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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/CCN3.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,301 @@
     1.4 +Cardcaptor Nadeshiko
     1.5 +by 
     1.6 +Amazoness Duo
     1.7 +and
     1.8 +G.P.
     1.9 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
    1.10 +pearsong1954@yahoo.com
    1.11 +
    1.12 +
    1.13 +‘My name is Amamiya Sonomi. I’m ten years old. I have brunette hair and dark blue eyes that I get
    1.14 +from my mother. I like cute things a lot. I also like sports, especially track. I think it’s fun.
    1.15 +But most of all, I like my cousin, Nadeshiko-chan. She’s my best friend and the most important 
    1.16 +person in my life.’
    1.17 +
    1.18 +“Look, Sonomi-chan! A bouquet! This one’s for you.” Nadeshiko smilingly handed a large bouquet 
    1.19 +of lillies to Sonomi, barging in on her still wet cousin. She hardly noticed Sonomi scramble for 
    1.20 +a towel, simply holding the flowers out to the brunette. 
    1.21 +
    1.22 +“They’re beautiful, Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi said breathlessly, cinching up the large towel before
    1.23 +taking the lovely flowers. Bringing them up to her nose, she sniffed the sweet perfume that 
    1.24 +drifted from the bouquet. Brushing back some wet hair from her shoulder, the stormy blue eyed 
    1.25 +girl smiled at her cousin. “Thank you.”
    1.26 +
    1.27 +“I made them with Flower-sama. She’s good at making all sorts of flowers. My room’s covered in 
    1.28 +Sakura blossoms right now. It’s so pretty! You should see it when you’re done with your bath, 
    1.29 +Sonomi-chan! I’m going to give these roses to mother real quick.” Waving cheerfully, the silver 
    1.30 +haired girl made her way downstairs, just remembering to close the bathroom door before she did. 
    1.31 +
    1.32 +Sighing to herself, Sonomi let her towel drop to the floor before slipping back into the bathtub.
    1.33 +Her heart fluttering, she held onto her precious gift from Nadeshiko. ‘Oh, I forgot to mention 
    1.34 +that Nadeshiko-chan’s a magical girl now. She’s also accident-prone and not the most observant 
    1.35 +person I know. How this is supposed to turn out, I hardly know. But I’ll protect her from the 
    1.36 +whole world if I have to. And that stupid teddy bear.’ Closing her eyes, the brunette slipped 
    1.37 +under the water, the warmth surrounding her, waking her up for school. As usual, her mind was 
    1.38 +once again drawn back to a silver haired angel.
    1.39 +
    1.40 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    1.41 +
    1.42 +“That is so cute!” Sonomi exclaimed, clasping her hands together. Her eyes shimmered as she 
    1.43 +hurried to Nadeshiko’s side. Enthusiastic fingers brushed through long, gray locks of hair done 
    1.44 +up in a beautiful ponytail, long strands falling in front of Nadeshiko as well. “It’s so pretty.
    1.45 +I love your hair, Nadeshiko-chan! It’s prettier than any dolls.” Still delighting in her cousin’s
    1.46 +current hairstyle, Sonomi didn’t notice her aunt’s approach.
    1.47 +
    1.48 +“You like it, Sonomi-chan? Nadeshiko-chan does have very pretty hair. It can be a lot of fun to 
    1.49 +try out different styles on her. Now if only she would stay still when I did her hair, it 
    1.50 +wouldn’t always be such a mess.” Nadeshiko’s mother let out a sigh, but she couldn’t help but 
    1.51 +smile at the two girls despite it. 
    1.52 +
    1.53 +“Hai, it’s wonderful,” Sonomi replied, finally pulling her hands away from Nadeshiko’s beautiful 
    1.54 +silver hair. She turned and bowed politely to her aunt, her own slightly shorter hair falling 
    1.55 +past her shoulders as she did, done up with small yellow ribbons throughout it. “Thank you for 
    1.56 +letting me spend the night.”
    1.57 +
    1.58 +The older woman laughed softly, shaking her head. “I should be thanking you, Sonomi-chan. You’re 
    1.59 +the only one can keep Nadeshiko-chan in bed. Otherwise she’s likely to end up just about 
    1.60 +anywhere. That’s probably why she falls asleep in such odd places all the time.”
