A Hana Yori Dango & CLAMP Campus Detective Crossover Series

The First Story: An Unending Tale

Chapter 1

Still as a statue, Domyouji Tsubaki stared stonily at the wide-screen television mounted on the wall of the conference room. It was a live news report; the anchorman standing before the exclusive Seasons Hotel where scores of police cars and some ambulances littered the front of the sprawling and towering estate. The backdrop of scurrying police personnel, medics and civilians was perfect newsworthy fodder for a report on possible conspiracy theories and assassination attempts during a welcome dinner for a foreign Minister of State who was visiting Japan; a gala event where anyone who was somebody either in politics, business, culture or high society was in attendance.

Tsubaki decided she had heard enough of the rubbish. She swiveled in her swan chair and turned to the other occupant of the room seated across the conference table – Takamura Suoh: a youth around seventeen years of age; strapping and handsome in a stoic manner with his dark hair that glinted blue, tanned skin and piercing amber eyes. Like recognised like and Tsubaki, herself defined by a background and upbringing considered highborn even among those of her social class, could easily identify quality bearing when presented before her. Takamura Suoh carried himself with an imposing air that spoke of reined strength and discipline. Despite his youth, he was one who understood authority; was authority himself and Tsubaki could at least be assured that she was being seriously attended to. She might not be exactly clear of his history (though his surname did ring a faint bell in her mind; perhaps not important – for now) but he had introduced himself to her as a second-year Junior in the Clamp Campus and upon elaboration mentioned that he was a student councilor: Secretary, to be precise, under the Clamp Campus High School Division.

Now, that was a significant title.

To appreciate the worth of such a status – an office within a mere student community as it might be – one must understand the prominence of Clamp Campus. Like Eitoku or Eirin Academy, it was an elevator school system providing direct progression from Kindergarten to the University. However, while the two posh academies had been built to cater to the gentry of Japan, Clamp Campus thrived on brains and talents.

“The school is intended to be a haven for those young people on whose shoulders the future of the world rests…” The chairperson of the Imonoyama Financial Group – the same who ran and whose company founded the school – had so commented on its purpose. True to its word, Clamp Campus’s doors were generously opened to all who make the cut – those who had shown prodigious intellect or ability in their chosen fields. Many in Clamp Campus had received scholarships to study any areas conceivable ranging from computers, art to gymnastics and equestrianism. The school was in essence, a hotbed of geniuses. Thus, though its studentship was not as elitist as Eitoku or Eirin, the campus had cultivated quite the formidable reputation of its own.

Hence, to not only be admitted to study in Clamp Campus but to also emerge as one of the student leaders, the person must be nothing short of exemplary. Indeed, it was well known fact that graduating student leaders from the campus were ravenously headhunted by major corporations, institutions and governments all over the world.

However, all that information meant squat to Tsubaki because she was going to pull all her own weight as the heiress of the Domyouji family and wife to a hotel magnate to understand why her only brother, his girlfriend, four dear childhood friends and four other friends of their circle were lying unconscious in the Clamp Campus Hospital at the moment due to an incident which both herself and Takamura Suoh knew was not the political sabotage as had been freshly reported. “Assassination attempt?” She commented bitingly. Her eyes were slightly red; evidence of tears previously shed through shock and grief. But now, when she had pulled herself together and considered all facts and because she alone must see to the welfare of her family and friends – Domyouji Tsubaki was demanding answers.

Suoh switched off the television by remote, placidly replying to the unspoken question. “It is natural for anyone to assume such, given the coincidence of a political ball at the Seasons Hotel and that a body with a gun is found... But I cannot deny its convenience; the truth is too complicated and dire to be made known.” He allowed the older woman to see his regret, breathed in deeply before plunging straight into the heart of the matter. “Something – a crucial prototype – has been stolen from the laboratory of our University’s Research and Development Centre. We followed the culprit to the hotel where we believed he made an appointment with a buyer. Unfortunately, he discovered our presence and during the pursuit, he…” Suoh’s golden eyes shuttered as he struggled to maintain his composure. “He leapt off the building. At tenth storey.” He was aware of a sharp intake of air from Tsubaki as he slid his gaze to stare at the space to her left. His tone was controlled; too controlled.

Tsubaki stared wide-eyed at Suoh, a hand over her parted lips. She remembered the posh conservatory at the hotel which was booked for their little evening garden party; the jagged hole in its ceiling; cold winter wind frosting the previously warm air; the bloody corpse floating facedown in the fountain water bleeding scarlet glass shards littered everywhere nine other bodies sprawled on the ground red red metallic red spatters… Tsubaki snapped her eyes shut and in a shuddering breath willed her focus into place. She was smart enough to piece together the details left unsaid behind the horrifying scene that had been seared across her memory. “We’re truly, truly sorry.” She heard the other youngster murmured and when she next looked at Suoh, he was standing and deeply bowed.

