"Alice, what is happiness to you?"

"Surely you've known sadness, you've known hardship but you've always been able to say "it'll be alright". how?" ~•~••~•••~••~•~ Sonata. '01 liner, GMT+8 https://buttercupspigtails.straw.page ~•~••~•••~••~•~

[aliceinclockland]

Cardcaptor Magicians and their Ceremonial Clothings

—Or what I'd like to call, the Pointy Hat™ Analysis

Welcome to Episode one of my random Cardcaptor Blabberings (or blabblecaptor— it's a working tag title), a "series" where I talk about random Cardcaptor things without doing that much deep diving because I hate too much research.

Since I'm notorious for starting things and not being consistent to the point of not even continuing what I started, let's see how this one goes. 😆 I'm also bad at words so wish me luck.

I'd like to start this off by saying 2 things:

this all started because I saw Sakura's pointy hat and got reminded by Kaito's ceremonial robe... then got reminded of Eriol's robe right after.

this isn't a serious analyzation of their outfits, given the reason i wanted to blabber about this is their pointy hats. also I'm more of a Nadeshiko when it comes to fashion: so far from the word 💀

Lastly, take this as a silly post while I try to learn how Tumblr works. I don't want people to use this as a source (or anything similar) because at the end of the day, this is all just silly typings of someone who excels in associating the most random stuff with each other without being able to explain why.

With all of that out of the way, Let's get started!

like what i said earlier, the moment i saw Sakura's color page in Chapter 74 my mind went straight into Kaito's robe, and when my brain went to remind me of Kaito's ceremonial robe colored page, it immediately went to Eriol... And then started to compare the three, asking myself about their similarities aside from the initial idea of this entire post—the pointy hats.

i should put tm after saying pointy hats at this point...

starting off with the robes, all 3 of them have their attires in the color black. idk why it's like that, but it makes the gold in their clothing shine more i guess 😆

point is, the colors used in the robe are mostly dominated by neutral colors, most likely to make the intricate details pop up a lot more.

the patterns the clothings have also are (mostly—just in case if there's a part where it's not) symmetrical, visibly seen within the designs on the torso parts.

In this case, Eriol & Sakura's chest (?) part, and Yuna D. Kaito's back.

I could say it's the magicians' insignia but just in case it's not I'll settle with symmetrical symbols. 😅

~•~•~•~

...surely those were not the only similarities, right?

well, aside from the pointy hats™ and the color scheme & patterns their robes have...

...I also realized that they're also all powerful magicians;

Eriol is Clow's reincarnation... or at least, half of it.

—And according to various Cardcaptor characters, he (Clow) was the most powerful magician to ever exist (but also the most fucked up one as well, i guess.)

Given that Clow's reincarnation were 2 people (he thought he could divide his magical abilities between them), Eriol still unfortunately got all of the magic and most of Clow's memories— literally passing down his title of being the most powerful magician onto Eriol.

This manchild (literally bc he is a man in a child's body) can also do lots of spells as he has Clow's magic, and his memory of his past life helps him excel in some of everyday skills a "normal child" would struggle with (ie. baking, drawing, sewing, speaking a language, etc). But, no one knows that— not even Sakura until he told her that himself.

Also I'd like to point out the fact that despite a lot of his robe's designs were in gold (color, who knows if it's really gold? I don't.), the lining of his outfit is in red.

not sure if Clow's robe is similar (if not the same) or anything but if it is, has his robe been passed down from generations before him?

and if so, which side of Clow's family was the robe from?

Yuna D. Kaito is also a powerful magician.

—In fact, one of (if not the) highest ranks in the Magical Association.

that's actually the D. in his name— it wasn't his middle name and in fact, Yuna D. Kaito probably isn't his real name.

He can do lots of things with his sorcery but he specializes in Time Magic... which is considered a taboo since you'll get a fucked up alternative world when YOU fucked up using that kind of magic...

...and also a shorter life-span but let's not delve much into that so this post won't go to the depressing direction 😁

And in regards of his robe, one can argue that the robe isn't really exclusively HIS, since you can see in the picture I've used that there are other people with him wearing the same clothing (assuming it's his clan's) so i suggest burning their headquarters down to ashes to make it YDK's own robe 😆😆

note: a kind friend in the comments pointed out my mistake of associating Yuna D. Kaito and Lilie Shinomoto's clans as one: their clans differ from each other. Yuna D. Kaito's in particular are a congregation of magicians that aren't blood-related and are officially referred to as "Magic Association".

i have no idea what to call his or Lilie's clans yet, but for now I'll refer to those as their respective clans 😅

Now onto the main Protagonist of the series: Sakura Kinomoto. In Tomoyo's words, "The only Cardcaptor in the world"

Started as a girl that had little magic that managed to grew stronger and stronger, and then now having one of the abilities Clow had— creating cards (or new magic) on her own.

Though one can argue that she won't be able to do that if Yuna D. Kaito wasn't pulling the strings in the background, keep in mind that Momo said she saw right past Eriol's magic protection [to contain Sakura's magic].

Plus, in the Sakura Arc (where she technically created new cards but under a "template"), Eriol was pulling the strings as well and yet her powers still managed to grow, probably beyond people's expectations.

Her ever-growing power might be hard to control for her, but she's doing her best to utilize it in protecting the ones she cherishes the most.

Now the upcoming argument about Sakura's"ceremonial attire"... well, technically Sakura doesn't have one, and you can't really call that outfit a robe, but most of the details in a ceremonial robe (at least CLAMP's robes) present: the neutral color, the symmetrical design, and the gold lining/design.

I like to consider it her own ceremonial robe— made in a very fitting and unique image of Sakura, that only she will wear.

Speaking of different, there are other powerful magicians that doesn't follow the same "ceremonial outfit" pattern so I thought I'd show them too!

- Here we have the Shinomoto Ceremonial Outfit, worn by the beautiful Akiho Shinomoto in this color page!

sorry about the picture if it's not clean... i tried so hard to find a textless one (same as yuna d. kaito) but unfortunately I couldn't.

now about the details aside from the pointy hat: the neutral color + gold lining & symmetrical detail scheme is there, but the difference with the 1st three and their robe is that the neutral color used with the Shinomotos' were white, as opposed to the first three who used black.

i know you've seen this already but since I'm talking about Lilie here in specifics I'd like to put this here are well: a kind friend in the comments pointed out my mistake of associating Yuna D. Kaito and Lilie Shinomoto's clans as one; their clans differ from each other, and that Lilie's (though only officially referred to as "most ancient magician clan in Europe") clan is blood-related, as opposed to Yuna D. Kaito's.

again, no idea what I'll call their respective clans separately yet, so I'll probably refer to them as their respective clans for now— though i have a few ideas xd

another difference is that the hat may be a bit pointy, but it's not as pointy as the three, and that the hat has three pointy things instead of just one.... okay, maybe not that pointy, but, still pointy 😅

okay that's too many pointy, let's get back on track 😁

the difference is blatantly obvious about this one, and I really can't cross Lilie Shinomoto out from one of the most powerful magicians CCS has ever introduced snce she had strong premonition powers and she was also considered a very powerful magician that's feared within Yuna D. Kaito's Clan.

I mean it would take lots of powerful magic to be even able to cross time and dreams for that long just to tell Sakura about the truth in their (now fabricated) timeline?

but i wonder why is their robe different than the others?

we'll get back to that later, if i remember it. 😆

speaking of pointy hats™, you know a magician who doesn't have a pointy hat?

He's none other than Li Clan's next leader and Sakura's most important person, Syaoran Li!

one can never talk about ceremonial outfits without remembering Syaoran's iconic ceremonial outfits! with S because he has two— 1st one (in the pictures) being the original clothing he has, and the 2nd one Tomoyo made for him that was inspired by the one he used to have.

our little wolf is special; from being Sakura's rival in the Clow Card Arc to being Sakura's most important person? He has learned so much and grew stronger along the way.

now about the details: his clothing doesn't really follow the usual attire pattern: the dominant color of his robe is green, the designs are indeed symmetrical, but the linings are both orange and yellow instead of the usual neutral pallette... his hat also doesn't have a pointy thing on it and instead has a hanging detail on the back.

"what about the attire Tomoyo made for him? it has 2 pointy things!"

—yeah.. well you're right, and as much as I gave the effort to add his Clear Card arc ceremonial outfit, I'm realizing now that it's not really an official robe now, is it...

about the clear card ceremonial attire, one can argue the same thing as they thought about Sakura while reading this blabber (if anyone has gotten though this far),

"That isn't even a ceremonial ROBE"

and you're right, it isn't... since it was Tomoyo's work, inspired from the original one. 😅

so think of it the same way as Sakura— made in the fitting and unique image of Syaoran, that only he could wear.

I guess the main couple of the series have that one as a similarity in regards to this random topic I've thought about. 💚

sooooooo what does this mean? why is Syaoran's robe so different than the others?

is he not as powerful as the ones listed?

well. probably.

but he's not entirely powerless— his entire bloodline is directly related to Clow for crying out loud.

and in addition, his mother Yelan Li is also a powerful sorceress.

I mean would the Li Clan even let someone not as powerful as Yelan to be the next in line to lead?

To answer that: Absolutely not, since being able to have magic and to be able to properly control it are probably some basic requirements to be even considered as a candidate.

So they're powerful. As a clan.

—but we are talking about Syaoran as an individual sorcerer right now and I'll say he is powerful.

In the current CCS timeline, his magic wasn't enough to turn all of the Sakura Cards into those little orbs he kept on his compass. He's even having a hard time converting just one.

And if I remember this correctly, he was aided by her mother through casting the magic he needed in the bears when he snatched the Sakura Cards from their master.

We've seen him improve his magic— especially shown in the 1st season of the anime. Hell, he can even make the sword appear from his hands like what his Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle counterpart does on a regular basis.

In comparison, he is more powerful in Clear Card Arc, but it was still not enough at the moment.

That brings us to the question: Why?

I'd say he's not as powerful now probably because everything happened too fast, and that he didn't have much time to make his magic stronger to get at least within Sakura's power level.

He may have been exhausting himself to the bone during the time when he came back to Hong Kong but my boy, the time you had was absolutely too short to have your skills improve drastically.

On the brighter side, Syaoran has lots of potential, and we all know he's a strong fella so it's about just a matter of time until he reach his full power.

~•~•~•~

Now this entire post got me thinking about other things as I was typing it.

Mostly they're questions I had to ask, like "okay, now what?" "Why did I do this?" especially because the original plan i had was to only have Eriol, Yuna D. Kaito & Sakura in this post.

But I thought I'd be unfair to the Lilie & Akiho, and Syaoran since they both have their own as well so I added them here on the spot.

well, remember what I mentioned that "I'll elaborate on it later" when I was giving a brief background on Lilie's robe? yeah, it's time to go back to that one now...

I really didn't think that one through when I started typing, but the more I think of things to type, the more I asked myself,

is the ceremonial clothing an indicator of how powerful you are?

Though the answer is probably "duh ", since the ones who have robes are part of clans AND are also powerful—

note that Clow was from a union of a European Magician AND an Asian Magician so technically he's still part of BOTH clans, if each of his parents were part of them.

—it's probably more of "if you're in an association with lots of other magicians", considering the fact that some of the ceremonial clothings were passed down to the living blood-relative of the family...

Hence why Sakura doesn't have one and the rest has.

Though Eriol with that ceremonial outfit can be a bit questionable since he's a reincarnation n stuff, and so far I don't remember ERIOL (capitalized bc I've been linking him to Clow, but I'm talking abt him as JUST him as his own individual) being part of a clan since he worked independently (as far as I can remember)

but from what I can recall it was mentioned in the anime that the ceremonial clothing resembled Clow's... correct me if I'm wrong, though.

also, with the additional input i got from Cinzia (the friend who also pointed out the difference between Akiho's & Yuna D. Kaito's clans),

I also now wonder if the colors used in their robes reflect their intentions? or, since Lilie & Akiho's clan has been around for ages, how long their bloodline has existed?

because if it's the former, then it really won't make sense for Sakura & Eriol (though Eriol is once again, questionable... since his previous body as Clow isn't particularly... good nor he is also evil— at least from my perspective)

...and the latter makes more sense in general.

another one question i have is the explanation for Meiling's ceremonial clothing— like do they give different styles of ceremonial clothes in the Li Clan based on your gender? your magical abilities? or how closely-related you are to whoever leads the clan?

i mean, i know she's an anime-exclusive character but I still want to know because I'm curious...

lastly, i wonder if Nadeshiko has one... since she is also a powerful person (she really doesn't do much sorcery stuff as far as i can remember), though the extent of her magic is unclear like Lilie, it's clear that she's also powerful because she can still do lots of things even in after life.

~•~•~•~

IF you're one of the few people who finished reading this i just want to say thank you, and i hope everything made sense since i am very bad at explaining my thoughts 😭.

I think that's it, my brain is tired now and i want to go back to sleep again so good day to everyone and until next time, if there will ever be a next time 😆

and, cut! 🎬

[ultra-violet-heart]

The story of a (soon-to-be) Princess Consort who uses her cruel husband's hands holding the sword to relieve the heat on her cheeks

(Image taken from manga illustrator Hinoki Kino's IG. It's kinda related to this short story.)

This is a bonus short story written by Touko Amekawa for the 7th Time Loop anime! I got the title from this post by Amekawa. It’s set on Rishe's 7th loop, and it's all about Arnold and Rishe... flirting in winter. Hehe.

Disclaimer: This translation is made by me for fandom purposes only. This unofficial translation is not affiliated with the official 7th Time Loop franchise. All rights reserved for 7th Time Loop to its respective committees, committee members, staff, author and rights holders.

The bonus short story can be found in Touko Amekawa's Notes blog, but as the entry is now deleted, she also reposted it in her Twitter/X account!

I’m posting my Ko-Fi here as currently, I’ve been having financial troubles, so if anyone can donate, I would be much grateful for the help, thank you very much.

"So in Galkhein, during the first month, a festival is held during the harsh winter in order to implore spring to come, isn't it?" As Rishe spoke in that manner, the pleasant sound of a writing pen then stopped.

As Arnold was busy on his desk with his official duties, he stared at Rishe, who was now seated on the chaise longue across him. This was where Rishe sat every time Arnold was at his office working on his official tasks.

(Images from the 7th Time Loop anime opening. Rishe isn't asleep in this story, though.)

"What are you reading, a book about official events being held in this country?"

"Yes! I borrowed it for my studies, and I find this book well-written and very interesting!"

Arnold's attendant, Oliver, was very quick at his duties, and whenever he saw Rishe showing even a hint of concern [on something], he would immediately make prompt arrangements.