    1.61 +
    1.62 +“That’s because there are too many things to do instead of going to sleep. It’s much better to 
    1.63 +fall asleep when you find yourself sleepy instead of making yourself go to sleep at a certain 
    1.64 +time,” Nadeshiko reasoned, putting a finger on her pale chin. It was true that she often didn’t 
    1.65 +sleep at night, instead walking about or just lying in bed in fascination of the sounds of the 
    1.66 +night. But it all made sense to her. She fell asleep when she fell asleep. What did it matter if 
    1.67 +it was in bed or in a flower garden, at home or in the park? She was always so busy with things 
    1.68 +that sleep was simply something that happened. And most of the time Sonomi would find her and 
    1.69 +take her back to bed anyway. 
    1.70 +
    1.71 +Sonomi sweatdropped at her cousin’s odd logic, but nodded all the same. She had long ago learned 
    1.72 +that sometimes it was just easier to humor Nadeshiko than to argue with her. The pale girl 
    1.73 +wouldn’t listen anyway. She would smile sweetly and let you argue yourself hoarse and then she 
    1.74 +would go off and do what she had wanted to do all along. Shaking her head, Sonomi took 
    1.75 +Nadeshiko’s hand. “We have to get going or we’ll be late to school. Thank you again!” She waved 
    1.76 +politely to her aunt as she hurried to the door, her navy blue pleated skirt shifting about her. 
    1.77 +Her white blouse and blue bow rustled against her as they walked out into the always dangerous 
    1.78 +world. Sonomi immediately began to feel the worry that she usually did whenever they would go 
    1.79 +out, that paranoid feeling that something bad was going to happen. But with her flighty cousin 
    1.80 +tagging along, that usually wasn’t far off.
    1.81 +
    1.82 +“I like your hair, too, Sonomi-chan. It’s so vibrant and fiery. I hope my daughter has hair like 
    1.83 +yours,” Nadeshiko mentioned thoughtfully, playing with some stray strands of auburn hair behind 
    1.84 +her cousin. The hair was still a bit damp, drying from her bath earlier. The green eyed girl 
    1.85 +watched it sway, pawing at it almost like a curious kitten. 
    1.86 +
    1.87 +Blushing faintly, Sonomi didn’t attempt to stop her cousin. She really didn’t mind as it was. 
    1.88 +Just being with her blissful cousin always made things feel special. Even school felt more like 
    1.89 +an adventure than a chore when she was alongside Nadeshiko. Her younger cousin was a shimmering 
    1.90 +angel that lit even the darkest recesses of Sonomi’s life. The brunette couldn’t quite 
    1.91 +understand the depths of her feelings for Nadeshiko, simply that the other girl was always on 
    1.92 +her mind, always dwelling in her heart. And Sonomi wanted to protect the younger girl. It was 
    1.93 +frightening to see such a free spirit in such a scary world. She was always afraid that 
    1.94 +something might happen to her beloved Nadeshiko. So all she could do was try her best to protect 
    1.95 +her. “Arigato, Nadeshiko-chan. I can only hope my daughter would have beautiful hair like yours.
    1.96 +I love your hair. It’s...” Sonomi trailed off, trying to force away a persistent blush from her 
    1.97 +cheeks. She couldn’t think of words to describe it. She bit her lip in frustration, trying to 
    1.98 +understand the myriad of feelings strangling her fluttering heart. Answers eluded her. Sighing, 
    1.99 +the brunette changed the subject. “I need to get a haircut soon, though. Short hair is a lot 
   1.100 +easier to manage. And it’s been windy lately so it’s been getting in my way at track.”
   1.101 +
   1.102 +“I could cut it for you,” Nadeshiko offered, still playing with the auburn hair before her. 
   1.103 +“Then you wouldn’t have to wait to get your mom to take you.” 
