http://clampfix.fanworks.net/x-fix/half1.txt </head><body><pre>Author's notes: Bad sense of humour strikes again ^_^;; I hope that you guys can bear with it... (c)Jennifier D., 11122000 last revised: 31122000 ------------------------------------------------------ Hinoto's eyes were closed as she continued to watch the ever-changing future untiringly. This time, she awoke from her dreams with the same uneasy look on her face, a very positive indication of what she had just witnessed was not welcomed. Apparently, the future had changed yet again. //Anou...// the dream gazer began, unsure of how to relay what she had seen. //Hien? Have the Dragons of Heavens gone for their vacation yet?// "Hai, Hinoto-hime." The guardian bowed, a worried look on her face. "They left this morning. Is anything wrong, Hinoto-hime?" //I'm too late then... It isn't exactly a very big problem... just a rather strange one.// Hinoto bit her lip. //Can you please inform Immonoyama-san that I would like to have an emergency meeting with him? There might be some... complications when the Dragons of Heaven return.// "Hai, Hinoto-hime." With a brief bow, Hien disappeared from the room. With her helper gone, Hinoto sat back and let her thoughts wander a little. //I wonder...// She flushed as a rather amusing idea struck her, but she quickly let it ago, afraid of the possibilities it might bring. //...whether Arashi-san holds any immense dislike for cockroaches...// Half and Half by Jennifier D. One: Surprise, surprise "This is not funny." Satsuki snapped at Kanoe as she stroked the soft fur of the kitten that was purring in her arms. Kanoe shrugged nonchalantly, the same irritating smile still adorning her face when she picked up the black rabbit that was currently curled up into a little fur ball on her chair. "I never said it was." "Ow!" She dropped the rabbit, which landed on its forelegs gracefully, then glared daggers at her. "You didn't have to bite me, you know." Satsuki smirked. "She doesn't like people to hold her." "Really? What about him then?" Kanoe looked as though she was going to devour the kitten, fur and all. "Don't. Touch." Satsuki warned, her eyes narrowed. "He's mine." "Humph," Kanoe snorted before sitting down on her chair. "Touchy." The other rolled her eyes in answer. ------------------------------------------------------ "Urm, Subaru, it looks like it's going to rain..." Kamui remarked uneasily, then pulled the cloak closer around his slender body. The onmyouji glanced at the darkening sky, a frown burrowing its way onto his brow. "I think we'll have to hurry back to Immonoyama-san's house. Before it starts to rain." Without another word, the rest of the Dragons of Heavens started hurrying towards the Immonoyama Mansion, which was of a visible distance away. Visible, yet still very faraway. The horrible thought of being caught in the rain wouldn't leave the Dragons of Heaven's minds... especially a few individuals, who knew what rain spelled for them. Trouble. ------------------------------------------------------ Nokoru looked out of his window, a frown that was not much different from Subaru's etched on his smooth brow. Telling himself that the dragons could survive even the worst of the earthquakes, they could definitely survive the rain. He hoped. And he was hoping really, really hard now. "Rijichou?" Akira and Suou had been exchanging glances ever since Nokoru simply sat down on his table and sighed. That was the first sign. Then the next most amazing thing happened. He started clearing all his papers. It was interesting to note that humans could never kick some of the bad habits they had picked up over the years. Ignoring the ominous-looking piles of papers sitting on his desk was one special trait developed by Nokoru. Once the pile of papers passed the one metre mark, Nokoru's consciousness went on shutdown whenever the papers came into his view. It was probably also another reason why there was always a fine layer of dust that accumulated on his desk (note that it was randomly stirred about by Suou dumping more papers on the already ceiling-high stack). "What's the matter, Akira?" Although Nokoru was looking at Akira, his hands continued the mechanical motions of stamping the papers. Stamp. Flip. Stamp. Flip. Stamp. Flip. Stamp. Flip. "Are you... feeling alright today?" "Yeah." Nokoru thought about the question. Akira sweat-dropped. Suou continued adding more papers to the "In" pile quietly. "Really?" Nokoru nodded his head, then gave Akira a bright grin. "Would you mind... preparing some hot water? It looks like it's going to rain." Just as Nokoru finished saying that, lightning flashed across the sky and thunder roared. The very first sign of a terrible storm reared its ugly little head. All three former CLAMP Campus Detectives sweat-dropped. ------------------------------------------------------ Sorata knew with certainty that he was going to die this time. He only hoped that whoever who killed him would be his beloved Arashi. The moment the fat, grey clouds unleashed their heavy burden upon the Dragons of Heavens - who where heading for the Immonoyama Mansion at the fastest speed their legs could carry them - and Sorata's world