“I wish… I wish to inquire after my brother and friends.” Tsubaki’s voice was not steady. Collateral casualties – that was what her brother and friends were, really. Discipline had been so instilled in her that she was able to reason under duress, even if her baser instincts was to scream in frustration at the knowledge that her dear ones were in who-knows-what-condition simply because they were caught at the wrong time in a wrong place to a trouble that for once was not of their doing and was non of their business and its just so stupid and senseless…

Suoh unbend himself, acquiescing with a nod. He had been instructed after all to allow Domyouji Tsubaki free access to any information concerning the welfare of the patients. The only reason why she had been brought to the conference room in the hospital was so she could be given the explanation for the night’s disaster in comfort and privacy – an explanation which had been promised by his Kaichou as part of his persuasion for her to entrust her brother and friends into the care of the Clamp Campus.

“Kaichou is personally overseeing the medical examination,” Suoh elaborated as he led Tsubaki down the corridor to the lift. “That is why he has sent me in his stead to speak with you.”

‘Kaichou’ – the President. An image of a handsome, blue-eyed eighteen-year old blonde rose in Tsubaki’s mind. Just as Suoh had introduced himself as Secretary to his High School Student Council, Imonoyama Nokoru had identified himself as the leader of the threesome who was first to reach the scene at the Seasons Hotel conservatory after Tsubaki. As a Domyouji, she had interacted with members of the Imonoyama family before, but tonight had been her first contact with the youngest scion of the financial giant. “Is Nokoru-dono a doctor?” She asked, perturbed. Reputation of the Clamp Campus and its famed student leaders non-withstanding, it was simply unsettling to imagine the health of her family and friends in the hands of a teenager.

“The technical medical procedures are handled by the doctors.” Suoh explained, pressing the up button for the lift. “Kaichou’s expertise is in physics and electronics. He is there to decide with the doctors the necessary examinations to proceed with.”

Tsubaki stared at Suoh in sudden alarm. “Why would his field of knowledge be necessary in the medical care of Tsukasa and the others?” She demanded.

Suoh tightened his lips. He knew the line of questioning would come to this. The lift arrived with a soft ‘ping’ then and he entered into it. Tsubaki followed briskly after while keeping a hard gaze on him. Suoh pressed the button for the right floor before turning to face her. “When our medics gave the usual preliminary check of your brother and friends at the scene of crime, we noticed that there is an odd lack of physical injuries, outwardly or internally.”

“But they’re unconscious! And there are so many glass shards around!” Tsubaki inserted sharply.

“True, but they were actually lying on the shards.” Suoh corrected. “That means they must have been able to avoid…” He stopped short and exhaled audibly; admittedly, he could be clearer in his reconstruction of events. “What I’m saying is – from the positions of your brother and friends that were observed at the scene of crime, this is what have been surmised. The deceased…” he forced himself to continue. “As he smashed through the roof of the conservatory and fell into the fountain inside, your brother and friends must have taken cover in time to avoid the falling glass. The conservatory is a large area after all and there is at least three stories worth of height for the glass to travel through, not to mentioned wide tables around to hide under. It also helps that the spot where the… body broke through was a fair distance away from where your gathering was held.”

They reached their floor with another soft ‘ping’. Suoh did not resume his story until they were both out of the lift. “Understandably, your brother and friends must have drawn near to the deceased after things have quieted down in the urge to figure out what had happened. That is why they are found where they were, around the fountain, on the glass shards and apparently uninjured…” Suoh trailed off. He knew the explanation to the most important mystery – that of the strange unconsciousness of her brother and friends – was the one that Tsubaki really wanted. Not that he lacked theories of his own but frankly, since he had been keeping Tsubaki’s company instead of participating in the medical examinations, his words were mere suppositions. Having concrete facts was always more helpful than unproven hypothesis. In short, the best person to speak to her regarding the patients’ diagnosis was his Student Council president.

“So there is another reason why Tsukasa and the others are unconscious?” Tsubaki spoke up in the same sharp tone of before when it became obvious that Suoh would not continue. She narrowed her eyes. “The reason of which makes it necessary for Nokoru-sama to be with the doctors?”

Suoh’s lips twitched in an unbidden smile – that had been a pretty astute question. In perfect timing, they arrived at the examination room. “Honestly, Kaichou is in the best position to give you the rest of the answers.” He told Tsubaki sincerely before tapping the sensor unit with his access card. The frosted glass door before them slid open.