   1.104 +
   1.105 +“You would? Thank you, Nadeshiko-chan. I’d like that. Could we do that after school?” Sonomi 
   1.106 +asked excitedly. Her heartbeat quickened in her chest, sending a thrill throughout her. She 
   1.107 +couldn’t exactly explain it, but it sounded like a much more enjoyable situation if Nadeshiko 
   1.108 +would be doing it. Before it had sounded simply like something she needed to do, a chore that 
   1.109 +needed to be dealt with. But now she was actually looking forward to it. She could already see 
   1.110 +herself sitting before her smiling cousin. Even the thought of Nadeshiko with scissors failed to 
   1.111 +alert Sonomi to the potential dangers of such a situation. But she was far too enraptured by the
   1.112 +idea of her cousin’s fingers through her hair, cutting it all into a much shorter, neater style.
   1.113 + 
   1.114 +“Un! It would be fun. Now we have something to do this afternoon, too.” Nadeshiko grinned 
   1.115 +happily, walking alongside her auburn haired friend. Life was never boring for the gray haired 
   1.116 +girl. There was always something fascinating going on, some little aspect of life that immersed 
   1.117 +her attention. Every little thing was a work of wonder for Nadeshiko. She could only puzzle why 
   1.118 +other people couldn’t see that. There was always something new to fathom. But the one constant 
   1.119 +throughout it all, the single thing that was always a part of this wonder, was her big cousin 
   1.120 +Sonomi. The older girl had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, had always 
   1.121 +been there even as she would move from one thing to the next. So it always delighted her when 
   1.122 +she could draw Sonomi into the fantastic world that she saw. An afternoon of cutting hair 
   1.123 +sounded like an excellent time to Nadeshiko. She had never cut any hair before, but she was 
   1.124 +eager to try. Even if it did mean getting rid of Sonomi’s pretty long hair. Oh well. She’d just 
   1.125 +keep it in a box or something. 
   1.126 +
   1.127 +Reaching school, the two cousins entered their homeroom, sitting down in the large classroom. 
   1.128 +Sonomi took her seat to Nadeshiko’s right, going through her backpack for what she would need 
   1.129 +for class. Several cute keychains and buttons adorned Sonomi’s backpack, just a small sampling 
   1.130 +of her large collection of toys and things back home. She loved cute things of all shapes and 
   1.131 +sizes, finding herself always thrilled to get her hands on something new for her collection. But 
   1.132 +the cutest thing she could think of was her smaller cousin. Nadeshiko was like the perfect doll. 
   1.133 +She hadn’t a care in the world, was hardly ever sad or even worried. She was beautiful and 
   1.134 +delicate, like a doll. She was such a cute little model, modeling for Sonomi’s camera whenever 
   1.135 +she would ask. Her mother dressed her in such pretty clothes and always had new hairstyles to 
   1.136 +try out on her only daughter. Sonomi was always happy to see what new look Nadeshiko would have. 
   1.137 +She was already amassing a nice collection of photos. In fact, she would have to go get some 
   1.138 +more film developed soon. Placing her chin in her hands, she glanced over at the silver haired 
   1.139 +girl next to her. As she should have expected, Nadeshiko was looking out the window, her head 
   1.140 +tilted to the side as she watched the birds fly by, listening to their gentle melody. The 
   1.141 +brunette smiled to herself, her heart warming at the sight. 
   1.142 +
   1.143 +“Class, I would like to introduce you to my new assistant,” the teacher was saying. 
   1.144 +
   1.145 +Reluctantly pulling her attention away from her delicate cousin, Sonomi cast her eyes forward. 
   1.146 +What she saw made her blood boil. At the front of the class, she could see an irritatingly 
   1.147 +smiling face, glinting glasses, and chestnut hair. She had just managed to forget about the man 
   1.148 +who had injured her dearest Nadeshiko. So what was he doing here? Was he trying to haunt her? It 
   1.149 +sure felt like it. She couldn’t help but think he was here for Nadeshiko, for some reason or 
   1.150 +another. Of course, that was ridiculous. But Sonomi didn’t always care for logic. What she did 
   1.151 +know was that this man had already hurt her cousin once. She didn't intend to let him have a 
   1.152 +second chance. 
   1.153 +
   1.154 +“This is Kinomoto Fujitaka. He will be my assistant while I recover. I may have some more 
   1.155 +doctor’s appointments soon, so he will take care of things for me whenever I’m gone,” the 
   1.156 +teacher explained.
