. "When he gathers more of the cards and we harness their power, I'll be able to transform. You'll see my ferocity firsthand!" Keiichi was practically a puddle of mush in his happiness. He balled his fists and gave Ryuu a peace sign. "I can't wait!" Kamui flinched when Keiichi grinned widely at him. Kamui gulped, grasping at the carpet underneath his fingers. This was too much pressure for one teenager to take in less than a half hour. He understood better now, but that really meant nothing. "No, this will be horrible!" Kamui tried to protest. He felt ashamed somehow when he saw Keiichi's eyebrow quirk in disappointment. "That's not true," Keiichi chipped in. He stood to his feet and gestured at the window. "Think about it. With the cards, you'll be able to do so awesome things." "Awesome?" Kamui asked. What an overstatement. What a grovel of doom for his entire social life. "Awesome? Like what about this catastrophe is awesome?" Keiichi actually put his fingers together and started to count off of each one. "Saving people, having magic, maybe saving a kitten from a tree, helping around the campus—" He went on to list about fifty other accomplishments that jumped over Kamui's head and crash landed against the barriers that shielded his brain from overheating with anger. Keiichi, without Kamui’s notice, was in front of him before he registered it. Keiichi grabbed Keiichi's hands again like earlier at the bookstore. Kamui had barely even noticed that he had approached him at all, and his heart beat faster. Kamui froze. "I can't believe that book from the bookstore really brought us this much happiness! I can’t wait to test it out." He squeezed Kamui’s hand. Kamui strangely did not want to move away. "This will be great, won't it, Shirou-kun? We can't sleep until we work on battle strategies! And I'll make tea and cookies and we'll eat the food from the cafe and we can how to catch the cards all night long. Andit'llbesototallyfun!" Now, truly, this Cardcaptor business had pretty much uprooted his entire life. A beautiful friendship was blossoming. Sadly, it was not quality time between Kamui and the homework piled up on his desk. No, not so sadly. It was quite the opposite, anyway. Keiichi's large, impressionable eyes stared at Kamui, brimming with sunshine. Kamui could feel his resolve crumble and smatter on the carpet. The world was against his happiness, and he had no possible way to escape its wrath. As long as Keiichi was happy, though, maybe he could just get through tonight and the next day. Well, what else was different about this picture, right?

Somehow and somewhere that night on CLAMP Campus, Imonoyama Nokoru discovered—to his utter dismay without any relief, most obviously—that a special package personally addressed to him had gone missing in transit between the bookshop's delivery truck and his office. Wherever that Clow Book was, Nokoru hoped the student would refrain from causing uproars on the campus. Surely it was in the hands of a student, because he would have known if enemies had made a breach into the campus. He trusted whichever student it was to keep things semi-responsible. The Clow Book was a very complicated and sensitive case, after all. Connecting with specific people about the Clow Book's safety would take hours of tedious phone dialing and arrangements. These were arrangements Nokuru rather avoid making. The transit had been hush-hush in the first place, and he would need to lapse into extraneous detail about the Clow Book's previous whereabouts. No one on the campus could vouch for that information besides his closest comrades without evidence. In short: This was a mess and Nokoru wanted a break off from locating it. Nokoru was not even upset with this twist of events. On the contrary, he could make a very compelling argument for his paperwork not properly being filled until further notice. Nokoru sat back in his comfy desk chair and put his hands behind his head, nodding with approval to the heavens. All was right with the world.