When she thanked him for giving her the book, Oliver smiled naturally and said, "My Lord ordered me to immediately give you anything you want, Lady Rishe."

"When a country can hold a large-scale festival like this in winter, it's evidence of how prosperous this country is. It's fantastic."

The sound of cicadas and the summer breeze blowing through open windows. The view seen through the window would was really beautiful, even in spring and summer.

Just imagining the view in Galkhein's autumn and winter was enough to make one's heart leap in anticipation.

Though before that, there were things she needed to check, it seemed.

"During the festival, are there any public duties you, Your Highness, and I need to perform?"

"Don't worry, there isn't any need for that. ―――――And if there is, we don't need to participate."

"Great! It's a relief we won't be doing any exhausting work there." Relief now gave way to increasing anticipation. "Then, Prince Arnold! What kind of food stalls would you like for us to go to?"

"……?"

Arnold then wore a slightly suspicious look, so she continued to add. "If we don't think carefully the order of the food stalls we're visiting, we might get too full in no time. I want to check out all the stores you might think of visiting, Prince Arnold, so I must plan this efficiently!"

"........."

"Since we're going there in secret, why don't we buy new cloaks for the festival? It will be fun if you and I get cloaks of matching design, Your Highness!"

While the color of Arnold's eyes and hair were very distinct, the opposite went for Rishe, [with her eye and hair colors] being pale. Them already standing side by side made them quite a pair, so if they wore matching garments, it would be interesting to see.

"It's written on this book that many restaurants offer special menus during the festival! Like that restaurant you and I went to on our secret trip the other day, Your Highness. The food there was so delicious, by all means, I want to go there again during the festival!"

"......Well, if you don't mind."

"Thank you very much! Is there any place you want to go to, Your Highness? I'm happy to accompany you there, together......"

"........."

"Prince Arnold?"

As he expressionlessly stared at her, Rishe tilted her head, puzzled. Arnold then said something.

"You really don't have hesitation."

"Hesitation?"

Arnold stood, walked to the chaise longue where Rishe sat, then sat down besides her.

"―――Within you."

Arnold's sea-blue eyes focused on Rishe.

Rishe's face was reflected on his eyes as he blinked.

Arnold gave her a soft gaze, his fingers playfully running through her coral hair.

"You spending time with me like this will be a natural future."

"~~~~…...?!"

As he pointed it out, she felt her cheeks warm immediately. "B-b-but, that is...!"

"'That is'?"

As she tried to object, she became embarrassed of her unconscious assumption.

Of course, it was natural Arnold was there with her in the festival scene she imagined.

(Simply put, I want to be with him there, but if this continues, His Highness might find that out......!)

Averting herself from Arnold's gaze, Rishe managed to reply.

".....By the first month, when winter arrives, we will be an officially married couple......"

Why did she feel too much embarrassed after saying such an obvious thing?

(I-I don't think I can fool him at all......!)

To cool her flushed cheeks, she took Arnold's hands while he was still caressing her hair gently.

Pressing his hands against her cheeks felt cool and comfortable.

".....Rishe."

"Ugh......"

Believing that Arnold's cold hands would cool her burning cheeks somewhat, she barely manged to utter an excuse.

"From now, I-I'm looking forward to winter! Festivals... I love festivals!"

"......I see."

Would Arnold's hands get colder in the winter?

She was worried now that his fingers might get frozen while he was holding a sword.

Rishe hoped to give Arnold a pair of gloves way before the winter festival arrived.

As she got distracted by such thoughts, it took her a few seconds to realize how embarassing it was for Arnold's hands to be pressed on her cheeks.

[sonic-nancy-fan]

Shiny Path~B!TES Cookie Run Kingdom English Trans-lyrics

These are my English trans-lyrics for Shiny Path from Cookie Run Kingdom! The song is so cute, and the message is so uplifting, especially with all the plot turmoil going on in CRK right now.

Original translation: original MV + Ho_kumee

Download Lyrics

I was walking in the dark No direction, no spark But one day, somehow, I met you And everything, in life lit, up anew

Every step feels like a dream You and I, the perfect team Hand in hand, we move ahead And now I, won’t lose my way, again

We run this shiny path No looking back, just you and I Each time, we’ll shine, even at the world’s end With you, I’m never lost This path is my one goal Let’s glow, let’s go We’re on our shiny path

Used to chase gold and fame Empty wins, a losing game Didn’t know on that endless road What real treasures the world could hold Just a labor in vain No map, had an empty page Lost in the dark alone, I didn’t know, what way I should go

But you showed me something new Every light was leading to you And now, I won’t roam, or lose my way You are all that I need, to be, okay

We run this shiny path No looking back, just you and I Each time, we’ll shine, even at the world’s end With you, I’m never lost This path is my one goal Let’s glow, let’s go We’re on our shiny path

I don’t need a map, I just need your light Even with no stars, know we’ll be alright If I get led astray, if the path one day fades You’re my way, you’re my truth

We run this shiny path No looking back, just you and I Each time, we’ll shine, even at the world’s end With you, I’m never lost Now I’ve found the, real treasure, so Let’s glow, let’s go We’re on our shiny path Hah, hah~

[aliceinclockland]

my phone broke but now i am back...

so!

YUNAAKI BUT ARRANGED MARRIAGE~

before the protests bc they're already canon, hear me-owt ahehehehe cat pun—;

yunaaki are former classmates and said schoolmates have organized a reunion for their batch, with a hidden goal unbeknownst to the remaining single people in their group(which, includes them)

yes, this means that they're all aged up.

for plot purposes, akiho had a husband (now deceased) and a daughter on her custody and kaito had a girlfriend and son (unfortunately not with him) like oh wow me, way to go for making this as accurate as real lif—

the boy has lived outside the country but will go back for a rebreather, they meet again at the reunion, their classmates see the potential chemistry (one even cried for not "pushing them together when we were teens") and said classmates are now trying whatever it takes to finally get them together.

issue is, akiho wasn't ready yet, and she also didn't want to leave her girl alone if she gets together with the man they're shipping her with.

meanwhile kaito is just going with the flow, because his friends (part of the aforementioned batchmates) are lamenting his lack of lovelife, and he's financially content.

little out of character (probably), i know. but eh.

little does akiho know that the guy has been quietly lining for her since they were teens and despite having someone else at first (because apparently he set her free), his feelings hit him back hard during their reunion, specifically the moment he saw her face again.

the story will explore yunaaki's dynamics from the ground up, and them being the second chances in the name of love... with additional factor to consider (akiho's supposed child and kaito's situation in another country he's residing in)

[dtupdating]

DREAM posted in his YouTube community!

[aliceinclockland]

oh god not the decisions relying on the people... reminds of of modhaus gravity events 💀💀💀💀

[mudwerks]

AI industry horrified to face largest copyright class action ever certified

Copyright class actions could financially ruin AI industry, trade groups say.

AI industry groups are urging an appeals court to block what they say is the largest copyright class action ever certified. They’ve warned that a single lawsuit raised by three authors over Anthropic’s AI training now threatens to “financially ruin” the entire AI industry if up to 7 million claimants end up joining the litigation and forcing a settlement.

well…darn

[flippyspoon]

like to charge reblog to cast financial ruin of the AI industry 🔮

[novella-november]

originally posted August 8th, 2025.

Authors have until March 30th, 2026 (That is just 9 days as of this reblog, which I am posting on March 21st, 2026) to file their claim against Anthropic to be reimbursed up to $3,000 per work found in the list.

What Authors Need to Know About the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement

Updated February 18, 2026 IMPORTANT: The Claims Deadline Is March 30 Background  Bartz v. Anthropic is one of the major copyright lawsuits b

Please click the above link for all of the exact details of how to file a claim and to check for your works, and share this post as far and wide as you can before March 30th, 2026!

[shi1498912]

!!!SIGNAL BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOST!!!

[animepopheart]

★ 【Li Flag】 「 Electronic Amber 」  ✔ republished w/permission  ☆ follow our YT interview show! 

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{ficlet} I'm here

Twin ficlet paired with Somewhere I Belong.

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto Rating: T Tags: hurt/comfort with glimps of happiness, cooking together, angst, some physical contact with no particular tension Warnings: seizures Summary: A moment of Akiho and Kaito's life. Based on canon (set 3 weeks after chapter 80), and on the assumption that, differently from what the ENG translation said in ch. 80, in the JP Sakura affirmed that thanks to his stopped time, Kaito wouldn't be hurting more than that...this means that his seizures would continue, just they wouldn't get worse than what we've seen till now. How does Akiho deal with all of that? Word count: 1214 A/N at the end of the ficlet. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration.

Excerpt:

I could feel the tears emerging, but I kicked all of them back, as I threw my 13-year-old self out of the window and summoned the part of me that helped me survive all these years. The resilient one.

Akiho's POV 

Three weeks had passed by, from that fateful night. 

Most of our stuff was packed, and our days were spent between checking everything for the imminent departure and hanging out with Sakura-san and the rest of the group, making the most out of the remaining time. Everyone was so lovely to us, showing all the support we needed. I really felt like I had acquired a family in Tomoeda, and the thought of it made me incredibly happy.  I was going to miss them so much... Just like I would miss this big mansion full of memories...and mysterious protective forces, apparently, as I was told by him.

Kaito-san revealed to me that when we came to Tomoeda almost one year prior, he had chosen this mansion specifically to protect me, as I was carrying in my body a dangerous magical artifact that my own clan had engraved in me.  We had talked quite a lot over the span of those three weeks, and swallowing the truth had been hard, at first.  But all of that was gone now and, like waking up from a nightmare, the memories of it were getting more and more hazy as time went by. Only a permanent scar remained.

Both of us were in the kitchen, cooking dinner. The clang of kitchen utensils, the sizzle in the frying pan…they made me strangely happy. They sounded warm. They sounded normal. I love cooking with him. This was the corner of the house where we declared to each other how much we cherished one another, without even fully realizing it. 

“Akiho-san, could you pass me the salt? It's over there.” 

“Here you go!” I said, smiling brightly at him.  He smiled back at me in that soft way that made my knees weak.  God, please, give me this for the rest of my life. Every day, immutably. 

“Done! We’re ready.”  Removing our aprons, we were getting ready to bring everything to the table. 

And then I saw it.  

He stopped in his tracks, his complexion paling by the second. 

Another one was coming.   My blood ran cold, and I rushed to the other side of the room, while he slowly crouched to the ground, out of breath, groaning quietly in pain. Each strangled cry stabbed me in the chest like a knife. I could feel the tears emerging, but I kicked all of them back, as I threw my 13-year-old self out of the window and summoned the part of me that helped me survive all these years. The resilient one.  

I hastily opened a cabinet and took out a finely decorated small box, toppling other items in the process. I didn't care.   Hiiragizawa-san had sent us, through a magic portal, a series of pills he made weaving a complex magic spell over them, to help Kaito-san cope with the seizures. He said they wouldn't do any miracle, but hopefully they could reduce the duration of the seizures and ease the pain a little bit. Cause the pain he was experiencing wasn’t caused by anything ordinary, and no ordinary medicine would’ve been effective. 

I grabbed a towel, flung it over my shoulder and ran back to Kaito-san with a glass of water, spilling some of it along the way. I watched him as he struggled to swallow both the pill and the water. 

How many times did he experience this excruciating pain, completely alone?   How many times did he force himself not to crumble down in front of me, to protect my peace of mind? Just thinking back to all the times I could feel something wasn’t right, and how he tried to deceive me to keep dealing with it all alone... it brought back in me an anger I didn't know what to do with.  

Yes, I hadn’t gotten over it yet. The wound was still so fresh.  But we had agreed that we would’ve dealt with this together, from here on out.  ...And just like that, the fit of anger quickly vanished, as a gentle feeling got a hold of me, and I began unbuttoning the collar of his shirt to let him breath better, then dabbing his damp forehead with the towel.   "It's okay.... it's okay... I'm here" I whispered softly, like a lullaby. 

As if surrendering himself to me, he held onto my arms and leaned over, trying to regain control of his breathing. I supported him, thanking in my head a hundred times that his time was currently halted. Yes, we were trying to look for a way to eventually make it flow again, but it was in moments like these that I remembered how numbing the fear to lose him again was. I couldn't live with that. With that feeling of hollowness. Not again. 

That's why, I said to myself, this time I would've done anything in my power to not lose him, come what may. I wouldn't have spared any effort. Losing him would’ve been a hundred times more devastating than the pain I was feeling in that moment, seeing him in those conditions. After all, he was feeling like that because of me.

“Momo...please give me strength” I thought, missing my beloved bunny more than ever. Who knows how many times she had witnessed all of that, and how she dealt with it. I could’ve used some advice in that moment. 

His ragged breath became more regular, the pill was starting to kick in. He raised his head and looked at me.   Those eyes I loved so much, now covered by a mysterious dark fog – a remnant of the dragon appearance, as they explained to me – seemed to regain finally focus.  His face was so close to mine. In another situation, in another more oblivious period, there’s no doubt my heart would've exploded from embarrassment, red in the face like a tomato. But right now, I was preoccupied with something completely different, as I looked at him holding nothing but worry and sadness in my eyes. 

"I'm sorry...", he whispered. 

I could feel my heart catching fire, reminding me just how much I love him, despite being so hurt by his reckless behavior.  But I remained silent to his apology. Cause that wasn't what I wanted to hear from him.

Instead, I asked him “Can you stand up?” and helped propping him up when he nodded. We proceeded slowly towards the couch in the living room, where I helped him lying down. Despite having tons of lovely memories here, this house was starting to be a bit too big for us and for emergencies of this kind.  Hiiragizawa-san's pills had a sedative that inevitably caused Kaito-san to fall asleep, in order to recuperate. He looked so exhausted.  I arranged some cushions on the ground and sat down beside the couch, watching him closing his eyes and drifting quickly into sleep. I moved some of his hair to the side and dabbed the towel over his forehead one more time.   Then I went back to stare at his peaceful face, lost in thought.

Was I truly prepared for this, when I decided that the life I wanted was this one? Probably not.  Would I have chosen anything else? That was out of the question. 

Being with him is my happiness, after all.

Author's Note:

This is the first fic I've ever written, not only for YunaAki, but for any pairing or series at all 😂I think it's evident; not like I can write that much better now, but I can see some differences compared to how I write now. I made small fixes here and there but the text is basically the same.

When it was released at the beginning of December 2023, I felt like I needed to vent some complex feelings about chapter 80. Of course I still had no idea what the special chapter would be about, so I was left with an inexplicable restlessness. I did like how the series "ended", but since it was left so open particularly on the YunaAki side, I was a bit anxious about whether Kaito and Akiho would truly be able to be happy together, down the road they had chosen.