   1.157 +
   1.158 +Smiling his omnipresent smile, the man bowed to the class. “Thank you. It will be a pleasure to 
   1.159 +work with all of you.” His eyes caught sight of two familiar girls at the back and his smile 
   1.160 +widened. How wonderful! Those were those two delightful girls from that weekend. He was relieved 
   1.161 +to see that the gray haired girl seemed to be doing fine. 
   1.162 +
   1.163 +“Sonomi-chan!” Nadeshiko half-whispered, leaning out of her desk. “That’s the man who gave me 
   1.164 +the book and Teddy-chan!” Several students looked her way, but Nadeshiko ignored them, still 
   1.165 +leaning towards her cousin. It was a surprise to see the man here, but for Nadeshiko it was just 
   1.166 +another of life’s many miracles. That he was there was just another amazing little tidbit. It 
   1.167 +was nice to know that the man who gave her such a wonderful gift as Teddy and the Clow Book was 
   1.168 +nearby. Maybe she could thank him someday. 
   1.169 +
   1.170 +“Un, I know,” Sonomi whispered back quietly. She glared at the man when he smiled their way. 
   1.171 +Shaking her head, she sighed. He had hurt Nadeshiko on accident. And he had apologized. It was 
   1.172 +probably nothing. She really shouldn’t be so angry with him. But still, she didn’t like him 
   1.173 +around Nadeshiko. Not at all. But all the same, she dropped her glare. Maybe he’d learned his 
   1.174 +lesson. It had just been an accident after all. Though Sonomi still didn’t trust him. She had a 
   1.175 +bad temper at times and she wasn’t one to let things drop. ‘I’ll keep an eye on you, mister. And 
   1.176 +you better stay away from my Nadeshiko-chan. I’m not going to give you another chance to hurt 
   1.177 +her,’ she thought to herself.
   1.178 +
   1.179 +“This should be fun to have him in class. I hope he doesn’t feel bad about the baseball,” 
   1.180 +Nadeshiko was saying.
   1.181 +
   1.182 +“Nadeshiko and Sonomi Amamiya! Was there something the two of you wanted to discuss?” The 
   1.183 +teacher raised an eyebrow, staring at the two girls. 
   1.184 +
   1.185 +“No, we just...” Sonomi began.
   1.186 +
   1.187 +“We know your assistant. Hi, Kinomoto-san!” Nadeshiko waved to Fujitaka, eliciting some laughter 
   1.188 +from several classmates. 
   1.189 +
   1.190 +“If you insist on talking in class, then I’ll have to ask you to leave. Please go to the 
   1.191 +hallway.”
   1.192 +
   1.193 +“Hai, sensei!” Hardly fazed, Nadeshiko smiled to Sonomi before getting out of her desk. Nothing 
   1.194 +seemed to get to the girl. But then, she was too busy with her own little world to concern 
   1.195 +herself with the trivialities of this one. Or perhaps it was the trivialities that we take for 
   1.196 +granted that held her so captivated. Whatever the case, the pale girl hurriedly made her way out 
   1.197 +of the classroom. 
   1.198 +
   1.199 +Sonomi wasn’t quite as quick to leave as her cousin. Sighing inwardly, the auburn haired girl 
   1.200 +followed Nadeshiko out of the room. She wasn’t happy about being kicked out of class, but what 
   1.201 +could she do? Pushing back a slight urge to cry, she continued forward. This wasn’t a big deal. 
   1.202 +It didn’t matter. She had been punished and she would take her punishment. And if her parents 
   1.203 +found out, then she would deal with that when the time came. For a moment, her stormy blue eyes 
   1.204 +locked with Fujitaka’s. He smiled at her apologetically. Breaking the gaze, Sonomi sped up to 
   1.205 +reach her cousin. 
   1.206 +
   1.207 +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   1.208 +
   1.209 +“Isn’t that nice that Kinomoto-san is helping out our teacher now? Sensei must be very happy 
   1.210 +about it. And Kinomoto-san seems very smart.” Nadeshiko glanced around for which pair of 
   1.211 +scissors she should use. Picking entirely at random, she turned back to Sonomi. The brunette 
   1.212 +was sitting on the porch with her back to the gray haired girl, waiting to have her hair cut. 
