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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/CCN2.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,279 @@
     1.4 +Cardcaptor Nadeshiko
     1.5 +Chapter 2
     1.6 +by G.P. and Amazoness Duo
     1.7 +pearsong1954@yahoo.com
     1.8 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
     1.9 +
    1.10 +
    1.11 +“Nadeshiko-chan!! Look out!!” Sonomi cried out, throwing herself between her curious cousin and 
    1.12 +the evil, bloodthirsty, undead teddy bear. She kept herself in the way, lest it try to drink her 
    1.13 +precious best friend’s blood or some other such travesty. She eyed it with fiery determination 
    1.14 +for a ten year old, ready to protect Nadeshiko to the bitter end. No one was going to hurt her 
    1.15 +cousin. It felt like some kind of nightmare. But somehow, deep down, Sonomi felt vindicated. Her 
    1.16 +paranoia had been right! Something else had gone wrong! Sure, it wasn’t what she had expected, 
    1.17 +but she had known it all along. 
    1.18 +
    1.19 +“Huh? What is it?” The little yellow stuffed animal looked one way and the other, getting ready 
    1.20 +to pounce on whatever the danger could be. Something had the auburn haired girl pretty worked up 
    1.21 +by the look of things. He had to be ready for anything. 
    1.22 +
    1.23 +With strong legs garnered from being the fastest girl on the track team, Sonomi’s leg swept out 
    1.24 +and hit the teddy bear dead on. The stuffed animal got out a muffled ‘ooph’ before getting flung 
    1.25 +into the far wall by the force of Sonomi’s unexpected kick. Her skirt fluttered about her in a 
    1.26 +very unladylike way, but aside from her mother’s voice telling her to fix it in her head, she 
    1.27 +didn’t bother worrying about it. Picking up Nadeshiko’s alarm clock, Sonomi hurried to the 
    1.28 +fallen plushy. If it could be hurt like that, then maybe it could be killed. She wasn’t about to 
    1.29 +let some demonic puppet whisk away her darling Nadeshiko. Her heart beat furiously in her chest 
    1.30 +as she kept a wary eye on the little stuffed animal.
    1.31 +
    1.32 +Nadeshiko hurriedly followed Sonomi, her eyes swiftly spotting Teddy. He was lying on the floor 
    1.33 +in a daze, little eyes swirling. Nadeshiko felt sad inside as she surveyed the sight. It looked 
    1.34 +like her friends weren’t getting along very well at all. But then, Sonomi was awfully protective,
    1.35 +so maybe she thought that Teddy was trying to take her place as her best friend. Smiling 
    1.36 +brightly, she tried to ease her cousin’s worries. “Don’t worry about Teddy-chan, Sonomi-chan. 
    1.37 +He’s my new friend, but nobody could ever replace you as my very best friend.” She hugged the 
    1.38 +slightly taller girl from behind, holding onto her tightly. Sonomi was fun to hug. She always 
    1.39 +got all blushy and embarrassed. It was always hard for Nadeshiko to keep from giggling. 
    1.40 +	
    1.41 +The stuffed animal in question could dimly hear someone talking as he tried to get his bearings. 
    1.42 +What had happened? He had the vague memory of danger and then swift and immediate pain. It must 
    1.43 +have been invisible, he decided. What else could hurt the almighty Cereberus? Nothing, that’s 
    1.44 +what. Assured once more of his invulnerability, the animate stuffed doll looked around the cute 
    1.45 +room. Everything was frills and ribbons. Even the pigtailed girl above him wielding an alarm 
    1.46 +clock. In all of his life, nothing had frightened the Seal Beast as much as that ten year old 
    1.47 +girl about to squash him flat with a cute pink clock. There was something about it that didn't 
    1.48 +make for a fitting demise to the legendary Cereberus. Luckily, the pale girl from earlier 
    1.49 +managed to stop the auburn haired girl that was bent on crushing his head. The pigtailed girl 
    1.50 +blushed and fidgeted in the pale girl’s embrace, offering him the chance to recover, quickly 
    1.51 +flying up into the air.
    1.52 +
    1.53 +“Nadeshiko-chan...” Sonomi got out weakly as she felt Nadeshiko’s arms around her. She nearly 
    1.54 +forgot about the bloodsucking teddy bear and the clock in her hand. Nadeshiko was always so sweet
    1.55 +and loving. And it always made Sonomi’s heart flutter when they would hug, or just when she got 
    1.56 +to watch her precious cousin. Sonomi loved pretty, cute things and Nadeshiko was the living 
    1.57 +embodiment of such things. And even with her own admittedly short temper and emotional nature, 
    1.58 +Nadeshiko could always diffuse it with a smile or a hug. Just as she did now. It took the 
    1.59 +brunette a moment to spot the flying toy. Narrowing her eyes, she pressed back against Nadeshiko,
    1.60 +intent on protecting the smaller girl. “Stay away from Nadeshiko-chan!!”