As I didn't have a lot of outlets where to discuss those concerns (let's be honest, I didn't want to bother my online friends more than I was already doing with my brainrot), the thoughts swirled in my mind till I realized I needed to write them down in a story. And for that I'll always thank dandelion-stuff-and-fluff for immediately "enabling me" in that direction 😂 For personal reasons, I was very nervous about doing this. But then I reasoned with my head that I was doing this for myself, so I could let out and give a shape to these ideas my brain gave birth to, without pestering other people and getting discouraged because discussions never went as deep as I wished for. I write my fics, they're out there for all to see, and if other people can find something valuable in them hopefully they'll let me know.

In this one in particular, I wanted to explore and "confirm to myself" that despite the path she had chosen was pretty difficult, probably even more than what she had imagined (and Kaito's health is still quite unstable), Akiho would've never chosen anything else...because the happiness of being with him and knowing that he cherishes her too is greater than anything else.

If this is the price they have to pay to still be together after all those life-compromising decisions Kaito made, I guess they're both up for it. Yeah, Akiho is young, but she's putting at good use all the resilience she obtained from the trauma she experienced, so she can put up with this. She's capable and she feels like she can do it, that's why although it's painful there is some comfort in it, and the wish for all of this to stop as soon as possible will boost her search for the curing magic, so really...everything got a meaning in the end. I needed to see Akiho in this situation and to see that she can deal with it. I loved including the element of anger on Akiho's part, since we all know that even one month after that faithful night, she still was feeling a bit angry at Kaito. The feeling is totally legit and it doesn't mean that Akiho doesn't love Kaito or doesn't understand what he did for her. I tried to explore where that anger came from, and how she usually reacts to it. It's a complex feeling that doesn't get processed in two days and needs a lot of patience to get over.

But what I love the most in Akiho here is that she's already showing how resolute and "ready" she is to deal with all of that. She doesn't get discouraged, she doesn't mope around and is a great support, both practical and emotional, in Kaito's most difficult moments.

Easter egg: there is a line which is a direct reference to the lyrics of Anata by Hikaru Utada. 😉Some of my mutuals on Twitter mentioned that song a lot when chapter 80 came out, in relation to YunaAki, so this is my homage to it.

This ficlet is meant to be read along with Kaito's POV, which I explored (not without difficulties) in Somewhere I Belong .

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{ficlet} Somewhere I belong

Twin ficlet paired with I'm Here.

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto Rating: T Tags: hurt/comfort with glimps of happiness, lots of introspection, painful memories and firm resolutions Warnings: mention of seizures Summary: A moment of Akiho and Kaito's life. Based on canon (set 3 weeks after chapter 80), and on the assumption that, differently from what the ENG translation said in ch. 80, in the JP Sakura affirmed that thanks to his stopped time, Kaito wouldn't be hurting more than that...this means that his seizures would continue, just they wouldn't get worse than what we've seen till now. A brief journey inside Kaito's head and his complex feelings. Word count: 1101 A/N at the end of the ficlet. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration.

Excerpt:

“I’m sorry...”, I blurted out, in a whisper. Every time we ended up in this situation, I would apologize. And she would never reply to it.   Maybe an apology wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but I had yet to find out what were the right words to say.

Kaito's POV

I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it. 

The way she looked at me when they told her everything, that night.  The way she had slowly turned her head and kept her gaze fixed on me, while the British magician rattled off all that my plan had entailed, down to the way it had affected my body. He had recovered all the previous memories, and he knew Akiho-san needed an explanation more than anyone else, but he also knew I was in no condition (neither mental, nor physical) to give it to her. I could feel her gaze piercing through me, while someone was helping me sitting down, as I couldn't even stand up. 

Her hands gripped the tablet tightly, shaking. Her blue eyes, usually crystalline and bright like the Caribbean Sea, darkened several shades and turned into a raging storm. They once again glazed over with emerging tears, but she probably held them back, because not a single one trickled down her cheeks. 

And I felt so weak. My guilt, growing again each passing second.   I would've given anything to remove that hardened gaze from her and bring back the soft features I've always known. But you see, that was my problem.   Giving everything the way I did before wasn’t the correct answer. And I had finally bowed my head in front of the truth, that night.  But I didn't know any other way. If there was anything I understood over these last three weeks of rest and slow recovery, it’s that I simply didn't know how to express how important she was to me without pushing it to an extreme, and that was exactly how we had gotten to that point.  

I don’t know when exactly I started to hear that voice inside of me, telling me that I wanted to connect with her. 

I could hear it every day, before I carried out my plan. Louder and louder and louder. Kicking and screaming inside of me. I tried to fight it for so long, forcing myself not to hear it. But when she asked Sakura-san to bring me back, and she stated that she refused to keep living a fabricated life, wanting to go back to what she had before with me, I suddenly grew so tired. So, so tired. I was exhausted. I didn't want to fight that voice anymore. 

I've fought countless magicians ever since I was a little boy and defeated every single one of them. People kept me at a distance because of that. And yet, completely oblivious to all of that, she was the one who defeated me every single time.   Even this time around, she won. She won over that brutal, devastating desire to disappear forever that had consumed my life to that point. She won over my guilt and self-loathing that I, quite frankly, haven’t got rid of yet. 

So here I was, now, clinging to her like a lifeline in the kitchen, while I waited to regain control of my breathing.

I had tried to hide it from her, the first couple of times after I got back on my feet, following that fateful night. But she found out every single time and made it very clear that if we wanted to live together from now on, this kind of behavior had to stop. I didn't know what to do with myself anymore. Why was I fighting it again?  So I did as she requested and, by now, this was already the third episode of seizure she had witnessed.

I didn't know...how any of this worked. But I wanted to learn. I wanted to try. 

I was slowly starting to get it. Why I caved in and agreed to go back to her, that night, despite how confused I was and how much I still despised myself for making her cry like that.   She made me feel wanted.  Made me feel accepted. Made me feel like I finally belonged somewhere. I hadn’t realized how much I actually had yearned for that, all this time. 

I thought I was nothing to her. I thought that she could've lived perfectly fine without me, without remembering anything of what we experienced together. Because, in the end, who the hell was I? Just her butler. I had embarked on that mission with the full understanding that I would've always been just her butler, and I played that role till the end at the best of my ability. An expendable tool to let her achieve the happiness she deserved.  

But I wasn't just her butler. I wasn't, and I couldn't see that.

I could only finally realize it that night in the most harrowing way possible, causing that face I wished to see eternally smile to be tainted with burning tears, as she poured out all of her pain. Pain that I had caused. This wasn't the kind of support she wanted from me, and I had failed her terribly. 

I was willing to do anything to make things right. So when she asked me, no, rather demanded not to be kept in the dark whenever I had one of my seizures, I had no choice but to comply. That was what she wanted, and there was no way I could refuse her. 

But now that the medicine was finally starting to kick in, and my breathing stabilized to a more normal rate, I raised my head to look at her worried face and I couldn’t help but think how unfair all of this was on her. She was so young, and she didn’t deserve to endure all of this because of my choices.

“I’m sorry...”, I blurted out, in a whisper. Every time we ended up in this situation, I would apologize. And she would never reply to it.   Maybe an apology wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but I had yet to find out what were the right words to say. 

She helped me stand up and supported me all the way to the couch, where I finally laid down and released the tension from my stiffened muscles. Seizures usually left me completely exhausted and sore.  

She sat down on the floor next to the couch, and we exchanged a long, wordless stare. Her eyes were clear and bright again. Before I drifted in a dreamless heavy sleep, I remember I felt so grateful to have her by my side.  

I didn’t deserve it.   But the warmth I felt in my chest, contrary to before, felt so nice.  

And I was pretty sure she was the cause of it.

Author's Note:

This is the second Kaito x Akiho / YunaAki ficlet that is paired with I'm Here, the first one I wrote from Akiho's POV. Please read that one first so you can have a better understanding of the situation!

The setting here is the same as the first ficlet, but Kaito's thoughts drift all over the place because....well, he's Kaito. He's been officially named as the "overthinker" by CLAMP, so I tried to reflect that in my writing. The sentences are shorter compared to Akiho's POV, they're more concise, but they're like a raging storm. Let's remember he's an introvert, after all, and a lot of what's going on inside his head doesn't find a way out on his lips.

As you probably noticed, while Akiho thought to herself without problems that she loved him, you didn't see Kaito thinking that, here. This is a very early stage of their new life together and he's still far from acknowledging any of that, but he's starting to come to terms with things, at least. He knows he's messed up big time, the guilt is still eating him alive, but at least there's a fire inside him fueling his will to take the second chance he's been given and make Akiho happy in the way she asks him to. This will be relevant in my future fics as well.

Writing for Kaito proved to be very difficult for me. First of all, because he's a male character and I struggled to put myself in his shoes, since I had decided to write these two ficlets in first person.

But also because once you get the hang of it, it tends to become an angst-fest, and you have to be constantly aware of how his mind works... I caught myself writing contradicting things at least twice, and while one might think it's typical of Kaito since contradiction is his thing (he kept his distance from Akiho but at the same time he was giving his life for her), I didn't want to play that game here because I hope that after that night he got at least SOME of his shit together. 😅 As a result, this one might be a bit more angstier than the other POV, again because this is Kaito we're talking about. His self-loathing won't disappear overnight. But I hope that the finale comforted you, at least. ❤️

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{flashfic} Braids

I have watched way too many videos of book repairing, and this is the immediate result.

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto Rating: T Tags: fluff, book repair, braiding hair, vaguely sensual vibes Warnings: none Summary: A small fragment of daily life. Akiho: 16-17 years old Kaito: they haven't found a cure for him yet. Word count: 253 A/N at the end of the flashfic. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration.

Akiho had been sitting at her desk for about 5 hours, pausing only 15 minutes for a quick snack. This book was due for tomorrow, and she couldn’t wait to see the reaction of her customer once he saw how successful the repair had been.

Kaito was sitting on an armchair of their studio, checking out a magic book. Looking up, he couldn’t help but notice how the girl’s blonde locks were dangerously close to get dirty with the PVA glue she was generously spreading over the spine of the text block. Carelessness while working generally meant Akiho was quite tired.

“Akiho-san...may I?” Akiho felt Kaito approaching, his gentle hands carefully taking a hold of her soft locks from behind, bringing them on her back and away from the dangerous glue. Then, she realized he had started braiding her hair. Her cheeks colored slightly, while her eyes stayed fixed on the brush she was holding, hovering over the book. By now, she was used to having Kaito at various degrees of proximity, but every time his fingers brushed on her nape, the tingle they sent through her entire body made it impossible to focus on the task at hand.

“Thank you...” she said when she realized he had finished, feeling the braid with her fingers, her voice quivering almost unnoticeably. “Did you take interest into hair braiding, lately?” she asked while turning around, amused.

Kaito's back was already promptly turned on her, walking to the bookcase to put his book away. “Not particularly”.

Author's Note:

Well, there isn't much to say about this one, lol. It was a very impulsive writing after I had spent my free time at work watching book repair reels on Instagram. I was absolutely delighted to know from the special chapter that Akiho decided to pursue seriously a career related to books, so my brain obviously needed to know more about this kind of job. Turns out I was quite fascinated by it and I promised myself I would try to embed it into my fics as much as possible, portraying it in a realistic way. I learned terms like "text block", learned that a lot of PVA glue is involved into the process, as well as "japanese paper" for torn pages. Sometimes you need to literally scrape off old adhesive with sandpaper, and that made me realize that's why Akiho is working next to an open window in the special chapter, even if it seems it's still quite cold by how thick her and Kaito's pullovers look. Wow, CLAMP's attention to details.

Then, of course, I couldn't miss the chance to tiptoe into the "intimacy" territory, by having Kaito braiding Akiho's hair...I think it's a very nice and underrated way to indicate the closeness and skinship already present between them at that time.

If you understand Kaito's behavior at the end of the fic -> congrats, you passed the Kaito test!! 😂

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{ficlet} Cosmos

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto Rating: T Tags: fluff, romance, stargazing, planetarium, chaste intimacy, sleeping together, a sprinkle of angst, someone is being an overthinker as usual Warnings: none Summary: Akiho is 17 years old, Kaito's time is still stopped as they haven't found a cure for him yet. She has, however, revealed her true name to him. They share a fun, intimate moment under a starry vault. Word count: 1671 A/N at the end of the ficlet. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration.

Excerpt:

"Akiho-san...do you know the origin of your name?" "...My name?" "Your true one."

All the curtains were closed tightly. The spacious living room was completely immersed in the darkness, except for a couple of big, scented candles on the ground, faintly illuminating the floor. Any hindrance out of the way. A generous number of soft pillows of all sizes was arranged on the floor, on top of a large camping mattress, right between the two candles.

Akiho threw herself enthusiastically on the pile of pillows, while Kaito lay down in a slower motion.

"...Ready?" Kaito whispered with a soft smile, while the girl next to him nodded excitedly, azure eyes shining in the dark.

One press of a button on the remote controller, and the whole ceiling turned into a sparkling planetarium.

Akiho gasped. "Oh my god...this is amazing!" She instinctively brought her hands to her face, covering partly her mouth while her voice was choking with emotion— a habit that, despite being 17 years old, she hadn't dropped yet.

The starry vault rotated very slowly, while some stars twinkled, giving a quite realistic effect to the scenery. Every now and then, a shooting star would appear randomly, inviting to make a wish.

Kaito looked to the side to check the reaction of the girl, pleased with himself. The star projector had been his present for Akiho's 17th birthday, but between study, book repairs and moving out to another country, they hadn't found a moment of quiet to put it into function yet. That perfect moment had finally come on this evening of December.

Of course he bought the most expensive model out there, and this one could even add sound effects to the experience, which he had set on “sea waves” through the remote control. The vibe it was supposed to give was "we're lying down on a deserted beach at night, in the early summer", instead of the chilling winter they were actually in.

"Kaito-san..." Akiho moved her finger up in the air, "what constellation is that one?"

He had vaguely studied astronomy as part of his magic education, but he had forgotten a lot of it...for a moment he was tempted to use a magic spell, but then decided against it, not wanting to upset the girl beside him. She always reprimanded him whenever he lazily tried to use his magic for the most mundane things. They hadn't found a cure for him yet, so she wanted him to keep the use of magic at the minimum to avoid any effect on his health. Therefore, he pulled himself up and reached out to the star projector, changing the little disc with a different one.

The projection changed to a similar starry vault complete with the constellations map, and plopping down again next to her, he said with a smile "Akiho-san, that seems to be Virgo!".

"Really?! That's my zodiac sign!!" Her brows furrowed for a moment, then she added "Indeed, with a bit of imagination that could look like a maiden...without a head".   Kaito chuckled amusedly at her remark. "Wait, where's Pisces?"