   1.213 +The yellow ribbons that had been in her hair earlier were now lying on the floor next to her. 
   1.214 +“Hmm...” Nadeshiko stepped around Sonomi, trying to get some idea of what to do with her 
   1.215 +cousin’s hair. She usually let her mother do her own hair, but she did see all of the styles it 
   1.216 +was put in. She herself had had shorter hair not too long ago. So she wanted to have some idea 
   1.217 +before starting on Sonomi’s hair. Tilting her head to the side, she rethought that. Why have 
   1.218 +some initial goal? Why not wait and see what her hair became? Like a flower, she shouldn’t force 
   1.219 +it to become something it wasn’t. She should help it grow into whatever hairstyle it wanted to 
   1.220 +be. Satisfied with that line of thought, Nadeshiko began snipping away. 
   1.221 +
   1.222 +Taking a deep breath, Sonomi slowly let it filter out of her lips. Her cheeks were a rosy red, 
   1.223 +her stormy blue eyes pointed straight ahead. She could feel Nadeshiko’s pale fingers through her 
   1.224 +hair, the sound of scissors close behind. Her heart skipped a beat as Nadeshiko paused for a 
   1.225 +moment, sniffing her hair as she would a flower. Like everything the green eyed girl did in 
   1.226 +life, Nadeshiko seemed to move slowly from one part to the next, enjoying every little bit as 
   1.227 +she did. There was something very... romantic about getting her hair cut by Nadeshiko? No, that 
   1.228 +wasn’t the word. Was it? No, that couldn’t be it. But Sonomi couldn’t think up what exactly it 
   1.229 +was to have her cousin cutting her hair. Whatever the feeling, it was nice. “Can we not talk 
   1.230 +about him?”
   1.231 +
   1.232 +“Hm? Why not? You don’t like him?” Nadeshiko asked curiously. Feeling some more of Sonomi’s long 
   1.233 +hair between her thumb and forefinger, she cut it away, watching intently as it lay between her 
   1.234 +fingers. She set the lock of hair aside. She still needed to find a place to keep Sonomi’s hair. 
   1.235 +It would just be a shame to throw it all away. Like she had said before, it was very pretty. 
   1.236 +
   1.237 +“Of course not. He hurt you.” Sonomi crossed her arms as she shifted her bare legs under 
   1.238 +herself. They were still sore from track practice that afternoon. Just as she was still sore 
   1.239 +about Nadeshiko getting hit by a baseball. Her frown fading, she tilted her head to the side 
   1.240 +when Nadeshiko’s delicate hand pushed on the side of her head. 
   1.241 +
   1.242 +“Oh.” Nadeshiko considered that for a minute, pulling up Sonomi’s hair as she did to get an idea 
   1.243 +of what to do next. Her cousin’s protective nature was something she had grown used to over the 
   1.244 +years. After all, the crazy world didn’t always make sense, but Sonomi always did. Everyone else 
   1.245 +hid how they felt or said things they didn’t mean. But Sonomi was almost always straightforward 
   1.246 +about her feelings. When she was mad, you knew it. When she was happy, you felt it. It was 
   1.247 +something that felt very refreshing for Nadeshiko. She was fascinated by the world, but the 
   1.248 +people in it didn’t always make sense. At least she knew that Sonomi did. “But I hurt myself all 
   1.249 +the time. And you don’t get mad at me,” she pointed out, snipping some more hair away.
   1.250 +
   1.251 +“But that’s different,” Sonomi protested, tilting her head the opposite way as her younger 
   1.252 +cousin’s fingers pushed on her forehead again. She giggled a bit as she felt Nadeshiko rolling 
   1.253 +her head around from side to side playfully.
   1.254 +
   1.255 +“How?”
   1.256 +
   1.257 +Sonomi bit her lip, still staring forward. “I can’t explain it. It just is. It’s different when 
   1.258 +you hurt yourself than when someone else hurts you. Besides, I could never be angry with you.” 