    1.61 +
    1.62 +“Will ya wait a minute? Geez...” The floating stuffed animal rubbed his head with his small arm, 
    1.63 +wincing at the pain that burst through him at the contact. “What kind of girl are you? Didn’t 
    1.64 +your mother teach you not to hit people?” He frowned as he watched the two girls. Somehow this 
    1.65 +wasn’t turning out at all how he’d planned it. The Cardcaptor seemed... out of it. And the other 
    1.66 +girl certainly was violent. 
    1.67 +
    1.68 +“Of course she did. But I’m not gonna let some little evil stuffed animal hurt my 
    1.69 +Nadeshiko-chan!” Sonomi shot back angrily. This thing was starting to get on her nerves. If only 
    1.70 +she’d smacked it with the alarm clock...
    1.71 +
    1.72 +“Who are you callin’ little?!” Little wings beat irately as a vain appeared on the toy’s 
    1.73 +forehead. “Why you..!! You have no idea who you’re talkin’ to!”
    1.74 +
    1.75 +Sonomi clenched her fists as she advanced on the pissed off teddy bear. She was done arguing with
    1.76 +the thing. She was just gonna beat the thing until it stopped moving. That would keep it from 
    1.77 +getting to Nadeshiko. Then maybe they could call an exorcist or something to get rid of it. 
    1.78 +
    1.79 +Nadeshiko darted in front of Sonomi before she could reach the stuffed animal. She knew her 
    1.80 +bigger cousin would hurt Teddy if she thought he might hurt her. Sonomi was sweet like that. She 
    1.81 +was always looking out for her. Nadeshiko was very happy to know that Sonomi was looking out for 
    1.82 +her, but somehow she thought Teddy wouldn’t appreciated it as much as she did. “No, wait, Sonomi-
    1.83 +chan! Teddy-chan’s my friend. He was on the book with the pretty Cards. He told me I get to go 
    1.84 +find the rest of them.” She smiled happily at her cousin, disarming most of Sonomi’s wrath. 
    1.85 +
    1.86 +“Ahem...” The flying toy crossed his arms as he lowered to eye level. He had more important 
    1.87 +things to do right now than argue with the fiery girl. The much more placid pale girl was his 
    1.88 +concern at the moment. “I am the Seal Beast, Cereberus! My job is to look after the Clow Book 
    1.89 +and the Cards inside of it. But now all of the Clow Cards are gone. If they aren’t found, 
    1.90 +misfortune will befall the world,” he said gravely. 
    1.91 +
    1.92 +“Not all of them are gone,” Nadeshiko spoke up brightly, holding up the Flower Card. “Here you 
    1.93 +go!” 
    1.94 +
    1.95 +“Err...” The stuffed animal sweatdropped as he shook his head. “No, you keep it.” The pale girl 
    1.96 +brightened even further, evidently pleased that she got to keep the Card. The Seal Beast tried 
    1.97 +not to get distracted, going back to his story. “The Clow Cards were made by Clow Reed, the best 
    1.98 +magician ever. Each Card is alive and has it’s own special power. They all have their own 
    1.99 +personalities, but they can be quite mischievous. That’s why they were all kept in a book and 
   1.100 +why I was set to look after them. So if we want to avert the Catastrophe and get all the Cards 
   1.101 +back, I’ll need your help.” He motioned towards Nadeshiko with a flourish. He was still a bit 
   1.102 +miffed that the Cards had all gone missing, but at least he was out and about. He’d been stuck 
   1.103 +in that bookstore in Osaka for far too long. Any excuse to get out of the book seemed like a 
   1.104 +great idea.
   1.105 +
   1.106 +Nadeshiko squealed delightedly. Sonomi, on the other hand, did not quite share her cousin’s 
   1.107 +enthusiasm. “Why does she have to get the Clow Cards? I thought you said that was your job. 
   1.108 +Shouldn’t you go find them?”
   1.109 +
   1.110 +“I’m supposed to protect them! That’s a completely different job altogether. I’m not the one who 
   1.111 +lost them,” Kero argued, crossing his arms. Why couldn’t he finish this up back at the other 
   1.112 +house? It was a lot easier without the brunette there.
   1.113 +
   1.114 +“Then she wouldn’t need to go looking for them if you’d been doing your job!” Sonomi declared.