Kaito checked the constellation map on his phone (which he had downloaded precisely for this occasion), and after a moment he indicated it, pointing his finger towards the ceiling. "Over there."

"...That one?! Oh...that's supposed to look like two fishes, but it actually seems more like a pretty flower with two stems, doesn't it?" she blurted out, laughing playfully.

"...Akiho-san..." Kaito couldn't help but chuckle again, reveling in the cheerfulness of his beloved. Nothing could bring tingles to his heart like the sound of her laughter. He gazed at her with soft eyes.

"Akiho-san...do you know the origin of your name?" "...My name?" "Your true one."

Akiho stared at him with curiosity, cheeks tinted slightly with a pink hue. The topic of their true names was usually off-limits. They hadn’t made a rule about it, but being both very well acquainted with the customs of the magic world, the unspoken agreement was to never bring them up...unless the matter was serious.

"I was named after a flower, right?"

"Of course...but do you know why cosmos flowers were named that way?"

The girl stared at him, thinking for a moment about the question. She realized she had never actually thought about the reason why cosmos flowers bore that name. So, she slightly shook her head.

"Back in the 17th century, some Spanish priests found the flowers in Mexico and cultivated them in their mission gardens." He looked away from her, turning his gaze towards the starry sky.

"Originally, Kosmos is a Greek word that means 'order' or 'harmonious arrangement'. The priests were fascinated by the orderly arranged petals of those flowers, they found them...." He paused.

"...Breathtakingly beautiful…and perfect" his eyes were now twinkling, still fixed on the firmament over their heads. "Just like the universe, the cosmos. So, they named those flowers after it."

Akiho's heartbeat quickened, and if she knew the man next to her well enough, his own heartbeat was doing just the same. They had spent enough time together for her to understand all too well what he was trying to say between the lines.

Kaito felt Akiho's hand searching for his, and they intertwined them silently.

"Thank you...I didn't know all of that. I've always thought that cosmos flowers were pretty, yes, but not particularly remarkable or unique... It is nice to know that the right people could see the true beauty and worth in them."

As if replying to her, she felt him squeezing her hand.

After a moment of silence, Akiho's right index finger moved up in the air once again. "Wait, what about that one? What is its name? It's big, but the stars don't look particularly bright"

"Hmm...Aquarius, apparently. This one would be basically impossible to see by naked eye, from an urban area."

Akiho made a face once again. "The water-bearer, hmmm...”, she squinted her eyes, “I can see his legs but...these constellations all seem to be missing their heads!", she blurted out, feigning annoyance.

Kaito couldn't hold it in, and burst out laughing, causing her to do the same.

Yes, she was just perfect the way she was.

☆゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜★

Kaito groggily opened his eyes in the dim light of the candles, ceiling still covered with stars. The clock of the living room showed it was 2 am.

Clinging onto his right arm, Akiho was soundly asleep next to him. Consciousness rapidly washed over him, remembering what happened.

Akiho's exploration of the starry vault had gone on for more than an hour, but at some point her remarks and answers had become more and more absentminded, till he realized she had actually fallen asleep. Smiling tenderly at her slumbering form, he was ready to pull himself up to go pick up a blanket for her, and eventually arrange some cushions for himself farther away from the camping mattress (he didn't want to wake her up, but didn't want to leave her sleeping alone in the living room either), but he had quickly realized with dismay that she had turned to the side and literally latched onto his right arm.

He froze right there and then. He didn't want to wake her up, but he had started to overthink as usual - this is not appropriate, we shouldn't sleep together, what if-- The result was that the stress had made him incredibly sleepy, and after a few minutes of ruminations, Morpheus had taken a hold of him too.

Now that he was fully awake, he mentally scolded himself for falling asleep, and proceeded to do what he didn't have the heart to do before: slowly, slowly, he tried to disentangle his arm from Akiho's grip. When he managed to slip away, he rose to go picking that blanket up, because he couldn't risk Akiho catching a cold due to his imprudence.

"Where are you going?"

Her tone made him stop in his tracks immediately. Turning around, what his eyes saw made his heart drop.

Akiho was propped on her elbows, staring in his direction but not quite focused on him. She was clearly still half asleep, but what ripped Kaito's heart apart was her expression, halfway between a scowl and wanting to break into tears.

It didn't take him long to understand why she had that expression. Even after 4 years, the trauma he had caused her resurfaced sometimes in her dreams, upsetting her when she woke up.

"I'm just going to get a blanket...I'm not going anywhere." he answered, while painfully making sure to emphasize the last part.

Akiho blinked her eyes twice, awareness coming back to her. Her expression slowly turned into one of realization, then she looked briefly to her side, panicking. "Oh my god, I'm sorry...I didn't fall asleep on you, did I? ...I didn't want to bother you-"

"You've never bothered me once, Akiho-san."

The girl stared at him, misty-eyed. His expression was kind, but tinged with guilt. His figure against the starry ceiling reminded her of that fateful night, when he fought his stubbornness and the monsters inside his head to go back to her.

The girl cast her eyes down and to the side, pink hue emerging on her cheeks once again. "Then...once you took that blanket...could you...could you get back here next to me?" she said softly, finding the courage to look up once again.

Kaito had already understood a long time ago that he was done for. He knew that no matter how much he tried, he would've never been able to refuse anything to those blue eyes of hers. Especially if he wanted it himself, in the first place.

They stared at each other for a moment, before Kaito breathed out the air he was unwittingly holding and said with a smile "I'd be happy to, Akiho-san".

Akiho beamed at him, sure more than ever that there wasn't any place on this Earth or in the entire cosmos where she could've felt safer, other than next to him.

Author's Note:

Once upon a time, when chapter 48 had definitively broken the cage to my admiration and support for the YunaAki pairing, I couldn't help but start imagining their future together (because I always believed in their happy ending - I just didn't know to what degree).

And one of the first headcanons that came up to me was this one. Not in depth like you can see developed here, but the setting was definitely this one. An intimacy that didn't require for them to necessarily "jump on eachother", but could be expressed through other means. I wanted to portray the coziness and tenderness to lie down and sleep with the person you love without necessarily crossing any line.

After all, I'm a woman on the asexual spectrum, I can (and I did) write about physical intimacy, but fics like these where you can feel the closeness between the characters without having them initiate any sensual contact are probably the most satisfying ones for me. And probably the more difficult ones to write, too. Cause if you don't convey their feelings well enough through the self-imposed boundaries of the story, the characters can appear cold and loveless. The maximum these two do here is intertwining their hands, yet diving into the topic of their true names and be together during their most vulnerable moment (when we sleep we are vulnerable) is a kind of expression of intimacy that I feel is quite underrated.

I'm so glad that Akiho's true name in a way turned out to be so fitting for this headcanon that I had a few years ago.

Now, this is another quite romantic one, but I managed to sneak in a tiny bit of delicious angst towards the end, just cause it's so much their element and I can't stand over-sugary stuff myself. They've been through quite a lot, and as I always say, these scars won't heal overnight. The aftermath of what they went through in the climax of the canon story will resurface at random times. That won't prevent them from being happy, though.

Their relationship status here is...unclear, since they do many things couples do, and of course they know they love eachother, but they're not official yet. However they're very close to that moment.

I can't believe I also made actual research for this one!! I've spent an entire afternoon looking at listings of star projectors on Amazon and how they worked...at the end of the research I wanted to buy a star projector for myself!! 😂 I also researched a bit about the various constellations and I swear to god my reaction was the same as Akiho's here 😆 Some of them left me so confused, like "is this supposed to look like a guy pouring water??" 😆😆

Lastly, I sneaked into this story a reference to a line of the canon manga. Did you recognize which one it was?? 😁 It's a very emotional moment 🤭

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{ficlet} Willow

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto, Momo (special guest) Rating: T Tags: fluff, romance, tickling, teasing, squealing, do I sense some sensual tension here? uhuh Warnings: none Summary: Akiho is 19 years old, and she's by now in a relationship with Kaito. His time is still stopped. But he has learned a few ways to coax her into taking a break from magic books. Word count: 1502 A/N at the end of the ficlet. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration.

Excerpt:

Despite the red of her cheeks deepened further, Akiho couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew quite well what he was trying to do, even when he feigned ignorance like this. It slightly annoyed her, but also stirred up the butterflies in her stomach. "Damn", she thought while sighing, "he's so childish sometimes".

The big library room was illuminated with a dimmed light.

Akiho plopped down on the carpet in front of a heap of large pillows, holding a big, thick book with a finely decorated hardcover, a freshly acquired treasure from the local public library.

Despite having already checked two different books, she was ready to take a deep dive into the mysterious contents of the heavy tome in her lap, which thankfully was written in a rune system she already knew, allowing her to decode it without much effort.

The thickness of the book suggested that browsing through it wouldn't turn out to be a quick task, but Akiho didn't seem fazed in the least.

She was in her natural element, after all.

The young woman had no magic powers herself, but in all these years of scouring libraries all over the world looking for two particular magic spells, she had become familiar with a multitude of concepts she only had grazed while living with her clan, reading magic books for them.

Kaito, of course, had filled her in for all sorts of things she didn't know. Magic sources, magic systems, magic jargon...by now, they held no secrets for her.

She knew she couldn't embark on this mission without understanding the matter fully, and she found it fascinating, so she didn't perceive it as a burden, nor did it reignite her personal insecurities of the past. She might not have been blessed with magic in her blood, but it felt empowering to gather knowledge about it, so that she could make her wish come true.

However, merely 20 minutes later, Akiho began feeling slightly frustrated at the content of this particular grimoire. She found out that some of the pages had blank spaces right under what appeared to be some sort of code names she never heard of.

"I'll never get to the end of it, at this rate", she murmured.

Yet, the more secretive a book was, the better chance for her to find the complex spells she was looking for. She knew that much.

"Kaito-san...? Could you help me here for a second?"

A few seconds later, the dark-haired young man appeared at the door of the library room, pausing for a moment by the threshold. He peered at her intently for what Akiho felt were five very long seconds, and then walked towards her.

To her surprise, he sat down on the carpet and snuggled her from behind.

"Let's see..." he said nonchalantly as Akiho stared straight ahead at the blank space on the book, heat uncontrollably rising to her cheeks while she tried to keep her composure.

"Uhm...some of the procedures for these spells are encrypted with a code name. I'm pretty sure the description won't appear unless a magic user decrypts them...", Akiho explained with a slightly quivering voice.

The magician looked intently at the page Akiho was stuck on, and then confidently declared "Siliyaesta...ah, this is a spell useful to transmute people into animals".

As if confirming the correct answer, runes appeared on the page among a myriad of colorful sparkles, filling the blank space.

Akiho stared in awe at the book and then grinned enthusiastically.

"You're incredible...there isn't a single spell that can escape your expertise!"

"Just the result of a childhood spent holed up in a library to avoid despicable people."

Akiho chuckled in response to his bitter irony. "...I could've said the same. Well, too bad this doesn't have anything to do with the spells we're looking for."

She quickly turned the next few pages to move to the next magic ritual, when she felt him tighten his embrace and lower his face dangerously close to her ear.

The shiver that went down her spine caused her breath to hitch, loud enough for him to hear. Much to her embarrassment.

"Kaito-san.... this is not the mom-" "Your hair was tickling my nose."

Despite the red of her cheeks deepened further, Akiho couldn't help but roll her eyes. She knew quite well what he was trying to do, even when he feigned ignorance like this. It slightly annoyed her, but also stirred up the butterflies in her stomach. "Damn", she thought while sighing, "he's so childish sometimes".

Kaito had the nerve to smirk, amused by the reaction of the young woman he was clutching tightly, with the eagerness of a three year old with his most beloved teddy bear.

"We need to check as many magic books as possible during this weekend. I have classes again on Monday and you know that between university and my commissions for book repairs, I won't have as much time on weekdays" she gently reprimanded him.

"You're tired, Akiho-san. Put that book down for a moment" he said candidly, with that infuriating grin of his.

"Are you trying to sabotage me?" she retorted, bewildered.

Both knew how important what she was doing was, and it's not like Kaito didn't help with the quest either. The more time passed, the more Akiho could feel anxiety creeping in the depth of her soul. Especially now that they looked basically the same age.

"I wouldn't call this 'sabotaging', I'm just making sure you’ll still have some semblance of eyesight for your classes on Monday", he replied placidly.

Touché. The two books and half had taken their toll on her and, admittedly, her eyes felt quite strained at the moment.

"Alright," she finally turned around, still wrapped in his grip, "if that's what you want, then make me."

Blue topaz met amethyst, twinkling in the dimmed light of the library.

Akiho felt Kaito's hands on her stomach shifting, heart beating like a drum, anticipation stifling her breath. His eyes had taken on a devilish glint.

Then, a squeal echoed in the room.

"K-Kaito-san!! No! Please stop!!"

The magician had turned Akiho into a ticklish, laughing mess, grimoire successfully removed from her hands, abandoned on the floor.

After a few minutes he eventually decided to have mercy on the young woman wrestling and squealing in his arms, stopping his tickling attack.

Defeated and breathless, Akiho couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed at Kaito’s triumphant smile, for more than one reason actually, yet she was sure she had fallen in love with him even further, and she couldn't honestly understand how he did that to her.

It was a mystery.

You know that my train could take you home

Anywhere else is hollow

I'm begging for you to take my hand

Wreck my plans

That's my man

☆゜・。。・゜BONUS ゜・。。・゜★

Kaito stared at Akiho's pouty expression, still wearing that smug smile of his. A smirk that at the same time held so much love.

He knew he had sort of deceived her, but over the years he discovered he really loved teasing her innocently like this, in a different way than the inoffensive remarks he made when she was younger.

A certain someone often told him "You have a talent for pissing people off".

And maybe that was true, he had understood that much about himself over the past few years.

But it was just that...Akiho's expression in that moment was so... so adorable... he found himself pulled in by her charms, instinctively leaning towards her...closer and closer....

...until a flash of light broke through the space of the library room, making way for a "certain" busty guardian of a "certain" magic book, barging in with her hands already on her hips.

"WHAT THE HECK is happening here?? I could hear Akiho screaming from the living room!!"

"Mo-Momo..."

Akiho looked at her, frozen with embarrassment.

Momo raised an eyebrow. She could've sworn the young woman was going to set the library on fire, for how red she had become.

Kaito, on the other hand, just stared at the creature with his usual dull expression, completely unfazed by her appearance.

"...I was just trying to convince Akiho-san to wrap the search up for today. She looks quite tired, don't you think?"

Momo softened her scowl, shifting her eyes from Kaito back to Akiho, noticing the strained eyes of her cherished girl.