It was a spacious examination room; large enough to comfortably accommodate the ten victims while doctors tended busily to them. In the centre was Imonoyama Nokoru, holding sheaves of papers in his hands and deep in discussion with a middle-aged, distinguished-looking doctor; their backs to the door. It was another youth by Nokoru’s side, a sixteen-year old youth, gray-eyed and raven-haired, who first turned his head in Suoh and Tsubaki’s direction as they entered the room.

“Suoh-sempai!” Ijyuin Akira called out, his bright voice bringing attention to newcomers. Tsubaki’s eyes flickered over to this youngest person in the place. He was the final member of the trio; the Treasurer, it seemed, of the student council headed by the Imonoyama. Alerted to her arrival, the said council president approached with his treasurer close after.

Dark… Vast… Nothing… Presence…Weightlessness…

“Tsubaki-ojou.” Nokoru greeted before bowing low, his right hand over his heart. What seemed to be line charts was held firmly in the other hand by his side. Beside him, Akira bowed just as deeply. Their expressions, when they straightened themselves, were transparent in the same apology which Suoh displayed back in the conference room.

Natually, Tsubaki’s attention was arrested by the sight of her family and friends lying so unnaturally still on their beds. She strode past the two almost absentmindedly, casting a conflicted gaze on each one of the patients. “How are they?”

Nokoru glanced at his secretary in silent communication, to which the latter nodded. “I trust Suoh’s explanation of tonight’s misfortune has been sufficient.” He looked at Tsubaki in concern, the upward inflection towards the end of his speech made clear his earnestness in being obliging.

Presence… Sense… Touch…Presence…Mind… Will… Become…

With great effort, Tsubaki tore her eyes away from the heart-wrenching sight to concentrate on the blond. “Suoh-san has informed me of your school’s… unfortunate breach in security.” She murmured, still capable of tact in her speech. “But I wish to know why Tsukasa and the rest are yet to wake up although I’ve been told that they did not suffer any injury.” She shook her head. “Suoh-san told me you are the best person to speak to.”

Nokoru nodded affirmatively. “We had suspicions, you see, but until our ideas are medically proven, none of us feel that we could tell you anything concrete.”

“Well?” Tsubaki pressed. “What have you discovered?”

It was with a sinking feeling that Suoh recognized the troubled looks on Nokoru and Akira’s faces – it would seem that their hypothesis had been most unfortunately correct… “This might take a while.” Nokoru was saying, holding up the readings in his hands. “So if you would please follow us to the doctor lounge, I would be most glad to tell you of your brother and friends’ condition.”

Fragments… Presence… Green…Blue…Presence…Colours…Shades…

There was more murmurings, some mute taps of high heels – the three youngsters had always been light on their feet; Takamura and Ijyuin, particularly – before the slide of the automated door effectively sealed the medical room from the outside. When the presiding physician, Doctor Amano – the one whom Imonoyama Nokoru had been speaking to before Suoh and Tsubaki showed up – looked up from the female patient named Sanjou Sakurako, the student councilors and the visitor had already left the room. He released a little sigh, before frowning at the readings on the monitor of the polysomnography system (1). “This makes no sense…”

Edges… Join… Presence… Senseless... Sense. Presence... Empty. Something. Presence.

Doctor Amano made his way to the next patient, Makino Tsukushi this time. He checked her vitals first before staring thoughtfully at the digital readings of her brainwaves and biophysical reactions. And in almost the same instant, his eyes widened in alarm as startled gasps sounded throughout the room from doctors and nurses alike.

Presence. Presence. Dream. Presence. Dream. No. Real. Earth. Sky. Real. Ten. Presence. Create.

“Increasing abnormality in the brainwaves!” One doctor at the other end of the room was the first to voice out the identical observation that was recorded in each monitor.

“Vitals!” The commanding tone from Doctor Amano restored the professional control that was shaken a moment ago.

Real. Create. Solidify. Shape. Creation. Man. Place. Details. Lines. Smells. Movements. World.

“No adverse reaction! Nothing Amano-sensei! Vitals fine!” Doctors began throwing their observations back to their supervisor. Contrary to the increasing fluster of the medical staff, the patients continued in their deathlike pose. “Frequency rising! Abnormality persisting! Beta waves off the chart! Amano-sensei!” The head physician thinned his lips as his medical began to lose their cool.

“Everyone take a step back from your patient!” Doctor Amano finally barked. When his words sunk in, any one who was open-eyed in the room found themselves staring in flabbergast at their head doctor. The plain silence made the next incident a greater shock.

