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Chapter 7: JOiNeD wORLds

"OU-SAMA! Why are you here?"

Touya's copy was staring at him with a straight face.

"You've mistaken me. My name isn't Ousama. (BIN LADEN! HAHA!)"

"Uh?"

Touya turned to Kurogane, who was still standing, fork in hand, in front of the steaming noodles.

"Sir, please wait. We'll turn it over for you in a bit."

The two waiters left, and Kurogane sat back down hurriedly.

Syaoran thought he heard Yukito call Touya.

"Ou-sama sounds cool, ne?"

"It doesn't!"

He sighed.

"He was the king in your country?" Fye asked, his arm on the back of the bench as he turned to watch them leave.

"Hai..."

"And that guy next to him was the priest, ne?"

Meanwhile, Masayochi was explaining to the ninja how things worked.

"Okonomiyaki here is served by the waiters. You don't need to do anything."

"Hn."

"YOU WERE SCOLDED!"

"Shut up!"

"It's just like that witch of dimensions said, ne?" Fye noted, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "People we knew from other worlds lead different lives in different worlds..."

"So those two are the same king and priest of the brat's country?" Kurogane asked, not really expecting an answer.

"They're the same, but not the same," Fye said, not noticing the curious glances Masayochi was sending them. "Two people who were in Syaoran-kun's country lead different lives here. But so to speak," his eyes became focused and he seemed to enter his 'magician' persona, "their origin is the same."

"'Origin'?" Kurogane questioned, his arms folding in front of him and his head turning to the blonde young man.

"The basis of their life: nature, heart..." Fye did a small heart shape with his fingers and grinned.

"Soul, you mean?" Kurogane asked, as if he thought the magician didn't have enough vocabulary to find the word.

Syaoran wasn't listening much anymore. Lost in thought, he watched as the copies of the priest and king passed by again, and he heard Yukito tease Touya.

"From now on, I'll call you Ou-sama!"

"Don't."

The archaeologist was worried, actually. How were the real Touya and Yukito? Were they healing from the fight? They were probably, but Syaoran couldn't help the worry. What if Sakura came back to find her only living family wasn't living anymore?

Sakura... Yukito the Priest had sent the two of them to he Witch of Dimensions, hoping he'd save Sakura.

He would, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

"Syaoran-kuuun... If you don't hurry up, the food'll be gone!" Fye called, snapping the younger boy out of his reverie. "Geez, chopsticks are hard to use!"

"Hai." Syaoran smiled, grabbing his own chopsticks and starting his noodles, ignoring the fight Kurogane and Mokona were having.

"Ah! That's mine, damnit!"

"Ano, shall I order another one?"

"Ittadakimasu!"

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"THAT WAS - DELICIOUS!" Mokona exclaimed as the four boys came out.

"It really was, ne?" Fye grinned. Kurogane said nothing, but Syaoran completed for the three of them.

"Thank you for taking us here. It was really good."

Masayochi looked happy.

"There are also others. Takoyaki is good too..."

As they walked away, they didn't notice a gang of punks watching them from around a corner.

"Well... What should we do now?" Fye asked Syaoran as they walked in a mall.

"I want to search more in this area."

"Nn... But we don't know our way around here, so we can't get far, ne? We could lose our way back to Sora-chan's place."

"A-ano! You are going somewhere?"

"Hai."

"What place?" Masayochi asked Syaoran with enthusiasm.

"I don't know yet. I'm looking for something."

"If that's so, I'll go with you! I can show the way!"

"Isn't that a bothe-?"

"Not at all!" The young scholar hurried to a phone booth. "I'll call home! Wait here!"

"MOKONA CAN CALL TOO! MOSHI MOSHI! MOSHI MOSHI! (NOTE: moshi moshi MEANS, BASICALLY, Hello, hello?)" Mokona called from atop Syaoran's head.

"He really admires you," Fye grinned at Syaoran.

The boy only smiled sheepishly.

"By the way," Fye caught Mokona and placed him atop his blonde head, "About the dreams?"

"Hai, it appeared a short time ago... The beast of flame, Rayearth..."

"You dreamed of a beast. I did as well," Kurogane said, arms crossed.

"Me too," Fye declared.

"WHICH ONE HERE'S NAME IS SYAORAN?" A voice boomed ahead of them.

The three turned to the group that stood there. They were all wearing flashy colored hair in spikes, their clothes dark. They wore chains. Their leader, a small, fat man with black painted lips and small beady eyes stood in front of them.

"What do you want?" Fye asked with a smile.

"Are you the one Shougo is interested in?"

Fye shrugged.

"What if we were?"

The punk frowned, while Kurogane glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I am Syaoran."

The leader seemed abashed.

"THIS KID? REALLY?" He turned to one of his gang members.