"Dearie, your eyes are bloodshot. You should know better than getting to that point when you're checking magic books out. Aaaah, what am I going to do with you? Come, let's get you some eye drops and decongestant eye patches...!"

"...Alright..."

Still a bit embarrassed, Akiho heeded Momo's request without protesting, getting up from the heap of pillows and collecting the grimoire from the floor, placing it back on a shelf.

"And you, stop aggravating my baby girl and go making some afternoon tea!" Momo wagged her finger at Kaito, before storming out of the room.

"...Alright, alright." he replied, smiling unperturbed.

Akiho began following Momo, but then stopped where Kaito was still sitting comfortably, glancing down at him. Her stare was vaguely intimidating, but Kaito could also spot....something else?

Akiho's ash blonde curls danced around as she turned and walked away.

Uh oh. He smirked.

Somebody was going to forcefully get something from him, later today.

Author's note:

Oh, I loved writing this one! 🤭

This ficlet is an accompanying piece of my illustration that you can check out here. It was the first time I did something like this and I have to say, it was great fun! There's something special about a fic you can have a visual depiction of, or a fanart that you can read a story about. It feels "complete", you know?

The title of this ficlet comes from Taylor Swift's "Willow", because I was listening to this song a lot when chapter 80 was released and I had the first idea for the fanart.

As stated in the introduction, Akiho here is 19, and she's by now in a relationship with Kaito. They reached a point where they basically look the same age (like in my fanart) and still haven't found the spells they are looking for. Yes, they already had their first kiss too, and we missed one by a whisker! 😏Why? Because I'm a b*tch I didn't feel comfortable writing about that yet, at the time...oh but that changed already, believe me 🙄

The Kaito you find here follows the evolution he had in the special chapter, where he is far more serene and free to finally "be himself" with the person he loves. That's why you can see his mischievousness at full throttle here, yes, even with Akiho. 🤭 And I also find quite funny the way he "deceives" her, denying the kind of "coercion" she wanted but still achieving his goal 😂Oh, it's not like he wasn't giving in just 30 seconds after he got what he wanted...it's just that Momo had to interrupt them again 😂

CLAMP just posted yesterday a new podcast where they talked about Clear Card in retrospective, and they talked again about Kaito and his true childish nature...I particularly love that about him, because he's a guy who had to shoulder a lot of difficult and complex decisions or feelings in his life, but his heart never had a moment of relaxation to fully develop and mature like his peers. There's something touching (but also fun) about his tendency to tease with a smile, particularly people he feels an affinity to. There's no malice in his teasing streak, I just see it as a way to manifest the childhood he never got to experience, as he was thrown into a very dark and complex world ever since he was a baby. And so you see him teasing Akiho here, putting into practice what he learned ever since he entered in a relationship with her - the way his proximity and their skinship can affect her - in order to obtain something. Which, mind you, it's always in Akiho's benefit, not his own. He's just like that, he will always worry and put her wellbeing first. 🤭 But I also had fun exploring an Akiho who's confident enough to "react" to that teasing, and challenge him in return. And that's when he unleashes his true devilish side. 😂

The image of Akiho squealing in his arms, belly hurting from the laughter because of his tickling attack, always makes my heart squeeze with warm feelings. 🥰They really deserve this kind of happiness.

And I just felt like completing this ficlet with a bonus featuring Momo, because I missed their interactions sooooo much! 🥲🥲So so damn much. The fact they hadn't met yet at the time of the special chapter is still stuck in my throat, so I had to create an interaction between them on my own. To me, Momo is like a maternal figure to them, and depending on the occasion she will fill that role for one or the other. So here, she naturally rushes in to check on them once she hears Akiho squealing! 😂 In my headcanon, they had found her earlier that year and were able to get her to live with them, but don't ask me how they managed to do that because I haven't thought up to that point yet. 😂

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{ficlet} Gravitation

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto, Akiho's clan, Magic Association Rating: G Tags:  dream, flashback, Kaito's dreams always try to talk to him Warnings: none Summary: a retelling of when Kaito saw Akiho for the first time. An attempt to elaborate and explain better why such a young boy decided to change the course of that girl's life forever. Word count: 1887 A/N at the end of the ficlet. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration.

Excerpt:

He felt something snapping and stirring, inside of him. It felt as if the little girl had suddenly acquired the gravitational pull of a planet; he felt inexorably drawn to her, despite his reluctance. For the first time ever, he found himself reflected in the eyes of someone else.

He had been called in again.

Without asking him if he was already busy with something else, or if he agreed to it at all. They just told him "You're wanted at the rituals hall. Hurry up."

Following the orders, little Yuna D. Kaito walked down the bleak hallways of the Magic Association's headquarters, dragging the heavy tails of the extravagant dark robe along, as he headed towards his destination.

He didn't have it in him to satisfy their umpteenth request. He never had it in him, but at the same time, he couldn't even find in him the will to leave those godforsaken hallways behind, and together with them, all those who frequented that place too.

His soul felt more empty and dead than ever, especially ever since they informed him of her passing one year prior.

Every single day he just went through the motions of life, without truly feeling any of it. Fulfilling orders on command, eating whatever solid food he could find around - another passive response to his survival instinct. None of that came from his own will. His mind had recently started wandering to places a 9-year-old should never go.

But he didn't care. All he knew was that he just didn't care. About anything, or anyone. Not even about himself.

The boy reached the so-called "rituals hall", a spacious room just as dark and ominous as the rest of that damned place was, if not more. A couple of Higher Mages were waiting for him at the altar. He walked past a small group of Comrades whispering among themselves — his ears passively overheard the words "it's quite weird" and "she should've shown signs by now", before reaching the altar. At the center of it, a magic glass orb rested on a crystal support. Kaito noticed they already had magically adapted it to his height.

"Yuna D., we want you to check remotely a young child, for any possible trace of magic developing in her body."

"...Why me? It is a very simple task that any of the other Comrades could effortlessly do."

The brow of the Higher Mage who had issued the order twitched, slightly irritated by the child's insolence. Kaito's impudence was well-known among the congregation, yet the older magicians usually just ignored it in exchange for the child's services. This time was no exception, and the Higher Mage simply replied "It is a quite complex case. The ones who commissioned this task to us want to be absolutely sure of the verdict, therefore they requested for the intervention of our most powerful magician. Which happens to be you."

Kaito lowered his eyes. They had specifically requested him, for a service apparently only he could offer. He stood out among all the other magicians of the Association for his innate astonishing abilities. He could do almost anything with no effort. The feeling stirred by that acknowledgement should've made him feel proud...appreciated...wanted. ...But it only made him feel worse. He couldn't help but hear a voice inside his head whispering...

"Am I being wanted, or...am I being used?"

But ultimately, little Kaito didn't care. That's all he knew. So he looked up and climbed the altar's stairs, reaching the glass orb. He circled it with his small hands covered by the robe, starting the spell necessary to summon the image of the target of the check-up he was ordered to perform. The orb emitted a strong beam of light, reflecting a small figure at the center of it. A little girl, dressed in a light blue and white pinafore.

And then, he saw them.

Two blue eyes staring straight at the core of his soul, piercing through the thick glass.

He froze on the spot, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach.

He would've recognized those facial features anywhere. That ash blonde hair, those eyes resembling blue topaz stones. Nobody told him the name of the little girl beforehand, nor which clan she belonged to, but he didn't need any of that. He immediately knew who she was.

It's easy, when in your whole young life you've only met one person who didn't look at you like a property to exploit or a menace to keep at arm's length. And suddenly, his mind played back the images of a pregnant Lilie, eyes glowing with a peculiar light, while she proudly informed him that she carried a very precious love inside herself. "Love born from love," she said. He remembered staring at the baby bump, confused as it always happened when it came to whatever that powerful magician said. She invited him to touch the little bump, but he refused, grossed out by the idea. That was the last time he saw her.

Kaito quickly estimated the toddler could be about 2 years old, which matched with the other info he had. He had heard the baby Lilie had given birth to wasn't even one year old when the incident happened.

The boy peered deeply into those blue eyes and the knot in his stomach slowly turned into a cold grip when he realized something was off. Way too off.

The little girl's eyes held emotions he never saw on Lilie before. She wasn't smiling like her mother always did, and frankly she looked quite confused and scared by the examination she was being subjected to. She looked lost. Rootless. Lonely. Just like.....

He felt something snapping and stirring inside of him. It felt as if the little girl had suddenly acquired the gravitational pull of a planet; he felt inexorably drawn to her, despite his reluctance. For the first time ever, he found himself reflected in the eyes of someone else.

From outside, Kaito looked as deadpan as ever. But inside, he felt that organ that barely kept him alive beating much faster than he had ever experienced in his pathetic, dull life.

A Comrade snapped him out of his trance, soliciting him: "So, what about the fragments of magic?" Kaito remembered why he was there in the first place and activated another spell. His eyes sparkled while he analyzed thoroughly the toddler reflected in the orb.

He searched and searched...and as an alien feeling took possession of his body, making him feel anxiety for the first time, the world came crushing down on him.

None of it. Not a single speck of magic in the child's body. Not a sign she would ever develop any, even in the future.

He knew it. He knew what that meant, for that ruthless clan composed of nothing but greedy, heartless people. Shame and contempt. An affront to a centuries-old lineage of brilliant magicians. A blemish on the one thing they could take pride in.

This little girl's life had barely just began and she was already condemned to suffer a shame she had no blame for.

But it didn't have to be that way. Not if he could help it. For the first time in his life (oh, how many first times he experienced in a handful of minutes just because of those sad blue eyes) he felt compelled to actually do something. Something more than the mere warnings he used to give to the mother of this little child, warnings that for his entire life he would be afraid to find out were warranted and connected to the powerful magician's early demise, and that of her beloved husband.

He would've just needed to tell the truth. Because what her blood relatives would've most likely done, once they found out she didn't have any trace of magic, was to kick her out of their clan. And as despicable as that sounded, it actually seemed like liberation to him. An innocent girl without magic powers like her had no means to defend herself against the greed of the rest of her family. But out of that toxic environment, she would've been able to live a normal life. She could've had a chance to live a life where she would've been blessed with the love of a family who truly appreciated and respected her. That love that Lilie always used to talk about and that was stripped from this child too soon. That love that he still couldn't understand and, so early on at this stage of his life, he was resigned to never completely grasp for himself.

He didn't really know this little girl and he probably would’ve never seen her again, but for the sake of the only person who treated him like a human being, and for those familiar blue eyes he felt he could relate to, he knew he wanted something better for her. So he turned around, feigning condescension.

"There's nothing at all, here. She's just like a 'blank book' ".

── ･ ｡☆*☽*☆ﾟ.──

Kaito groggily opened his eyes, finding himself reflected in another pair of eyes that were staring back at him.

Those beautiful eyes, blue like topaz stones. The same ones he saw in the dream that revisited his childhood.

"Akiho-san...?" he said, his voice hoarse from the heavy sleep.

Akiho was lying on her left side, on Kaito's bed, right in front of him. "I'm sorry...I came to check on you after your seizure and when I saw you didn't answer at the door, I realized you were still sleeping...but I couldn't stop being anxious. So I came in...and decided to wait here for you to wake up."

Kaito could spot traces of turmoil in her eyes. She had been afraid to lose him, once again.

She lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry for taking the liberty".

"Nothing to apologize for", he answered with a drowsy smile. She looked up again, her own face breaking into a beaming smile.

He could feel it again, that irresistible pull towards her, like she was the center of the Earth. She was the answer to the question that haunted him a lifetime ago. She was the one who wanted him, not used him.

Despite the 'blank book' comment in the end had backfired tragically, the dream made him realize that ever since his eyes met hers in the glass orb, that fateful day of many years ago, there hadn't been a single moment he hadn't loved her. Even when he still didn't know what love was, even when he still hadn't understood what love entailed. Even when it still wasn't the "Love" everybody praised endlessly in their romantic songs, the one he certainly was feeling now. It wasn't that love, but he now was sure it was a kind of love nonetheless. His love for her changed and evolved from the very first moment and had the power to change him too, along with it.

Ever since he met her, he felt the inexplicable urge to do something for her. That gravitational pull shook him from the torpor of his depression, making him feel alive, rather than going through the motions. How or why he came to feel that way didn't matter, it just happened. And he would've been grateful for it for the rest of his life.

"You changed several expressions on your face while you were sleeping. What were you dreaming about?" Akiho inquired with curiosity, propping herself up on her elbow.

Kaito stared tenderly at her.

"The center of my world."

Author's Note:

Here's another combo fanart + ficlet!!

You can find the full fanart inspired by this ficlet (or is it the other way around??) here.

I alllllways wanted to talk about this aspect. This time I didn't explore Kaito and Akiho's future like I usually do (not entirely), but rather their past.

As JP fans bought volume 16 of the Clear Card manga and came to the conclusion of this story that lasted 7 years and half, I've seen many people rejoicing about the relatively happy ending for Kaito and Akiho too. The incontrovertible confirmation (right at the last moment) that Kaito reciprocated Akiho's feelings was received positively by anyone I've seen commenting on it. And along with those comments, many expressed their desire to know more. "I wish we could've seen how Kaito came to cherish Akiho to that point".

I shared their same sentiment, and I tried to visualize, both in art and words, what very likely happened on that fateful day when little Kaito saw Akiho in the glass ball. People tend to think it all started when Kaito raised his hand and said "I'll go" some years later, but I don't think that's the case. There had to be a basis for his behavior, and I think it had actually already originated when he first saw her.

What did Kaito see in her, to the point of prompting him to act in someone else's interest? Why him, a child who never wished for anything and considered getting involved with anyone a nuisance?

CLAMP haven't shown in details the "trigger", but along the years I strongly felt like the relationship between Kaito and Akiho was one of those guided by fate. After their first meeting, none of them stayed the same, and both felt inevitably drawn to one another. Of course that attraction presented itself in a variety of forms that changed throughout their journey together. And as you can well imagine, it hasn't always been romantic, so that's what I tried to explore here.

Basically, what I wanted to say with this fic is that before the romantic feelings and the desperation and the restrained hands that we have seen in the canon manga, there was this...empathy and kindness...so many things can change just because you found yourself reflected in the eyes of someone else.

I truly feel like love can take many forms. Romantic love isn't the only one that exists out there...even taking care of someone, caring for their situation, trying in you own way to make things better for them...is a form of love. And love is never static. It can and will evolve, like it happened to these two as well. While for Akiho it took quite some time (you can see in the panels of their travels together that Akiho wasn't really at ease in the beginning), I think Kaito felt the pull of hitsuzen right away...kinda ironic for the guy that didn't show his feelings till the end! 😅

In this ficlet, Kaito is 9 years old, Akiho is 2. The age difference I've always envisioned for them is 6 or 7 years, I kept it as 7 here to reflect the depiction we see in the canon manga. I also vaguely included speculations regarding the death of Lilie and her husband. I have in the back of my mind this feeling that all the warnings little Kaito gave to Lilie were justified, and in the end the infamous "accident" was caused by the Magic Association (the ones Kaito warned her about). If you're interested to hear my theory in detail, send me a DM and I'll expand on it!