"You brought a checklist of everything you like about me," Kamui repeated, face dark and deadpan. He wanted to run and hide under his bed. Incidentally, Keiichi had already dragged him out of the dorm out into CLAMP’s streets, and Ryuu floated next to them. Luckily nobody else on the campus was privy to the dragon's existence so far. Keiichi shifted the notepad in his hands. Even while walking, he furiously but neatly scribbled in the blue lines with a sturdy blue pen. Keiichi had taken notes on everything Kamui needed to make him a badass Cardcaptor. Everything, and Kamui knew this as a terrible fact; Keiichi was drop-dead dedicated. In fact, Kamui had heard the pen scratch against his paper for many hours that previous night, Now he just had the shivers. "Of course I did! I can't go anywhere without my handy checklist. It reminds of Shirou-kun's best points, and I have to write them all down so I won’t forget any," Keiichi replied. He seemed flabbergasted Kamui even had to comment about his notetaking. Kamui had good points. What good points? He had no idea—maybe he was a good eater, which just made him a glutton. He was too scared to ask. There was a checklist the size of a scroll with all his good points. He had a verified right to be frightened. Somehow Keiichi had roped him into exploring the campus anyway, just like the first day with the bookstore. While that might have been a disaster on the first week of school when everything was in full-swing, Keiichi had of course ensured homework time had come before saving the world. Keiichi was a responsible guy and probably the best influence Kamui had ever been honored with his whole life. And maybe Keiichi was the person to give him the worst anxiety. While collecting data on his every move and twitch, Kamui just had no idea what to think about that. “Seriously! I have to get all of this on tape, and I can’t miss a single second of your greatness. I’ll be at your side the whole way. You'll be a worldwide star, Shirou-kun," Keiichi announced. His eyes turned dreamy. "I have it all planned out with your debut and the little things we'll do to keep fans interested.” Kamui backed away. Slowly. No need to provoke him. “You do? Like what? Keiichi launched right into his plans. “You'll be the number one top sensation on Youtube. And I'll make you a hit on Instagram, too! Imagine the collections of cute photographs, and the likes will be flooding in by the minute. And the comments!" He puffed out his chest with all the pride of a newcoming top idol producer. Kamui could see little hearts popping out of Keiichi's eyes. Yes, this caused a double awkward alert for Kamui. Honestly, he could go without people criticizing, or even complimenting, his pictures. Despite this, Kamui was in no mood to complain. He would just let Keiichi have his fun for now and destroy evidence later. "When people ask us how we made the videos," Keiichi continued, "I'll tell them that my technical know-how did a lot. I did the special effects. There's a lot I have to learn, but! But! It was all you that made the magic. You're just that talented. I just have to find how to make you even cuter so everyone will agree!" Kamui gaped. He almost ran into a crosswalk pole, but he dodged and followed after Keiichi like he had just been just bitten by a zombie. Did he just . . . did Keiichi just call him. . . .? Kamui highly, highly doubted that. He had. Keiichi had. That word. Cute. Kamui wondered if his so-called magic could make him disappear right there. "N—No, no, please," Kamui pleaded. He laughed, hoping to diffuse the tension in his shoulders. He shifted his bag nervously. “As nice as that all sounds we don't have to do any of that. I mean, it's such an inconvenience to you, and I don’t want you to overwork yourself for my fame and glory. I don't want to trouble you, you know. It's a lot of trouble. And—" His violet eyes rounded and shimmered with resolute hope that the consideration in his voice would shove the hint through Keiichi’s thick skull. When times were tough, consideration always got across when Keiichi needed the extra push. Keiichi stopped. Kamui almost ran into him now, too, but he stopped behind him. He waited, and Keiichi turned and firmly took Kamui's hands in his before Kamui could prattle on about whatever he had been about to distract Keiichi with next. Keiichi beamed reassuringly, and Kamui had déjà vu of the other night when Ryuu had appeared from the book. Kamui’s mouth clamped shut, just as if a zipper had closed it. "Shirou-kun, I insist. Your happiness is my happiness. I want you to be happy." The sheer sincerity in his expression shattered every one of Kamui's debates. It was a blinding force like a star bursting into a supernova light years away. "You'll be the world's shining star. I'll get you on center stage, I promise you with my heart crossed!" Keiichi reiterated. Keiichi wink and gave him a peace sign of triumph. Just to make his point, Keiichi drew out his phone and flipped it open. He tapped a few times until he opened an app. He grinned. "Look, Shirou-kun! We have one follower on our YouTube account already! I didn't put anything up because I didn't ask you yet, but I talked to my friends and I convinced them to look! I didn't tell them about magic, but—" Keiichi told his friends. Keiichi told . . . his other friends . . . that Kamui was . . . was. . . . Kamui wanted to die. He wanted to fall down and die and never see the light of day again. He willed himself to sink into the ground. Kamui wanted to topple into the molten depths of the Earth and never reemerge. But then, even if he did that, Kamui had the suspicion the Earth would just spit him right back out again into the heavens. Kamui suddenly had a whole new appreciation for his Cardcaptor duties. Saving the world would be much easier than dealing with Keiichi's well-meaning but hyperactive ways. But Kamui was much happier dealing with the latter, and he hated to admit that. "Ha! You think this is difficult. Wait until you meet my sister,” Ryuu laughed. He blew fire out of his mouth in glee. Obviously he was thinking of Kamui's suffering at the hand of the Clow Cards, and Kamui was none too thrilled with his guardian beast. Kamui needed anything to distract himself from that one little like. "You have a sister?" This was news to Kamui. This was a little normalcy from Keiichi's obsession with him. "What's her name? Is he nicer than you?" Kamui had to go for the jab, because Ryuu had set himself up for it. Ryuu huffed. "No." He shook his head, and Kamui felt his hopes sink. "Chikyuu is pure evil. She’ll kick your ass straight from this city to the end of the Earth in a minute flat. She’s ruthless, and you better toughen up, shorty." He chortled once again. “Don’t worry, Master Kamui, I’ll help you as much as I can until your trial day.” That did not sound promising. Like, at all. In fact, it sounded like he would die or something, and Kamui was not ready to die for anything, especially for the world. Kamui now had a horrible feeling about all this dragon business more than the Cardcaptor duties. Tokyo was supposed to be a place of dreams and wishes. In reality, it was a worse place than he could have imagined. It was all because of a stupid little dragon. Without warning, Ryuu came to a halt. Kamui gave the dragon a quizzical glare. Ryuu flapped his wings in every direction. "I sense a Card nearby!" “Really? Where?” Keiichi asked, hopeful. Kamui almost leapt out of his skin. No, no, no! He was not prepared for that. He had no idea how to face one of the Clow Cards, especially not in a battle situation. Ryuu flew higher above the street sign and ignored Kamui’s wanting to just ran away. Ryuu glanced around until he pinpointed the direction. "This way, this way!" Keiichi hurriedly pocketed his phone with the utmost grin plastered across his face. He grabbed Kamui's hand, and the three of them sped off down the street.

So, Kamui had expected to see a burning building by now. You know, something to set the dark and dastardly mood. Maybe someone could have been rushed off to the hospital in an ambulance, which would have set the stage for a lot of drama. But, no, his imagination was foiled. Instead, he was sitting at a table with a pile of dango sitting innocently on the plate. Keiichi sat across from him biting into an ice cream crepe. "What part of 'card' does this look like to you?" Kamui hissed under his breath. Indeed, no Clow Card was in immediate site inside the cafe. It was the one Keiichi had bought sweets from a few days ago, so he was quite familiar with the place. For Kamui, it was just a bombardment of jelly and caramel and cake batter. But it did all taste delicious, so he had no reason to complain about any of that, either. How annoying.