"Yes, I'm sure!"

"Are you going to join Shougo's team?" The boss asked, beady eyes defying.

"Team?" Syaoran questioned suspiciously.

"Shougo's team is already large. If their number increases, it'll be bad for us. Shougo approved of you: you must have a strong kudan! If you're going to join his team, I won't allow it!"

"I'm not going to."

The other one looked hopeful.

"Then you're joining us?"

"I won't. There's something I need to do, so..."

"You're going to form a new team!"

"Eh? No, that's not what I mean -"

"I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU NOW!" The punk yelled, calling forth his kudan, a gigantic crab-like monster with no eyes but a thick skeleton.

"IT'S HUGE, NE?" Fye and Mokona yelled in unison.

"I'm not planning to form a team!" Syaoran yelled helplessly.

The creature still attacked, and Syaoran ducked as sharp stings caught in the pillar behind him.

People ran for shelter.

Fye's eyes thinned slightly.

"Seems he won't listen," he whispered darkly.

As the magician moved forward, an extended hand halted him. Kurogane stepped towards the punk, a small smirk on his lips.

"I'm bored," he explained, "I'll be your opponent."

"Kurogane was having fun just now!" Mokona yelped to Fye, pointing a toy store Kurogane had been previously observing. "He wasn't bored!"

"He was enjoying the republic of Hanshin," Fye explained to the creature, a faint smile on his lips.

"HEY! Shut up, you two!"

"Kurogane-san!" Syaoran called. "Your sword is with the Witch!"

Kurogane turned away and looked up.

"That sword was for breaking magic; a special one. It was important for killing a demon in my country." He watched as the punk's demon loomed above. "Kudan isn't demon right?"

"What's your level of kudan?" The leader asked, irritated.

"I don't know," the ninja answered. "Nor do I care. Stop grumbling and get on with it."

"Syaoran-kuuun!" Masayochi yelled as he came back hurriedly.

"Masayochi-kun, do you know who they are?" Fye asked, smiling as though nothing bad was going on.

"They're the team competing for the area! This place belongs to Shougo- san!"

"Are they strong?"

Masayochi nodded breathlessly.

"Kudan level one! The leader may not look very aerodynamic, but his kudan is very fast!"

"TAKE THIS!" The punk yelled. "KANINABE SENKKAI!"

Kurogane effortlessly did a back flip, avoiding by a few inches the full blast of knife edged needles.

However, the pillar behind him was cut in half.

"It cut it?" Syaoran yelped, shocked.

"That kudan can sever a limb!" Masayochi supplied.

"CATCH HIM!" The boss yelled, willing his kudan to hit the ever-escaping ninja.

"Watch out!" Syaoran cried as Kurogane managed to barely avoid the latest onslaught.

The archaeologist hurried forward, but Fye held him back with one hand.

"Don't," He smiled. "He'll get mad if you help him. Kurotan, I mean."

"KANIDOU RAKU!"

This time, Kurogane was hit, and he shielded his eyes against the force of the blast.

"KUROGANE-SAN!"

The ninja fell to the pavement. The punks laughed.

"What's wrong?" The leader asked laughingly. "Is your kudan so weak you can't show it?"

"Shut up."

The black-clad young man lifted himself steadily, his body bleeding and scarred. His face was spared, but the arms that had protected him were dark red. His eyes held a certain deadly darkness to them.

"MY KUDAN IS AN ESPECIALLY TOUGH LEVEL ONE!" The leader warned.

"But there's a weak point," Kurogane whispered. "In short, if I had a sword..."

As if on cue, there was a huge blast of water that surged from his chest, and he found himself underneath the paws of a giant blue and gold dragon.

"You! You're Seles! You appeared in my dream!"

The dragon said nothing, but it changed to a flowing, soon solid sword, which Kurogane grabbed steadily.

"You want me to fight, eh?"

The punk was shocked, and no longer laughing.

"Th-that's your kudan? Oh, but it ain't as strong as it looks! KANIKUI HOUDAI!"

"No matter how hard the body is, once struck with a knife..." Kurogane whispered to himself. "Crabs have joints, you know!"

To prove his point, the ninja jumped forward and did a nice, clean cut, powerful enough to make the other kudan waver and shatter, under the screams of the crowd.

The punk leader fell to his knees, his body quaking with shudders and sparks of electricity. His gang moved towards him, shocked.

"Man, you okay?"

"Hang on!"

"Y-you already made the team, right? You're in Syaoran's team..." The boss pointed towards Kurogane, who was standing amongst the rubble, his sword against his back. The ninja was glaring at him.

"I'm not joining any team... In my life, I only serve one person. Only Tomoyo- hime."

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I'll stop for a moment. If you want more, ask me, but it may take some time. R&R?