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{ficlet} Halloween Wraps Fear In Innocence

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto Rating: M Tags: Halloween fic, vampire cosplay, sensual teasing in a public place, literary quotes Warnings: spicy, suggestive content, light biting I guess? Also inappropriate behavior on workplace uhuhuh Summary: The bookstore Akiho works at is hosting an Halloween party for kids. Kaito is helping the staff for the occasion, when he decides he's going to do his own version of 'Trick or Treat' on Akiho. Word count: 1126 A/N at the end of the ficlet. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration. This fic on AO3

"Hmmm... let's see...this one should go here."

Akiho stared ahead, scanning the row of books orderly arranged on the shelf. She gently pushed some aside with one hand, making room for the one she took from the pile of books resting on the cart next to her.

Coming from the opposite side of the bookstore, she could hear the lively chatter of the kids and their parents attending the Halloween event the bookstore owners had planned for that day. The whole staff was dressed for the occasion and the aisles were full of purple, orange and black spooky decorations. Akiho smiled to herself, enjoying the festive atmosphere, but at the same time cherishing the momentary quiet in this empty aisle of the big bookstore.

She was about to slide the book into the space she made, when she suddenly squealed in surprise as she felt long fingertips brushing past her shoulder, moving her blonde hair aside.

"Trick or treat? Give me candies, or I'll bite you!" a familiar voice warned her mischievously from behind, his hands gripping both her shoulders.

Kaito stood behind Akiho, dressed in a fancy vampire outfit, complete with a ruffled collar shirt and fake fangs. He had volunteered to help the staff of the bookstore on this busy day, pulled in by the enthusiasm of his girlfriend who worked here.

Following his vibe, Akiho had decided to not go for an elaborate costume but to dress simply with an old fashioned shirt with a wide neckline (which exposed her shoulders a little bit), a headband and a long skirt, vaguely resembling an innocent maiden depicted in those vampire romance novels, so she could keep doing comfortably her job.

"Kaito-san, you scared me...!" she turned her head around with a nervous giggle, "Don't be silly now, I need to get these books sorted." A quick glance was enough for her to notice the dark circles standing out on his deathly paleness, which enhanced his costume for sure, but also suggested he was a bit tired. After all, despite all the good intentions, it wasn't easy to deal with squealing kids an entire day, especially for someone like him.

Her giggle faded, however, when she felt his grip tightening on her shoulders.

The pitch of his voice lowered, dangerously breathing down her neck.

"I want the candies now, Akiho-san."

A cold shiver ran down Akiho's spine, as a presentiment sneaked its way into her head.

She tried to protest.

"Y-you know I don't have any here...! The sweets we prepared for the kids are all in the area set up in the hall...be nice and let me finish here, darling."

For a long, strained moment, silence was all that followed her weak justification. The only thing she could faintly hear were the cheerful squeals of the children on the opposite side of the store. And her raging heartbeat, as she waited for his reaction.

"You leave me no choice, then."

Akiho's muscles tensed as she felt his head quickly lowering on her shoulder, expecting to start feeling the sting of his fake fangs on her exposed skin at any moment.

What the skin met, however, was not the sharp resin, but the warmth and softness of Kaito's parted lips, slowly delivering kisses all over the crook of her neck.

"Halloween wraps fear in innocence," he recited between kisses, his voice husky with all the malicious intentions of this world, "as though it were a slightly sour sweet..."

Akiho felt her blood rushing to her cheeks, as if it helplessly responded to a siren's song. His voice tickled her inside, trying to breach the walls of her common sense. She had no doubt her man was plain crazy to do this in public.

"Let terror, then, be turned into a treat" he continued, working his way up till he finally rested his lips right over her exposed ear, seductively humming "...Lest it overwhelm our common sense..."

Akiho tightened the grip on the book she was holding on the shelf, shutting her eyes as multiple shivers shook her body from head to toe, her skin on fire.

"That's...Nicholas Gordon..." she breathed out nervously, then hissed, "...What are you doing? Knock it off…!"

He knew with meticulous precision all of her weakest spots, he could turn her into mush in a matter of seconds, if he wanted. He rarely weaponized his knowledge against her in this way, but evidently today he had woken up belligerent. As a matter of fact, merciless in his attack, Kaito's tongue started dancing on her sensitive skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. Akiho gasped softly, while her lower abdomen clenched in response. Her mind was screaming at her to stop this madness before they went too far, but unfortunately for her, the mere thought fluttering in her head of what that "too far" meant only ended up intensifying the tantalizing ache awakening between her thighs.

Kaito listened to her quivering breath leaving and returning, heavier and heavier, and couldn't help but smirk triumphantly.

However, his beloved wasn't keen on letting him mess around today—as much as she was feeling this, duty was still calling her, without even mentioning the compromising position they were in and the risk of someone walking in on them at any moment. She collected all the willpower she could muster and struggled to push the words out.

"Kaito-san...” she swallowed thickly, "You can't do this here...you'll get me into trouble…I have...work to...." miserably trailing off as the last two words died strangled by a shaky sigh.

He got her right where he wanted her. "I'm sorry, you provided no treats, so I had to..." he whispered mischievously in her ear.

Akiho's breath audibly hitched in her throat as she felt Kaito gently bite her on the spot he had tortured, leaving imperceptible marks where his fangs had grazed her skin. And just like that, he released her from that delicious torment and walked away unperturbed, returning to the more lively area of the bookstore. Leaving her alone to deal with her raging breath and the warmth that had pooled in her nether regions.

Still red in the face, she leaned on the bookshelf for support, trying to regain composure. With a quick glance, she made sure the aisle was still empty and no one had accidentally walked in. Then she sighed, quietly scolding herself for being so weak against her boyfriend's touch—she made a mental note for next time to remember how dangerous it could be to work together with that wicked, crazy head.

Pouting embarrassedly, she swore to herself that her man was going to find himself in big trouble as soon as they got out of there.

Author's Note:

Yay, my first M-rated fic! 😂 Well, what can I say. Kaito is tired from working with kids all day and needs to release some stress somewhere, exactly like kids do 😂

Poor Akiho...he's such a bastard here, but don't worry, he knows that when he teases her like this he needs to make up for it at home (if she lets him get to their home.....) This is the most "ahead in the future" fic I've posted in public till now. They've been official for some years, they found a cure for Kaito and restarted his time too. The relationship and dynamic between them might seem light years away from where we left them at the end of Clear Card, especially considering I headcanon Kaito as demisexual...but my two dorks evolved a lot inside my head, ever since that special chapter...And here Akiho is 22 years old, just to give you an idea of how much time has passed. A Kaito who drops a romantic line and walks away without hearing Akiho's reaction today is very likely to turn into that ☝️kind of teasing tomorrow, once their relationship is established and evolves adding the sexual aspect too. We all know Kaito, he's morally grey and he's not a cautious person at all if it doesn't come down to her safety, so he's likely to enjoy the thrill a situation like that could give 😂☝️

Technically there's a fanart connected to this ficlet! It was actually the inspiration for it, but then the fic took a spicy turn...I have to thank my friend Yuu for pushing me to write my very first M-rated fic! 😂 The fanart, however, is funny and completely sfw, you can see it here!

Lastly, the poem Kaito recites is a real poem by a very much real author called Nicholas Gordon, and you can find the full Halloween poem here: https://www.poemsforfree.com/hallo3.html . It is absolutely my headcanon that when he wants to turn Akiho's brain into mush, Kaito starts whispering literary quotes into her ear: 100% effective 😂 Also, it's probably showing through between the lines, but Akiho's ultimate kink is to do it in a library or bookshop. And Kaito might have a hunch about it. Yessir, Kaito might be a bastard, but Akiho ain't a saint either. 🤭

[crystals-and-cosmos]

Time, Stop - chapter 1

Characters: Akiho Shinomoto, Yuna D. Kaito, Sakura Kinomoto, Syaoran Li Rating: T Warnings: swearing Tags: romance, a sprinkle of angst, boys having good old magic sparring, who the heck is targeting Sakura keep your hands off her!! Summary: Four years later, Kaito and Akiho are back in Tomoeda for a short while, on Syaoran's request: he's finally going to learn time magic! What Akiho doesn't imagine, however, is that this visit will trigger one of the biggest turning points in her relationship with Kaito. Word count: 2.037 A/N at the end of the chapter. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration. This chapter on AO3

Excerpt:

“Would it be a problem if we arranged everything so we could travel back to Japan for a few days? I have just received a phone call from Syaoran Li, he—” but he couldn't even begin to pronounce the next word that Akiho was already jumping up from her seat, exclaiming frantically “Sakura-san?? Did something happen to Sakura-san??”

A thunderbolt illuminated Tomoeda's sunset sky.

The garden of the Shinomoto-Yuna mansion quaked as a thick chain slammed into the grass with a clanging sound, missing by a few centimeters one of the pine trees lining the fence. The impact left deep furrows into the lawn.

Syaoran Li landed on his feet a few meters nearby, crouching to the ground to regain balance, gripping his sword tightly. A sweat drop trickled down his jaw, as the 17-year-old scion of the renowned Li Clan gritted his teeth and lifted his head, glaring fiercely at his attacker.

Yuna D. Kaito stood gracefully on one of the garden lampposts while holding his magic staff, watching the panting Syaoran on the ground with narrowed eyes. His gaze reflected the same purple light that delimited the entire garden, like some kind of barrier. His expression was imperturbable, impossible to decode.

In front of the french patio door that gave access to the garden, Sakura Kinomoto and Akiho Shinomoto stood close to one another, watching the confrontation with concerned expressions.

Sakura, in particular, bit nervously her lower lip as she repressed a powerful urge to run in Syaoran's direction.

Akiho caught that with the corner of her eye, and her hand instinctively went to hold her best friend's one. The strawberry blonde girl, wrapped in a camel trench coat, returned the hold with double the intensity, eyes glued on the scene in front of them.

“Don't tell me you're already tired.” Unconcerned with the condition of the young man below, Kaito flipped his staff upside down. His personal magic circle lit up under his feet as more chains sprang forth and darted towards Syaoran.

The younger magician quickly rose to his feet, still panting, and held his sword tightly in front of him. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply to steady his nerves. He focused on summoning all the magic in his body, feeling the blood rushing faster through his veins. As the magic circle of the Li Clan appeared, shining brightly under him, he chanted with a solemn tone.

“Time, stop.”

The air in the garden grew thicker as everything took on a greenish hue. The group of chains hung frozen in mid-air a few meters from Syaoran, static just like the rest of anything else located inside the barrier. Only the magicians present at the moment weren't impacted by the spell he had just activated. An eerie silence permeated the area, as if they were in outer space.

Sakura watched the scene at the top of her apprehension, still gripping the hand of a motionless Akiho.

“One…” Kaito counted, whispering softly to himself.

Syaoran swiftly whipped one ofuda out, holding it in front of his sword.

“Two…”

The young man steeled himself to begin the incantation of his signature spell; however, he quickly felt his body growing heavier and heavier, as if somebody had just dumped a ton of lead on his limbs. His movements were lagging, head spinning and breathing becoming increasingly labored. Words suddenly felt so damn hard to pronounce.

“Three…”

“R-raitei…” Syaoran struggled to push the chant out of his gritted teeth, when suddenly his limbs felt much lighter and the pressure was instantly relieved from his body. His eyes widened in dismay.

The night breeze resumed blowing gently among the leafy branches of the trees, breaking the dead silence. The green light dissolved.

Akiho blinked her eyes rapidly, realizing the scene in front of her had changed from one moment to the next.

Time had resumed its normal flow.

“Syaoran-kun!!!” Sakura shrieked from the patio.

“Shit!” Syaoran cursed, as panic gripped his chest. He desperately jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the group of chains that resumed darting towards him like a freight train, crashing to the ground. His sword landed tumbling a few meters from him. He trembled as he struggled to sit up on the grass, frustratedly running a hand through his disheveled hair. He looked up and found Kaito standing in front of him with an outstretched hand—his expression was serious, but much softer than before.

“How many seconds…?” the younger magician asked quietly, out of breath, his eyes already filled with disappointment even before hearing the answer.

“Three,” Kaito answered calmly, “you surely improved from yesterday's training.”

“But it's clearly not enough,” Syaoran replied with a disheartened tone, accepting the helping hand and standing up with a whimper. “I need to reach at least five seconds to be able to seize the chance to counterattack.” His legs were shaking, feeling completely depleted of any energy.

Kaito watched him with sympathetic eyes while he dissolved the purple barrier circling the area, then cast a repairing spell on the damaged spots of their garden.

“Syaoran-kun!!” Sakura came running and hugged her boyfriend's chest on the side, supporting him at the same time.

Syaoran's eyes widened at his girlfriend's impetus and his cheeks colored slightly—particularly because of how tight her hold was, unconcerned by the presence of the other two.

“Is it really necessary for you to learn this technique…?” she raised her head from his chest, looking at him with pleading eyes.

“Sakura…I'm okay. I just need to rest a little bit,” his smile matched his soft voice, running a comforting hand along her back.

The girl wasn't persuaded at all, but she knew she couldn't stop him from learning to master time magic. It was within his right, as the next head of the Li Clan and as a powerful magician, to learn any technique he deemed necessary, no matter how difficult and taxing, to protect himself and the people important to him. Including Sakura herself.

Akiho pulled her cardigan tighter against the cool evening breeze as she approached the other three. She stared at Sakura and Syaoran quietly, lost in thought for a moment. Then, her concerned gaze shifted from the hugging couple to Kaito, locking eyes with him. “Are you sure this harshness is necessary? He can't stand on his own.”

A frown appeared on Kaito's face, like a child who had just been scolded for something he didn't do. He was about to justify his choices, when Syaoran promptly interrupted them both.

“No, Shinomoto…I'm the one who asked him not to go easy on me during my training. He didn’t do anything wrong.” His fierce amber eyes met those of Kaito. “I knew he would've understood my request.”

── ･ ｡☆*☽*☆ﾟ.──

Stockholm, three weeks earlier.

Kaito's phone beeped on his desk, prompting the dark-haired man to put down the utility bill he was looking at and check the device immediately. He didn't have many contacts on his phone, and Akiho was at home, so he guessed who had sent the message right away.

He tapped the messaging app with a smirk, thinking he would find once again one of the bizarre photos the two magicians had been exchanging over the years. However, his smirk morphed into a puzzled expression when his eyes read “Is it ok for me to call you right now?” on the screen. At his positive answer, his phone rang immediately.