   1.115 +
   1.116 +“I was asleep, all right!! Besides, she has power. She opened the book. So she obviously has 
   1.117 +magic.”
   1.118 +
   1.119 +“Hmph... Some Seal Beast you turned out to be.” Sonomi crossed her arms, not at all happy with 
   1.120 +all this. “Come on, Nadeshiko-chan. Let’s go downstairs and get some tea. I’m sure the stuffed 
   1.121 +animal can find his way out on his own.” She sweatdropped when she spotted her cousin with a 
   1.122 +thrilled look on her face, holding the Book of Clow. “Nadeshiko-chan?”
   1.123 +
   1.124 +“I am not a stuffed animal,” the Seal Beast said irritably. “I’ll have you know that I’m quite 
   1.125 +menacing in my true form. I may look stunningly cool now in my false form, but you haven’t lived 
   1.126 +till you’ve seen me like that. As soon as we get the Cards back, I’ll be able to retain that 
   1.127 +form.”
   1.128 +
   1.129 +“Sounds like too much trouble to me,” Sonomi said halfheartedly, her attention still distracted 
   1.130 +by Nadeshiko. 
   1.131 +
   1.132 +“That sounds great, Teddy-chan! I can’t wait to see it! I bet it’s adorable.” The pale girl’s 
   1.133 +eyes sparkled as she thought about the beautiful form that must await her cute little Teddy. Now 
   1.134 +she was even more eager to catch the Cards. Especially if they were at all as fun as Flower. She 
   1.135 +couldn’t wait to introduce herself to them all. 
   1.136 +
   1.137 +“I’m not a teddy bear! I’m a lion! A really menacing lion, too!” The Seal Beast narrowed his 
   1.138 +eyes as he floated in front of the two cousins. Why did he have to get saddled with two little 
   1.139 +girls? Why couldn’t it be some powerful magician or something? He sighed miserably. You had to 
   1.140 +make do with what you had, he guessed. “All right. We need to make the contract. Nadeshiko-chan, 
   1.141 +please stand over there.”
   1.142 +
   1.143 +“All right!!” Nadeshiko said happily, practically skipping over to her designated position.
   1.144 +
   1.145 +“Wait a minute! What’s all this about?” Sonomi asked worriedly, her eyes darting back and forth 
   1.146 +from the teddy bear to her cousin and back. Whatever it was, she sure didn’t like the looks of 
   1.147 +it. Why wasn’t anyone listening to her? Protecting Nadeshiko would be so much easier if the 
   1.148 +beautiful dark haired girl would simply listen once in a while. Sonomi’s stormy blue eyes went 
   1.149 +wide when she saw the room vanish, replaced by a dark expanse. A strange symbol lit up underneath
   1.150 +Nadeshiko’s bare feet, her nightgown fluttering around as if tugged by the wind. Sonomi felt a 
   1.151 +cold pit in the center of her stomach, but her cousin looked sweetly excited. 
   1.152 +
   1.153 +“Oh key to the seal. Here is a girl wishing to make a contract with you. Her name is Nadeshiko. 
   1.154 +Key, give power to this girl!” The small key in the lock of the book flew over to Nadeshiko 
   1.155 +lighting up in the center of the symbol. It slowly grew in front of her, becoming a large 
   1.156 +lavender staff. It had two beautiful flower blossoms on the sides of the top of the staff, and 
   1.157 +what looked to be tiny vines traveling down the length of it. “Now, Nadeshiko-chan! Pick up the 
   1.158 +Key!” 
   1.159 +
   1.160 +Sonomi struggled to see through the blinding light, her eyes barely managing to make out 
   1.161 +Nadeshiko as she walked towards the staff, her arm raised. “Wait! Nadeshiko-chan! Don’t!!” she 
   1.162 +called out.
   1.163 +
   1.164 +“Don’t worry, Sonomi-chan. It’ll be fun,” Nadeshiko promised, smiling at her overprotective 
   1.165 +cousin. With that, she grasped the Key, energy filling her. 
   1.166 +
   1.167 +“All right!! A new Cardcaptor is born! Sugoi!!” The newly dubbed Teddy exclaimed. 
   1.168 +
   1.169 +Sonomi sighed, holding her head. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to protect Nadeshiko as it was,
   1.170 +now she’d have to deal with sweet, naïve Nadeshiko as a magical girl? Somehow that didn’t lift 
   1.171 +the brunette’s spirits. Sure, Nadeshiko had always been magical in her own way. But this was just
   1.172 +wrong. The beautiful pale girl shouldn’t be in a position where she could just get hurt even 
   1.173 +worse. If that day had proved anything, it was that Sonomi had to keep a closer watch on 
   1.174 +Nadeshiko. The younger girl had already gotten hurt that day as a normal girl. Making her a 
   1.175 +magical girl was just asking for trouble. 
