The New Girlfriend (Clow/Yuuko, Eriol/Kaho)

[storypaint]

Title: The New Girlfriend
Words: 767
Series: Cardcaptor Sakura/xxxHOLiC
Character(s)/Pairing: implied Clow Reed/Yuuko Ichihara, implied Hiiragizawa Eriol/Kaho Mizuki
Rating: G
Notes/Summary: Kaho wanders into a strange shop and hitsuzen wins, once again. A bit of alterna-canon.

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura and xxxHOLiC belong to CLAMP. All fanfiction archived here is a derivative of canon material that is not my property. I do not profit from these writings. The opinions and actions expressed in these stories are not necessarily the views and beliefs of the original author or me.

Mizuki Kaho wasn't sure where she was; she didn't think she'd ever seen this shop before, though she must have passed down this street hundreds of times. Something made her breath catch as she passed, something intangible tugged at her, and she had to go in.

She thought it was a mistake as soon as she stepped in the door. The twin creatures that greeted her made her shiver a little, for they were soulless, and the woman who they led her to was obviously not a shopkeeper. Smoke sat thickly in the room, curling around eliptically, teasing past the long black hair and seductive clothing the woman wore. She had a frightening smile, the smile of a woman who knows things she shouldn't.

"Welcome," the lady said. Kaho wondered if she was a witch. Her eyes were piercing and it made Kaho want to explain herself.

"I just-- I didn't mean to interrupt--" she began to explain, glancing around the smoky room as though one of the shelves could provide an answer, and her eyes fastened irresistibly on a dull gleam of metal among the junk. The woman followed her eyes and sighed, covering her forehead with a hand as though remembering something.

"You are here for a reason," the woman said, cutting off Kaho's polite excuses. She looked Kaho up and down critically and muttered something about "that bespectacled jerk." Kaho didn't understand the reference.

"There is no coincidence. There is only hitsuzen. And you are here because he has sent you to me."

She looked up at an old clock mounted on the wall. There were cobwebs on the hands and it was clear the dusty timepiece hadn't worked in years. Nonetheless, she frowned as though she were displeased with the time.

"It really has been quite a while," she muttered to herself. Kaho was starting to wonder if she could slip away from this place, fascinating metal object or not. She recognized the smell in the smoke as a powerful barbituate. This woman was using it to see things she shouldn't.

"Maru, Moro," the shopkeeper said, and the two creatures went straight to the metal object and pulled it out, presenting it theatrically to the woman. She swung the rounded object listlessly and Kaho heard a sort of ring that made her want to clean her ears out. It wasn't quite a physical ring. There was a lot of power in that bell.

It had "Mizuki" engraved into it, she saw when the woman thrust it into her hands. She looked up in alarm.

"I don't-- I can't pay for something like this, it must be worth a fortune--"

"No," the woman said firmly. "It is a sort of... favor, for a friend... He wants you to have it."

Kaho clutched the bell a little tighter, enjoying the smoothness of the metal and the soft and comfortable feel of the magic it held. It was magic somewhat similar to the magic that lingered in her blood, mostly dormant, and quite similar to the magic that she had been feeling in her dreams, a soft voice that washed over her calmly, choked with power.

Abruptly the woman rose and came over to Kaho. She was amazed at the woman's height and the frightening way she seemed to loom over her. The woman grabbed Kaho's face and lifted her chin, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Take care of him," she said dreamily. Her face was smiling, but her eyes were sad. "Better than I did."

She released Kaho and stalked back to her perch, picked up the pipe, and smoked languorously.

"Maru, Moro," she said again, and the creatures were at her side. The blue one held a piece of paper, and the pink one presented the woman with a pencil. She wrote with a flourish, and then the blue one gave Kaho the page. It held a phone number and a flashy signature-- "Ichihara Yuuko." Kaho looked up at the woman-- Yuuko-- and she nodded.

"When he starts driving you crazy, call me," she said. "I know how to fix him..." She giggled strangely and then the two soulless creatures were gently but firmly guiding Kaho back to the street. They stood just inside the yard and waved cheerily.

Slowly Kaho began to wander down the street, the bell in one hand and the paper in the other. She didn't understand it yet, but she would. It was hitsuzen, after all.

Within the smoky recesses of the shop, Yuuko swore in a long-dead language and said, "He had a weakness for redheads."