http://clampfix.fanworks.net/ccd-fix/how2.txt </head><body><pre>Here's the second part. /\_/\v Enjoy! How It All Started By Shara Akira's hands started to shake knowing how close he was to losing this one chance at finding out what had happened between Nokoru-rijichou and Suoh- senpai all those years ago. Why had Suoh been hostile? And what had happened that made a hostile Suoh-senpai have such an severe about face in his feelings towards Nokoru-rijichou? Pondering these questions he set the tea tray down on the floor before his trembling hands could cause the dishes to rattle. Pulling herself up Nokori gave her uncle a determined look. "No, I want to know what happened." "You're certain?" "I am," Nokori replied with more confidence than she felt. "We are very close now just as you said. But back then Suoh didn't really know me. No one did really. I don't let most people get too close to me," Nokoru continued the story, as if no interruptions had taken place. "A lot of people know you, Uncle Nokoru," Nokori interjected tilting her head to give her uncle a confused glance out of the corner of her eye. Nokoru shook his head his depthless blue eyes dark with sadness. "A lot of people think they know me. Only a handful of those people have any real understanding of me. I wish I could have more friends, but I can't." Nodding to himself, Akira was glad there was a reasonable explanation for Suoh's hostility. Nokoru sometimes appeared to be carefree and somewhat outgoing, while Suoh was stoic and hardworking. Since it had been their first meeting it was very possible that Takamura-senpai couldn't see beyond the mask Rijichou still wore in public. A soft silence filled the room as Nokori tried to figure out the facts her uncle had given her. No matter how she tried to add things up, she still couldn't make any sense of the situation. "I don't understand. What do you mean that they think they know you, but don't really know you at all?" "I am good at redirecting people's attention away from myself onto other people or things. In this way I managed to keep everyone safely at a distance. That is, until I met your father." Nokoru shivered inside at the thought of how perilously close he had come to sealing himself away from everyone and everything. If he had succeeded . . . no, it was best not to think about that. "Why would you want to keep people away? You can have as many friends as you want. Everybody needs friends." Nokori waved an admonishing hand at her uncle. "How very wise you are," Nokoru smiled gently at the lovely little girl in his arms. "Yes, you're right. Everyone needs friends, but I was afraid to make friends." "Afraid? You were afraid?" Nokori asked eyes wide in amazement. Clearly she was having trouble accepting that her uncle had ever been afraid. Nokori sounded so astonished that Nokoru found himself grinning despite the haunted feeling that had come over him. "Everyone is afraid of something. Back when I first met your father, one of my biggest fears was that people would get hurt just because they were around me. Being highly intelligent and wealthy makes me an appealing target for those people who would do anything to get whatever they want. I had been kidnapped more times than I can count by the time I met Suoh, and I decided early on that no one was going to get hurt or possibly even killed just because I wanted to have a friend. Crystal tears formed at the edges of Akira's eyelids as his silver grey eyes closed in shared pain. Akira had seen the deep bouts of despair and depression that sometimes preyed upon his dear friend. It was bad enough that Nokoru had to suffer so much simply because he had such a caring heart. Akira couldn't even begin to imagine how terribly alone Nokoru must have been before he had met Takamura-senpai. "So that's why you kept people away. But if you weren't going to make any friends, how did you become friends with my father?" Nokori's voice still sounded puzzled. "Your father was a puzzle, he didn't react the way I was used to people reacting to me. I have never been able to walk away from a puzzle without stopping at least once to try and solve it. Besides, it hurt to be rejected for no real reason that I could see. So I checked up on his background and decided I would try at the very least to find out why he had been so hostile." Nokoru lifted his hand to his niece's head and weaved his fingers into the thick dark tresses of Nokori's azure mane. He found the sensation of his fingers sliding though the silky mass to be very soothing. From the way Nokori was leaning into his hand like a neko begging for more attention she was enjoying the contact as well. "So what did you find out?" Nokori asked as she gently butted her head against his fingers when they stopped moving through her hair. Smiling he continued caressing her soft hair. "I found that your father was top in his class and that he had earned dans in several martial arts even though that isn't normally allowed in grade school. Though it's not all that unusual to have exceptional students at Clamp Campus. Something about his family nudged the back of my mind when I read his files. But I couldn't figure out what it was. Which just made him all the more intriguing. So, that afternoon I invited him to go to a park near the school grounds to have some ice-candy with me. He was startled by the invitation but too polite to refuse." "So you got to know each other at the park and that is how you became friends?" Nokori sounded dissatisfied with so mundane an ending. She had hoped the story would be a little more exciting. "No, It wasn't to be nearly so simple as that," Nokoru assured his niece with the ring of laughter in his light voice. "Really?" Nokori's ears perked up her attention recaptured. "Hai, we sat down to have some ice candies and talked a little bit. Then I saw some birds near the fountain and decided to play with them. As I played with the birds a group of strange men surrounded me. I realized what was happening far to late to do anything about it. There were too many of them and they were armed. Nokori and Akira gasped together the latter quickly covered his mouth hoping the sound could not be heard through the door. Even though he knew the event was long past, Akira's heart constricted with fear at the thought of his friend surrounded by armed men. Shifting into a more comfortable position against the door he felt cold dread come over him. He really didn't like where the story was heading. Something deep inside told him it would only get worse before it got better. "That's terrible!" The blue hared pixy cried, her body stiffening upright as her small hands curled up into angry fists. "What happened? Did father teach those bad men a lesson?" "He tried, but he hadn't been expecting to be attacked by such a large group. I on the other hand should have expected the attack. "It wasn't your fault, Uncle. It was the bad men who were doing wrong." Nokori's hair shimmered as it swayed to the sudden shaking of her head. "Ah, but I should have known better. I tried to get them to leave Suoh out of the confrontation. They were only after me after all. But your father wouldn't give up. That was the last thing I remember. Shortly after that someone knocked me out with sleeping gas." Nokoru saw Suoh in his daughter's face as Nokori's golden eyes narrowed dangerously at the thought of anyone doing such horrible a thing to her beloved uncle. "I can see that this story is upsetting you, Nokori. Maybe it would be better if I stopped now," Nokoru asked as he reached out and brushed the back of his hand along the side of his niece's fierce visage. The smoldering anger in the fire bright eyes transmuted into pleading. "You can't stop now, Uncle! I need to know what happened." Akira nodded emphatically as he seconded his niece even though the pair behind the door didn't know he was there. In all the times he had tried to imagine what the meeting between Suoh and Nokoru had been like he hadn't ever considered that it had been this desperate. Nodding in acceptance Nokoru warned, "All right I'll keep going, but I am warning you now that it just gets worse from here on out until the very end." "Your sure the story has a happy ending?" Nokori asked looking dubious. "I am absolutely positive that it has a good ending. Your father and I are still around aren't we? And we are still friends too." Amusement played across Nokoru's handsome face. Sheepishly dropping her eyes to her lap Nokori laughed self deprecatingly. "I forgot that part." "When I woke up, I was in a comfortable room with a large bay window with a long window seat. There was no sign of your father anywhere. Of course the door and windows were all locked. I knew wasn't going to be going anywhere for a while, so I sat down and waited for my capture to appear." "Where did they take father?" Nokori fidgeted nervously on Nokoru's knee as she waited for her uncle's answer. "They locked him into a holding cell somewhere on the lower levels of the building. But at the time I had no idea where he was or if he was even alive." To Be Continued . . .</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>