   1.176 +
   1.177 +As if on cue, one of Nadeshiko’s puppets stood up, glancing around the room. It finally caught 
   1.178 +sight of the pale Cardcaptor and leapt her way. Sonomi jumped in the way of the stuffed rabbit 
   1.179 +in time to take the blow in her chest. Being made out of fluff and cloth, it bounced off 
   1.180 +harmlessly, landing on the floor. “Buni-chan? What’s wrong Buni-chan?” Nadeshiko asked curiously,
   1.181 + bending down to pick up her injured stuffed animal. 
   1.182 +
   1.183 +“Nadeshiko-chan!” Sonomi pulled Nadeshiko away before the stuffed animal could attack again. 
   1.184 +“Another man-eating toy? What’s going on today?” Sonomi asked to no one in particular. She loved 
   1.185 +toys, she really did. They were so cute and fun, just like her cousin. But twice in one day was 
   1.186 +a little ridiculous. 
   1.187 +
   1.188 +“It’s a Clow Card!” Teddy said joyously. His face lit up. Perhaps this wouldn’t be too difficult 
   1.189 +after all. The new Cardcaptor did have a sweet disposition. The Cards would love that. It would 
   1.190 +make things much easier than if they were trying to get away from her. It must have already 
   1.191 +attracted one of the Cards. But which one? Teddy watched as it leapt about the room. “It’s Jump! 
   1.192 +We have to catch it before it gets away!”
   1.193 +
   1.194 +“Come here, Buni-chan... It’s all right,” Nadeshiko said soothingly as she hopped up onto her 
   1.195 +futon, following the bouncing bunny. Another new friend already. It was turning out to be a 
   1.196 +wonderful day! Now if only Sonomi was a little happier about things it would be perfect. But she 
   1.197 +was sure that her older cousin would grow to love the whole thing as much as she did. 
   1.198 +
   1.199 +Sonomi was currently hating the whole thing. Not only was her dearest friend stuck as a magical 
   1.200 +girl who had to seek out strange and mysterious magical items, but one of those said items was 
   1.201 +terrorizing her cousins room in one of her stuffed animals. A stuffed animal that Sonomi had 
   1.202 +given Nadeshiko for her birthday, no less! Sonomi trailed after the snow white rabbit, nearly 
   1.203 +swiping it off the floor several times, but it continued just out of her grasp. At the same 
   1.204 +instant, both pigtailed girl and Clow Card spotted the open window. The Jump leapt for the 
   1.205 +window as Sonomi sprinted forward. She slammed the window with jarring force, shocking her. For 
   1.206 +a moment, she didn’t know whether she had been in time. A glance down to her feet reassured her. 
   1.207 +The bunny was lying in a daze on the floor, having slammed dead on into the window. She stepped 
   1.208 +down with her sock covered foot and caught it’s arm before it could leap away again. “Gotcha!”
   1.209 +
   1.210 +“Poor Buni-chan. Were you scared? I’ve got you, Buni-chan.” Nadeshiko swept the small bunny in 
   1.211 +her arms, tickling Sonomi’s foot with lithe fingers before she stood up. She smiled happily at 
   1.212 +her cousin as she held her stuffed animal. “Thank you, Sonomi-chan!” Leaning forward, the flighty
   1.213 +Cardcaptor kissed her auburn haired friend on the cheek. 
   1.214 +
   1.215 +Blushing furiously, Sonomi could only nod in reply. The burning warmth of Nadeshiko’s silken lips
   1.216 +remained on her cheek, replaying over and over again in the brunette’s mind. Her fingers went to 
   1.217 +the small patch of skin where her cousin’s lips had lingered and felt her heart skip a beat. She 
   1.218 +had only wanted to help Nadeshiko with this killer stuffed animal. She had never thought that 
   1.219 +she could receive such a sweet reward. Feeling dizzy, Sonomi had to sit down quickly before she 
   1.220 +could topple over. She didn’t fully understand the feelings the younger girl stirred within her, 
   1.221 +but they always overwhelmed her. Sighing not unpleasantly, the auburn haired athlete watched her 
   1.222 +best friend cradle the Clow Card in the stuffed animal it inhabited at the moment. 
   1.223 +
   1.224 +“You have to seal it, Nadeshiko-chan!” Teddy shouted. Just then, the door opened. Teddy dropped 
   1.225 +lifelessly to the floor, hoping whoever it was hadn’t seen him. His heart froze in his chest as 
   1.226 +he saw an older woman stuck her head in. 