New world. Sky earth breath. Sharper details stronger senses. No more suspended move time. Touch real feel energy life. Let us be. Let Us BE!

REALITY!

Sparks flew across the electrodes gelled to the scalps of every patient. There was a swell of exclamations and yelps as the blue and white static charges crackled up the wires to the polysomnography machines. Before Doctor Amano could give an instruction to turn the systems off, all polysomnographic equipment whined for a few short seconds before blinking into oblivion.

REALITY. REALITY. Reality. Reality… reality... This… This is… Heian-kyo (2)… Heian-kyo in the year…

Once more, the room was plunged into silence; an anticipatory one where each doctor and nurse eyed their respective patient warily for more unpleasant surprises. Yet they lay unperturbed without even evidence of the prior electrical phenomenon.

Doctor Amano breathed out heavily; he could feel his own quickened pulse. “The other systems are working. Check their vitals again.” His raised voice cut through the quiet like rough fingers upon jangled nerves. Belatedly, the medical staff began to notice the continual gentle bleeps coming from the various cardiac monitoring machines. They were well-trained and it did not take them long to refocus on their work.

Heian-kyo in the second year of the reign of the Emperor… two officials… offspring… betroth… the story begins…

Somehow, Doctor Amano was not surprised when each of his doctors reported no change (or damage) in the physical readings of every patient. He sighed and made a gesture for the nearest doctor to come forward, giving instructions for the latter to find Imonoyama Nokoru in the lounge to inform him of the latest event. As the other doctor left, he called out for the head nurse of the operation to collect the remaining graphical data from the polysomnography systems linked to each patient, which would be churned out right up to the point of their simultaneous breakdown.

“Should we call for a replacement of the equipment, sensei?” One doctor queried.

Doctor Amano made a thoughtful noise before shaking his head decisively. “Just dismantle and remove the current ones.” There might not be a point getting a second set of the same machines, the presiding physician figured, as he suspected that a more elaborated neurological system would be needed to check on what was actually going on within the brains of the ten deceptively restful victims.

In the second year of the reign of the Emperor Hana-no-sei (3), there live two minor provincial officials of the same upper grade in the seventh rank (4); a Lord Makino and Lord Domyouji. In celebration of their close friendship, they decide to betroth their offspring to each other…

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End of Chapter 1

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Footnotes for Chapter 1

(1) A polysomnography system conducts a diagnostic study of the body neurologically and physically when one is asleep. Not only are physical reactions, such as eye movements and body tension recorded, EEG – the reading of brainwaves – is also studied.

(2) Heian-kyo is one of the olden (perhaps most notable) name for the current city of Kyoto in Japan. It literally means ‘tranquility & peace capital’ and used to be the capital of the Japanese empire from 794 to 1868. Since the historical ‘Golden Age’ of Japanese culture – Heian Period – occurred from the 9th to 12th century, Heian-kyo served as the backdrop of the many Japanese literary classics written. The idyllic, promiscuous, narcissistic and even dangerously conniving (in politics) life of the aristocrats is well-documented. Even today, it (Kyoto) retains its prestige as the imperial capital though Tokyo is the de facto capital of the country.

(3) Hana-no-sei means ‘spirit of flower’. It is NOT the personal name of the Emperor. Unlike Western conventions, it is an absolute taboo to refer to a person of the noble rank by their given name, much less the Emperor! Instead ‘Hana-no-sei’ is the title conferred upon the person and reigning period of the Emperor in question (and in this fanfiction).

(4) The bureaucratic hierarchy of the olden Japanese empire is one convoluted ranking system. There are nine ranks. Entry into the top three qualifies the officer into aristocracy. The cut-off point of import is the fifth rank; that when the Emperor himself spare an interest. Any rank lower than the fifth is menial and increasingly so as the rank dips lower. Each rank is also subdivided. The upper three is subdivided into ‘junior’ and ‘senior’ grades. Subsequent ranks are subdivided into ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ grades.

Olden imperial Japan is so rank conscious they have laws governing fashion, architecture, tax, property and even punishment (practically everything!) in accordance to rank. For instance, an officer receives a rank first before an “appropriate” office is found for him in the bureaucracy. Lord Makino and Domyouji are provincial officers. Like many feudal systems, the importance of a province is measured by its proximity to the capital. Given their low status, the province they were in must not be very near Heian-kyo if they were designated an office there.

Lord Makino and Domyouji may be in the ‘upper’ grade but as seventh rank officers, they are low on the political food chain indeed. Such people are practically plebian to the real upper crust of the court and to even think of gaining the necessary promotions to squeeze into at least the fifth rank is…in those days, near improbable indeed.