turned into a dizzy mixture of colours. "So... ra... ta..." Make it extremely slowed-down as well. He felt as though he was stuck in a badly watered down version of reality and everyone was trying to trample him. Or avoid trampling him. Either way, his imminent death was still just a step away. "Whe... re... are... y... o... u...?" "Here! Here! And watch your foot-er, paw, Kamui!" Sorata jumped back as a slim, black leg landed next to him, its owner glaring at him with a pair of burning amethyst eyes that glowed with hints of golden. Right before darkness happily claimed the Kouya monk, Sorata's world was full of sharp, canine teeth. ------------------------------------------------------ Pedestrians that were crossing the street in front of the Immonoyama Mansion in hurry on that fateful day had sworn, despite visits to the psychiatrists, that they saw a troupe of animals running towards the mansion. The sharper ones noted that there were two humans among them. The National Institute of Mental Health in Japan simply smiled, then handed those people pieces of paper that suggested that they were suffering from some kind of mental illness. This was what one of the psychiatrists said. "I'm quite sure that the Japanese government has strict rules on the management of their zoos. And I'm also quite sure that people who see pandas and lions on Tokyo streets under rainy day conditions should seek mental help. They have obviously had a deprived childhood, stemming from the fact that their parents never brought them to the zoo when they were young." ------------------------------------------------------ Kamui cursed the whether, the clouds, the rain, the gods which tended after the weather and every single other thing that was on his mind at that moment (including Sorata) using every single curse he had heard of before. And a few others that Karen was quite sure she had never heard of before or thought was verbally possible. "Don't worry, we're reaching there soon." Subaru muttered as he held the shivering white rabbit in his arms. The wild cat that was running next to him growled. He didn't like wet fur. *Scratch that. Make it drenched fur. I'm practically a water carrier now.* Arashi was silent as she ran towards the house, hoping that she wouldn't crush the insect in her hand to death. It would have been really tragic if that had happened. And she wouldn't know how to explain to Hinoto-hime how that happened either. The rather conspicuous group came to a stop outside the humongous gates of the mansion and paused while Subaru tried to get through to Nokoru. Moments later, the gates opened and the Dragons of Heaven disappeared. If birds could laugh, the sparrow that was perched inconspicuously in the letterbox of the Immonoyama mansion would now be rolling about on the floor howling in laughter. ------------------------------------------------------ "Where's [Kamui]?" Kanoe sashayed into the room dressed in one of her indecent outfits again, flipping her hair back to create the "Oh will you just look at me, I'm soooooooo sexy~" image. Satsuki shrugged, then turned back to scratching the kitten's tummy. The rabbit twitched, then tucked its head beneath its paws. Kanoe sighed, then sat down in her seat imperiously, leaning back into the cold surface of the tall chair. "I wonder why did you three bother to get into this kind of trouble in the first place..." She gazed pointedly at the dozing rabbit. One ear twitched. Kanoe smiled, then bent down to pick the rabbit, which immediately bit her finger. "Ow! What did you bite me for?" If anyone had bothered to observe the rabbit, they would notice that one of its eyes was in a sightless, milky white. "That's really very unbecoming of you, Seishirou-san." The kitten yawned. Then started purring when Satsuki began to tickle him again. "And you too, Yuuto." ------------------------------------------------------ After all the Dragons of Heaven had showered and changed into dry clothing, they sat down in the family room for a meeting with the three ex-CLAMP Campus Detectives. Karen suppressed a yawn, then smiled apologetically. Seiichirou was looking through his briefcase rather worriedly, since he had brought some of his office papers with him when he packed for the vacation. He had already lost quite a few stacks of his notes to water when they were visiting one of the Chinese villages. "Was your trip eventful?" Nokoru flashed a grin, then sat down on one of the empty armchairs. "Very." Kamui muttered, then his eyes flickered to rest on Sorata ever so briefly, burning with anger. "Really? What happened?" Nokoru asked innocently, unaware of what the Dragon of Heaven was about to do. "This." Without another word, Kamui picked up the nearest jug and dumped its contents all over Sorata, who protested feebly before turning into a lump of clothing. There was a period of stunned silence while Nokoru, Suou and Akira stared at the lump of clothes, shell-shocked. Then the lump started to wiggle. End: One After notes: Eh... I think you guys would have guessed what had happened to the poor X crew ^^;;; Hmmn... I wonder if anyone had figured out who's what yet...?</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>