   1.227 +
   1.228 +“Nadeshiko-chan? What are you and Sonomi-chan up to? You really should get some sleep, dear. All 
   1.229 +of this yelling and jumping around can’t be good for you after getting hit earlier,” Nadeshiko’s 
   1.230 +mother chided gently. She smiled over at a blushing Sonomi who was still sitting on her 
   1.231 +daughter’s futon. At least there was one voice of reason in her daughter’s room. She would have 
   1.232 +to thank her sister for her responsible daughter looking out for her own little girl. Just like 
   1.233 +when she herself was a child. Looking from one cousin to the other, she decided to call her 
   1.234 +sister again before going to sleep.
   1.235 +
   1.236 +“We were just helping Teddy-chan get the Kurow Kaddo, mama,” Nadeshiko said sweetly, still 
   1.237 +cradling the white rabbit in her arms.  
   1.238 +
   1.239 +“Oh, is that all? How about you do that in bed, dear? I’m sure you can help Teddy-chan all you 
   1.240 +want from under the covers.” Bending down, the older Amamiya woman picked up the small winged 
   1.241 +bear from the floor and handed him to Sonomi. After helping the two girls get settled in bed, 
   1.242 +she walked back to the door, turning to get another peak of her baby girl and her little niece. 
   1.243 +“You two are just too cute. Sleep well, girls.” Blowing a kiss to the two cousins, Nadeshiko’s 
   1.244 +mother shut the door behind her. 
   1.245 +
   1.246 +“...and then you say ‘release’!” Teddy was whispering, Nadeshiko nodding intently. 
   1.247 +
   1.248 +“Like this? Return to your true form, Kurow Kaddo! Release!” Nadeshiko said, very gently tapping 
   1.249 +the rabbit’s head with staff underneath the sheets. She didn’t want to hurt it, after all. In a 
   1.250 +flash of light, magic was pulled out of her rabbit, appearing in the form of a small brown card. 
   1.251 +Grinning delightedly, she grasped the Card and hugged it close. “Sugoi!”
   1.252 +
   1.253 +“Hai, just like that. But you have to yell it out louder. It sounds cooler that way,” Teddy said 
   1.254 +approvingly. 
   1.255 +
   1.256 +Sighing miserably, Sonomi stared up at the roof. Why did she have a very bad feeling about all 
   1.257 +of this? Something was going to go horribly wrong, she just knew it. It was only a matter of 
   1.258 +time. Determination sparked in her stormy blue eyes. This just meant she’d have to be ever more 
   1.259 +vigilant in protecting her dearest Nadeshiko. She would have to make sure she was always there to
   1.260 +help her. Magic or not, she wouldn’t let anything hurt her pretty cousin. Her thoughts cut off 
   1.261 +abruptly as she felt arms wrap around her stomach as her pale friend snuggled close to her under 
   1.262 +the sheets. She could feel Nadeshiko’s warm breath against her neck as the smaller girl yawned. 
   1.263 +
   1.264 +“Goodnight, Sonomi-chan,” Nadeshiko said quietly, resting her head against the brunette. She 
   1.265 +always felt warm and safe with her athletic cousin. She got so lonely late at night when she was 
   1.266 +all alone. She had once asked her mother if Sonomi could move in with them so that she could 
   1.267 +always spend the night, but her mother had said that Sonomi’s parents would miss her too much. 
   1.268 +‘But I miss her too much,’ Nadeshiko had protested. Her mother hadn’t been able to come up with 
   1.269 +a good explanation after that, but Nadeshiko had to content herself with when her best friend 
   1.270 +could stay over. Snuggling closer, Nadeshiko smiled and let her emerald eyes fall shut.
   1.271 +
   1.272 +“Sweet dreams, Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi whispered in reply, holding her smaller cousin close. Her 
   1.273 +fingers gently brushed through Nadeshiko’s hair the way she remebered her aunt’s fingers 
   1.274 +traveling through her own. Nadeshiko had such beautiful hair. And it felt so nice and soft 
   1.275 +falling through her fingers. Forgetting about the Cards and the teddy bear with the Osaka 
   1.276 +dialect for the moment, Sonomi held onto her friend, her heart beating wildly. “I’ll always 
   1.277 +protect you, Nadeshiko-chan.”
   1.278 +
   1.279 +“I know,” Nadeshiko replied matter-of-factly, already starting to drift off to sleep in Sonomi’s 
   1.280 +arms. “I know, Sonomi-chan.”
   1.281 + 
   1.282 +	 
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