   1.259 +She felt Nadeshiko’s stomach on her head as the green eyed girl leant over her, her head in 
   1.260 +front of Sonomi’s. Sonomi saw Nadeshiko’s upside down head lean into view, her long gray hair 
   1.261 +spilling down in front of her. The brunette felt her cheeks burn as she watched her delicate 
   1.262 +cousin’s smiling face in front of her. Her heart felt like it would give out at any moment. What 
   1.263 +was going on? Why did she always feel like this around Nadeshiko? Sonomi felt her frustration 
   1.264 +rising inside of herself, but it disappeared as Nadeshiko moved forward and kissed her nose. Her 
   1.265 +cheeks darkened further as she watched pale skin move back ever so slightly. 
   1.266 +
   1.267 +“You’re so sweet, Sonomi-chan,” Nadeshiko said simply. Smiling cutely, she slowly got back to 
   1.268 +her feet, leaving a blushing Sonomi sitting before her. Going back to work, the pale girl hummed 
   1.269 +to herself. It took a while for her older cousin to relax again, the blush slowly fading from 
   1.270 +her cheeks. She smiled as she watched. She didn’t know what she’d do without her best friend. 
   1.271 +
   1.272 +Waiting anxiously as Nadeshiko clipped her hair, Sonomi moved her palms across her thighs, hair 
   1.273 +dropping down to them every so often. She idly wondered about the finished product, but she was 
   1.274 +much more caught up in the moment to worry about what would come afterwards. ‘If only we could 
   1.275 +stay like this,’ Sonomi thought blissfully. A sigh escaped her as Nadeshiko finally stepped 
   1.276 +away. “Huh? Are you done?” Sonomi turned to find her cousin smiling at her. Her fingers went 
   1.277 +quickly to her hair, feeling the freshly cut brunette hair much shorter than it had been.
   1.278 +
   1.279 +“Un! And it’s very cute. Let’s go see the mirror. I want you to see it, Sonomi-chan.” Taking the 
   1.280 +brunette’s hand, Nadeshiko hurried up the stairs towards her room, a handful of Sonomi’s hair in 
   1.281 +her other hand. She smiled prettily as she led Sonomi in, getting behind her and pushing her the 
   1.282 +rest of the way towards the mirror. She couldn’t wait to see what her friend thought of the new 
   1.283 +hairstyle. It had been much more fun than if Sonomi had simply gone to a barber shop. 
   1.284 +
   1.285 +Sonomi gazed into the mirror, her fingers following her new hairstyle as she watched. Her 
   1.286 +brunette hair was cropped quite a bit shorter than she had ever had it before. The short strands 
   1.287 +moved easily between her fingers. But oddly, the hair was cut at a slant. It was shorter on one 
   1.288 +side than the other, making for an odd style. She ran her fingers through the longer hair on 
   1.289 +the right, tilting her head experimentally. It seemed perfectly Nadeshiko, a strangely uneven 
   1.290 +haircut. A smile spread across Sonomi’s lips as she moved her head from one side of the other. 
   1.291 +Yes, it was definitely Nadeshiko’s handiwork. And that alone made her love it. “Thank you, 
   1.292 +Nadeshiko-chan!” She turned swiftly, taking the pale girl’s hands in her own. “I love it. I 
   1.293 +always will.”
   1.294 +
   1.295 +“I’m glad, Sonomi-chan. It looks very pretty on you,” Nadeshiko concluded, smiling brightly. She 
   1.296 +brought a hand up to the side of Sonomi’s face, brushing back the short hair. Her cousin looked 
   1.297 +very happy with the job she did. “Maybe I should become a barber,” she said thoughtfully.
   1.298 +
   1.299 +“I think you’d be better at other things, Nadeshiko-chan,” Sonomi said quickly. “But I’ll always 
   1.300 +let you cut my hair when you want to.” Returning Nadeshiko’s smile, Sonomi hugged the smaller 
   1.301 +girl. The rest of the trials of the day melted away. She forgot all about the trouble she had 
   1.302 +gotten into and the smiling boy who had hurt Nadeshiko. She didn’t even think about what her 
   1.303 +mother would say about her strange new haircut. None of it mattered while she was with her 
   1.304 +cousin. 
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