Kaito reached Akiho in the library room, where she was hunched over a desk, browsing through the content of two grimoires freshly obtained from the secret area of the stunning Stadsbiblioteket, the Public Library of Stockholm. “What are your plans, three weeks from now?” he asked her point blank, capturing her attention and obtaining an intrigued expression in return.

“Besides my classes and my book repair projects? Not much, I'm afraid…why?”

“Would it be a problem if we arranged everything so we could travel back to Japan for a few days? I have just received a phone call from Syaoran Li, he—” but he couldn't even begin to pronounce the next word that Akiho was already jumping up from her seat, exclaiming frantically “Sakura-san?? Did something happen to Sakura-san??”

Akiho's concern wasn't completely unjustified. On the contrary. A couple of days before, Syaoran had been practicing with some tracking spells, when he had accidentally spotted a foreign aura looming around his girlfriend. The multiple levels of discordance magic that Eriol and Kaho had woven on Sakura long ago had done their job well, thwarting the malicious attempt to locate her.

But since the discovery, Syaoran had not been able to sleep a wink. Someone was trying to pinpoint Sakura's location—this meant that she had possibly piqued the interest of a magician, if not more than one. He had always known that such a powerful magician could not stay unnoticed in the magic world forever, yet he had hoped that this day would come as late as possible.

“So…he finally asked me if he could take up the offer I made him before we left Japan, four years ago,” Kaito ended his explanation, matter-of-factly.

Akiho's eyes widened in disbelief—a bad feeling crept into her heart as she realized that was the first time she heard about it. “…Offer? What did you offer him?” she asked, her blue eyes ready to put him through the wringer.

“To teach him time magic,” he replied smiling placidly, as if it were the most mundane thing in the world.

“TIME MAGIC?” Akiho's distraught voice echoed in the library room as she quickly walked towards him, “You promised him you’d teach him time magic??”

Kaito stared at her agape. While he was very aware of the dangers hiding behind its use, he still considered time magic a kind of magic like any other. Just a very powerful, handy tool in the bag of a magician that needed to be handled with extreme care, and the fact that the next head of the Li Clan wanted to learn it didn't surprise him in the least.

Then, he realized what the actual problem was.

“I will not use it myself. I will only teach him how to achieve a good control of it,” he clarified immediately, hoping that would suffice to calm the girl down.

Akiho stared firmly into the dark fog of his amethyst eyes, frantically searching for any trace of loophole to his claim. She found none.

He did want to point out that technically, time magic wouldn't have affected him in the way she feared, as a greater spell still had its claws on him and his time was still frozen—blocking his lifespan as a result. But he decided to not bring it up to avoid rattling the girl any further. However, they negotiated for a good twenty minutes the typology of spells he was allowed to use during his coaching period. The less use of magic the better, as Akiho always insisted on. Three weeks later they were on a plane, heading for Japan.

── ･ ｡☆*☽*☆ﾟ.──

“I’m sorry for causing you trouble, but please don’t be mad at him,” Syaoran said with a slightly guilty smile, as he summoned the sword that was laying on the grass a few meters nearby, sheathing it back into his hand with a spell.

Akiho gave Kaito one last dirty look, then finally relented, letting out a sigh. “Fine, I understand.” Her expression softened, eyes inevitably shifting to Sakura. “…He needs to rest. Go ahead and take him to the room I showed you earlier,” she said, smiling kindly in reassurance.

“Thank you so much, Akiho-chan!” Sakura grinned in response, while carefully supporting Syaoran, as they both went back inside through the french patio door.

Akiho turned again to Kaito, a streak of concern clouding her eyes. “How are you feeling…?”

“I'm perfectly fine,” he smiled, “those spells were very tame. I should get back inside too, I will get dinner ready while he's resting.” He was heading for the patio door, when he heard Akiho's voice again, coming from behind him.

“…I still think that taunt was unnecessary.”

He turned around, and the pointed look she gave him elicited a spontaneous chortle from him. “He works harder when I encourage him that way. He knows it's all well-intended.”

At his reply, Akiho couldn't really stop her own chuckle that escaped her lips, and with an amused “right, right” she joined him, heading for the patio door.

Akiho had no idea that was just the quiet before the storm.

Author's Note:

Okay, this is my first public chaptered fic! And the first one featuring Sakura and Syaoran together! I'm writing for them too! Wah! 🤣 I am pretty nervous because I usually don't plan much and I never do an outline for my fics, but I think with a multi-chapter one it's kinda necessary! I just hope everything will go well. 😂 This chapter includes also my first "action scene" I've ever written, so I hope that was interesting enough.

I won't comment much since this is only the "introduction", the beginning, so I want you to find things out along the way, but let's set some things straight: Akiho, Sakura and Syaoran are all 17 years old here. Kaito's time is still stopped, as you can read in this first chapter, because he and Akiho haven't found a cure for him yet. And this will become one of the big themes of this fic. Keep in consideration he looks 19-ish, like in the canon manga.

They are temporary back in their old mansion since I'm fairly sure that Eriol bought it back for them, not for himself (he continues living in England, after all): Sakura's comment in chapter 80 on Akiho's books being safe really does suggest that Eriol bought the house so no one else could buy it and force Akiho and Kaito to displace their belongings. Eriol also "manages it" so I guess that means that he helps keeping it clean and paying taxes and such while they're not there. For this reason, it makes perfect sense that whenever they go back to Tomoeda, they will stay in their old mansion. And this time, Akiho insists in putting "Shinomoto - Yuna" on the plate outside (why "Yuna"? Because we still don't really know what's the supposed last name and what's the first name, so I prefer to go with "Kaito is the first name because that's how Akiho calls him" even though there's no confirmation and I hope one day CLAMP will clarify this. 😂).

The season they are in is spring (Sakura's 17th birthday was a few weeks earlier), basically the same as RL now in the northern emisphere. In this introductory chapter I couldn't develop Sakura's character much, so she only comes off as a worrywart, but more of her will (hopefully) come out in the next chapters.

I think that's all for now, (polite) comments are welcome, just like writing tips! ❤️

[crystals-and-cosmos]

{one-shot} Eclipse

Characters: Yuna D. Kaito, Akiho Shinomoto Rating: T Tags: lunar eclipse, set in Chile, Domestic Fluff, One Shot, watch me as I make Akiho say THE Chilean word, Hurt/Comfort Warnings: none Summary: A total lunar eclipse is about to enchant Chile with a spectacular red moon, three years after the last one. While the whole country waits in anticipation, Yuna D. Kaito knows what awaits him. And he isn't excited in the least. (Based on a talk CLAMP had on November 2022 about the adverse effects a lunar eclipse causes to magicians and creatures using moon magic in CCS) Word count: 4.022 A/N at the end of the one-shot. English is not my first language; keep that into consideration. This one shot is set in Chile as a token of appreciation to all my Latin American friends and followers. ❤️ My deepest gratitude goes to Horitsuba and Kamië who provided precious insight, suggestions and culture-checked this one shot as beta readers. Ness, if you read this, I hope you appreciate it. ❤️❤️❤️ This fic on AO3

Excerpt:

He's not sure what's happening to him, nor if this could be considered one of the 50 different side effects of the lunar eclipse, but he's suddenly hit with a desperate need to heed her silent request. He's never done this before, never dared this much, but somehow he feels like this is everything he needs right now.

“Todas las miradas estarán puestas en el cielo esta noche, ¡para ver el primer eclipse lunar total en tres años!” (All eyes will be looking up at the sky tonight, to see the first total lunar eclipse in three years!)

Kaito turns to the TV humming in the background, as he stops cutting in half some fresh hallullas for breakfast. He frowns. His complexion loses slightly color as he puts the bread down and moves closer to the TV, trying to understand if he heard right.

And sure enough, he did. Tonight there's going to be a total lunar eclipse over Chile, and by the look of it, it will be completely visible from Santiago, the place he lives in right now with Akiho.

Crap, it's even a total one, Kaito mentally swears as he cleans his hands, rubbing them on his apron. His eyes scrutinize gravely the TV host announcing in such a cheerful manner how gorgeous and mysterious the sight of a red moon will be. His gaze then drifts over the colorful caption on the bottom of the screen, showing at what time it will start—10:36 pm. The hosts of the morning show are now all talking about how they will prepare to watch the event tonight.

Yes, of course, everyone is super excited about it. Why wouldn't they be? But he knows what a lunar eclipse means for him, and he isn't excited in the least about that part.

Sighing, he starts pacing around the kitchen as he rearranges the plans of the day in his mind, worrying mainly about the preparation of the meals and the housework he needs to finish before evening comes. “I would really hate it if it started affecting me in the middle of preparing dinner,” he mutters under his breath. Hopping around the world for most of his life, the times Kaito experienced lunar eclipses aren't that many, but he's well aware of the symptoms and the course of the event from the few he unfortunately had the displeasure to run into. Therefore, he already knows he will start feeling the effects of it a bit earlier than the beginning of the penumbral phase. He's kind of prepared, in a way.

But there's an additional concern, this time around—this is the first total eclipse he will experience after the beginning of his new life with Akiho. Where they're having a closer bond and they're more open and tightly involved with each other. He's always managed to hide it from her when she was younger, but he's sure he won't be able to make it this time around, even if he wanted to. “I should tell her,” he quietly whispers to himself, ending it with a sigh.

Akiho enters the kitchen precisely in that moment. One look at her and Kaito immediately understands she is filled with expectation and thrill, since she probably overheard from the hallway what they were saying at the morning show on the TV. “Did you hear that, Kaito-san? There will be a total lunar eclipse tonight!!”

Oh, no. Look how excited she is for the eclipse. Kaito groans internally, feeling his resolution to tell her everything melt away, like snow under the sun. If he says it now, she's going to fret over him—he can't shut down that beautiful smile and turn her whole day into a ‘fuss over Kaito’ fest, can he?

“So I've heard,” he strives to reply as enthusiastically as he can muster, but the contrived effort unfortunately doesn't go unnoticed on the other side.

Akiho's smile fades as she peers at him with an inquiring expression. “¿Qué pasa, Kaito?” (What's wrong, Kaito?)

He plasters on a big smile, feeling a shiver running down his spine. Great, he got busted right away. “Nada, mi amor.” (Nothing, my love.)

If this were a different moment of intimacy, or if Akiho weren't eighteen but her younger, more naive self, she would've started blushing and stammering by now. But precisely because he used that term of endearment after she posed a question, she knows he's trying to distract her from something he's not telling her.

And of course, that obtains exactly the result Kaito was trying to avoid—she starts fussing over him.

“Tenís una expresión un poco rara. ¿El eclipse te pone nervioso?” (You look a bit strange. Does the eclipse make you nervous?) she presses him with a slight frown, glancing at the TV for a moment.

“Claro que no, solo es la Luna que se enrojece por un rato por la sombra de la Tierra. No me da miedo eso,” (Of course not, it's just the moon turning red for a while because of the Earth's shadow. That doesn't scare me) he titters nervously, averting his gaze from her and returning to the hallullas waiting to be sliced in half on the kitchen counter.

Why the hell he can never do it right? Why she can see right through him as if he were made of crystal? He just wants her to spend the day peacefully, without the concern of something that in the end will affect only him, and many hours ahead, at that. But he's just unable to keep a poker face with her.

Akiho watches him in silence for a long, long moment, then approaches him at the kitchen counter, taking one hallulla cut in half for herself. She takes the butter and the strawberry jam and sits at the table, distractedly following the chatter of the TV hosts as she spreads the toppings over the bread.

“I will go back to the Biblioteca today,” she informs Kaito as he joins her at the table, placing down his own plate with bread, cheese and jamón. “I'm not sure how long I'll be there, I want to check out some books so it might take the entire afternoon.”

“I see. Then, if you don't mind, I will stay home to do some housework. I'd also like to cook dinner early so we just have to heat it up whenever we feel like eating it. Ah,” Kaito pauses before biting into the hallulla, “do you think you'll be home to have a light once?”

Cooking dinner early? Since when? He always likes to have a freshly cooked meal, Akiho thinks, perplexed by the unusual plan.

“Hmm…I might be a bit late, but I'll try to,” she finally answers, “I'm dying to have more of the chilenitos that you made yesterday. In fact,” she chuckles, glancing at the cupboard, “I might steal one, once I'm done eating this.”

Kaito simply smiles, relieved by the fact that it seems like she decided to give up on putting him through the wringer. And thanks to her plans for the day, if he's lucky enough he can avoid getting her too suspicious till evening comes.

── ･ ｡☆*☽*☆ﾟ.──

The day goes by peacefully, as Akiho works on a commissioned book repair in the morning and takes an Uber ride to the library downtown right after lunch. Kaito, for his part, makes sure to clean their apartment through—he doesn't know how long the after-effects will last, and he doesn't want to leave this burden on Akiho for tomorrow. By the time she comes back home, at 6 p.m., he's already prepared dinner to eat later, and he's waiting for her in the kitchen, table set for a dignified once: tea, some coffee for himself, chilenitos, cheese, marraquetas and cold cuts.

“What a refreshing sight!” Akiho chirps as she enters the kitchen with a big smile—a smile that, despite her best intentions, still fails to conceal a bit of tiredness. In full Chilean tradition, she sits down at the table with Kaito and finally unwinds, telling him how her afternoon went and describing in great details the spellbook she found in the occultism aisle of the library. Unfortunately, the tome didn't carry any useful spell that could help them with their cause. “But I need to call Hiiragizawa-san tomorrow, about that book. I think it might be of high interest to him,” she says as she indulges in another delicious chilenito.

Right, Hiiragizawa-san. Kaito stares into his coffee, while the message he received from Eriol a couple of hours earlier resurfaces in his mind.

“Good luck with the lunar eclipse.”

He honestly couldn't tell if the fellow magician was trying to mock him or sincerely wish him all the best for the harsh night ahead. He decided to go for the latter, considering the eclipse would be partly visible in his area too, and he lives with other moon magic users—very important people to him, at that. He's Eriol Hiiragizawa, sure, but he wouldn't be that cruel, now, would he?

“I wonder if the lunar eclipse will be visible from Japan too,” Akiho muses aloud as she sips her tea.

“They won't be able to see it, since the penumbral phase will end before the moon rises over there,” Kaito answers with a flat tone, making it obvious he had looked into the matter beforehand. After Eriol sent that message to him, he was curious to check the situation of the other moon magic users he knew. And so he found out, with a touch of envy, that his buddy Syaoran and Sakura's moon guardian would be able to escape the effects of the eclipse entirely.

Akiho blinks at him for a moment, slightly perplexed by the tone he used while answering to her. “Oh, I see…such a pity!” she then comments without much of a fuss, picking a piece of cheese from the platter.

I wish I were that unlucky, the frustrated thought sprouts candidly in Kaito's mind before he can truly stop it.

── ･ ｡☆*☽*☆ﾟ.──

The first wave of nausea comes around 9:30 p.m., right in the middle of dinner. It's very subtle in the beginning, so Kaito tries to ignore it and keeps eating as if nothing happened. However, as Akiho is finishing her plate, another wave hits him—stronger, this time, so much that he's forced to pause and put down his fork with an expression of discomfort.

Discomfort that doesn't go unnoticed by the other side of the table. Akiho watches him, slightly concerned. “Is everything okay?”

Kaito can only force a smile as he breathes deeply to manage the queasiness. “Yes, but I think I went too far, I'm full.”

“Oh, don't force yourself then. We even had once before, it's understandable,” Akiho says, smiling in return. “Do you want to go out for a walk to help digestion? I'll take care of cleaning up here.”

Bad idea. “No, I'd rather stay inside. I'm kind of…dizzy,” he declines, still smiling, but getting up from the table. “I think I'll go in the living room to sit down a little bit and see if the dizziness goes away.”

“Sure, go ahead,” she nods reassuringly, as she starts to collect the dishes from the table.

Slouching on the couch helps a little bit with Kaito's dizziness, but on the other hand it only gives way to all sorts of other symptoms. The nausea turns into a feeling of malaise gripping his whole stomach, similar to when he gets the flu. He's sure by now that the impending eclipse is already extending its claws over him.

By the time 10.30 p.m. comes, Akiho has finished cleaning up in the kitchen and finally joins Kaito in the living room. She finds it strange that he kept all lights off, but takes into consideration the fact it might be a preparation for the eclipse, which should start any moment now. After all, he's looking at her with such a loving smile, striving to hide the horrible feeling churning in his stomach and the migraine waking up in his head.

Akiho smiles back at him, even though she can't shake off the feeling that something isn't right with him. She slowly approaches the window, admiring the night view of the city of Santiago by their elevated position in Las Condes. Then she peers up, basking under the big source of light that's about to be dimmed.

“Look, Kaito-san! It's starting! I can see a light shade covering part of the moon!” Akiho excitedly turns around to call Kaito at the window, but it's only in that moment that she realizes his complexion paled considerably, and he's standing, holding onto the backrest of the couch. All the anticipation, all the excitement dies in her throat.

He knows he can't hide it anymore. “Akiho-san…I-I need to tell you something…” he struggles to push the words out of his gritted teeth, as his hand instinctively goes to his temple, where a sharp pain is now pulsating incessantly.

Akiho runs immediately to him, in shock. “What's going on?! Is it another seizure? I'll grab Hiiragizawa-san's pills, wait—” but he stops her before she can rush towards the cabinet, gripping her arm tightly. She stares at him, shaken, anxiety swallowing her whole.

“It's not…a seizure. Listen to me. When the moon gets obscured during a lunar eclipse…the life force of magicians with moon-based powers will be impacted negatively…” Kaito says with labored breathing, desperately trying to pull himself together.

“What?!” Akiho exclaims, her distress turning into slight irritation, “I-I've never heard about this before! Is this why you've been acting strange the whole day? Why didn't you tell me sooner?!”

He reaches for her face, trembling fingers stroking lovingly her cheekbone. “You were so excited…I didn't want you…to have this worried expression the whole day,” he answers with a shaky voice, his lips curving into a painful smile.

Her features soften at his tender touch, but she's still retaining a slight frown as she realizes his hand is uncharacteristically warm. He might have a mild fever, she thinks quickly to herself. “This isn't the first time there's a lunar eclipse since I've known you…why am I noticing this effect only now?” she asks, even though in her heart she already knows the answer.

“Because I've always tried to hide it from you,” he admits candidly, his gaze imploring sympathy from her.

“Qué weá tenís en la cabeza?” (What the hell is wrong with you?) she closes her eyes and sighs, exasperated, as she bumps her forehead against his chest. Even if he's suffering and all, she can still hear him chuckle with guilt, like a naughty child—or at least trying to. It seems like he regretted that move right away, as a sharp intake of breath suggests another wave of pounding migraine incoming.

Akiho stares apprehensively at him and tries to support him as best as she can. “Is this dangerous for you?”

“No, no…it will subside as soon as the lunar eclipse is over, you don't need to worry,” he tries to reassure her through the pain, even though his strained voice elicits quite the opposite in his girlfriend.

“Is there anything I can do for you? Any meds you could take to ease the pain? The eclipse will go on for hours,” she says with a pained voice, feeling the tears burning in the back of her eyes. Even his seizures usually don't last that long, and seeing him suffer like that is just unbearable for her.

“Medicines won't have any effect…I just have to wait for the eclipse to pass,” he forces himself to keep his smile on, as a light perspiration surfaces on his skin.

Akiho peers at him, her worried expression slowly changing into a resolute one. “Come, you need to sit down,” she says as she guides him back to the couch, supporting him by the chest. Kaito feels like he doesn't have an ounce of willpower left in his veins, and just lets her take the wheel, without protesting. It kind of feels…nice.

With a slight groan, he abandons his body against the backrest of the couch, watching Akiho leaving and returning after a moment with a small towel and a glass of water. His eyelids feel heavier and heavier.

“Can you drink a little bit? You're sweating, you need to rehydrate,” she says as she crouches down next to him, holding the glass of water next to his lips. He manages to take the glass and sips from it slowly, as she dabs the towel over his neck and forehead. He watches in silence her every movement, dark violet eyes burning and glistening under the effect of the eclipse that's eating more and more of the moon away. The pounding in his head subsided, but now he feels like every little bone in his body is aching, making him feel so damn weak and helpless.

Akiho takes his empty glass and stands up, putting it down on the small table. She turns around and stares into his feverish eyes for a brief moment, then she draws a deep breath and sits down next to him, adjusting her long skirt. She pats her knees as she returns to stare silently into his eyes, unperturbed by the pale blush instinctively spreading over her cheeks.

“W-what?” is the only thing that Kaito can manage to stutter, staring back at her like a fool. His head is a complete mess, but somehow he grasps what she means with that gesture. He stays open-mouthed for a moment, his gaze darting a few times between her knees and her firm, demanding eyes. He feels so weak, so damn weak against those eyes.

He's not sure what's happening to him, nor if this could be considered one of the 50 different side effects of the lunar eclipse, but he's suddenly hit with a desperate need to heed her silent request. He's never done this before, never dared this much, but somehow he feels like this is everything he needs right now.

He slowly, carefully lays his head in her lap, adjusting the rest of his aching body on the couch, groaning quietly. He turns his head up, face scrunched up from the soreness, looking at his blushing girlfriend from a new perspective he never tried before. And in his feverish, almost delirious mind, he admits to himself that she's gorgeous even from this angle. Possibly, more than usual.

Akiho's fingers tentatively reach for his hair, moving gently away the bangs that the sweat stuck to his forehead. She dabs the folded towel over his skin, trying to wipe away the sweat as much as possible.

After putting the towel on the armrest, her fingers start to slowly dance across his forehead, in a soothing, loving manner. They move down along his temple, then trace his jaw softly, like a feather, leaving a trail of goosebumps along the way. Kaito sighs at the touch, his tense body seems to be loosening a little bit.

Akiho watches his every reaction, testing if what she's doing feels pleasant to him or not. If only he could manage to fall asleep, she muses as she keeps caressing his face, thinking that the sleep would numb him enough to help him survive the night without feeling much of the effects of the eclipse. But his brows are still slightly furrowed in pain, and it doesn't seem like he can fall asleep like this. She's not sure what to do.

And then, as if guided by an innate instinct, she decides to break the silence of their living room. The notes of a gentle melody begin to leave her lips, one by one; she's making up the tune as she goes, inspired by her natural talent.

Her voice, a miraculous balance of delicate huskiness and sweetness, is like a balm for Kaito. He's always loved listening to her singing voice, that isn't really a secret for anyone, but this time he can perceive something different to it.

What sorcery is this? he wonders in his mind, mildly shocked. He's perfectly aware that she doesn't have an ounce of magic in her blood, and yet the effect her voice is having on his body is close to thaumaturgical. Nothing he's ever tried to ease the pain in his history of lunar eclipses truly worked, but for some mysterious reason Akiho's soft lap, her comforting scent that feels like home, her sweet voice lulling him to sleep…are dialing down the adverse effects of the eclipse. The ache in his bones starts to fade, feeling like something impermanent, distant…just like the awareness of his surroundings.

Akiho watches his eyelids drooping more and more, till they finally cover his purple irises like a blanket. Her heart wells up with relief.

Her thumb traces with tender delay his thin eyebrow, which is finally relaxed in the comfort of a peaceful slumber. Her singing voice is now barely a whisper.

Her chest tingles and warms up with the sweet feeling that his vulnerable, serene sleeping form is sparking in her. She can't help herself.

She bends over him, holding back her curls with one hand, and softly brushes her lips against his. She closes her eyes, lingering on the contact for a moment.

“Aunque no puedas evitar el dolor... te prometo que nunca tendrás que soportarlo solo. Nunca más,” she whispers softly as she parts from his lips, running her fingers through his smooth hair.

Outside the window, the red moon quietly watches over them.

── ･ ｡☆*☽*☆ﾟ.──

The next morning, Akiho bites into her soft marraqueta with manjar, as she watches the TV hosts of the morning show chatting cheerfully about the eclipse of last night. A 200x time lapse video of the event is floating on the right bottom. The girl never thought she would be looking with less than excited eyes at a lunar eclipse, but what happened last night changed her perception of it forever. It was nothing that could be life-threatening to Kaito, sure, but…

“I don't think they would be so cheerful if they knew some people can feel terrible because of it,” she blurts out as she brings her cup of tea to her lips, causing Kaito, finally back on his feet (but still slightly sore), to look at her with an amused expression.

“Thank you for the sympathy,” he chuckles softly, “but I'm not sure that would stop them from squealing all over it.”

Akiho only hums in response, her eyebrows slightly furrowed in moderate irritation at the TV hosts. Her mind is still very much occupied by what she learned last night, how the state of the moon can physically affect magicians whose powers draw energy from the sacred satellite. She had never considered such a thing, even though now it makes perfectly sense to her. She ponders and ponders as she drinks the warm tea, when suddenly she puts her cup down on the table. Her eyes widen and light up, a candid question emerging on her parted lips.

“Wait a minute…if a lunar eclipse causes a negative impact on the body of a moon-powered magician, triggering pain...I wonder what would happen in the case of a Supermoon?” Akiho's eyes are now filled with curiosity, staring eagerly at her boyfriend, waiting for an answer.

The question, posed in a such an innocent manner, causes Kaito to choke on his black coffee.

“Are you okay?? Are you still feeling unwell?” Akiho asks worriedly, thinking that the after-effects are still impacting him. As he coughs to regain control of his breathing, it seems to Akiho he is….blushing? But he never blushes, could that be a consequence of the cough?

Kaito clears his throat, standing up immediately from his chair. He leaves his plate with his unfinished marraqueta with palta and jamón where it is, and heads straight to the door. “I'm fine, but I just remembered there's an unpaid bill I urgently need to take care of,” he replies nervously, never looking at her.

Akiho's bewildered eyes follow him as he hurriedly leaves the kitchen.

“Kaito-san?! What happens on a Supermoon??”

Author's note:

I should probably start this corner by providing context so as to what inspired this one-shot in the first place: the Twitter Space CLAMP had in November 2022 during an actual lunar eclipse , where they talked about the effects on moon-powered characters in the story of Cardcaptor Sakura. The talk featured extensively the effects the eclipse would have on Kaho, Yue/Yukito and Ruby Moon/Nakuru, but didn't mention anything about Syaoran or Kaito—not because they wouldn't be affected, but just because CLAMP didn't come up with trivia for them in that moment. The info they provided, however, was good enough to imagine by ourselves what kind of experience those two would have, and a recent return of interest for the Tumblr post I made on my blog back then prompted me to write a little something, my own idea of how Kaito would fare with a total lunar eclipse. Timeline wise, consider this happening less than one year after "Time, Stop" (whose 6th and final chapter is coming, promise!). We get a bit of stubborn, classic Kaito who discovers the unexpected pros of involving Akiho in his predicament (her singing voice is magical! And I realized I hadn't featured this side of her in my fics yet, hence why that had to be fixed asap). Plus a very sweet, fluffy YunaAki moment that was inspired by what CLAMP said during their talk. (Kudos to you if you smiled at "why she can see right through him as if he were made of crystal?", I totally put it there on purpose)

I chose Chile as the setting for this one-shot as a way to thank all my Latin American friends and followers who supported my posts, fanarts and thoughts in general about YunaAki. Some aren't fervent shippers like me, some are, but the final result doesn't change: I've always felt at ease to talk about my headcanons with them. Felt understood, appreciated, not shallowly judged. I have seen lots of acrimony towards Kaito and Akiho in LA fandom spaces while the Clear Card manga was serializing, but in the same way I also found many people who have always been supportive and weren't afraid to show their appreciation for those characters, hence making my fandom experience way less lonely. I have made my good share of research for this one-shot, and I loved learning a lot of things about Chile, like the custom of having once (teatime), which can replace dinner entirely! And yes, I made Akiho say the Chilean word, after lots of consultation 😂 It is quite rude, but she's worried, exasperated and she doesn't have that much of a restraint in my headcanons, when Kaito pushes her to the limit! (Plus, it was green-lit by both of my beta readers😂)

A quick rundown of the Chilean elements featured: Marraqueta and hallullas: types of bread that Chileans love and consume daily (they're the second biggest consumers of bread in the world!) Palta: mashed and salted avocado spread on bread for breakfast! Jamón: ham Manjar: also known as dulce de leche, a delicious spread made with milk and sugar Chilenitos: two delicious thin cookies filled with manjar (dulce de leche)

The title, "Eclipse", works both in English and Spanish, so I chose it for that reason. 😊 This time around I tried to set the fic in present tense. To be honest I'm not sure I like it very much, but I wanted to try something different. It kind of enhances the feeling of "impending doom" 😅.

Hey, if anyone has been inspired by this fic or my Twitter Space report on Tumblr and wants to write "what happens to Syaoran on a lunar eclipse night" you're totally welcome to do so! 😂

P.s. Wondering what happens on a Supermoon? I *do* know what happens on a Supermoon (unofficially), and some time ago I even wrote a YunaAki fic for it, set a few years later. But it's gonna take...a lot to convince me to make it public, lol. It isn't T-rated, that's all I'll say. 😂

[jisatsu-draw]

Like a lady 🌼✨

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