Yukito ate hungrily, a slight smile on his face as the light
brown haired man demolished his massive lunch. Tomoyo had seen it
happen a few times since she had begun to work with the good natured
cameraman, but it still was just a bit unnerving to watch. 'Where does
all of that food go?' she mused, noting his rake thin form.
"Ms. Daidouji," Yukito smiled, pausing for a moment in his
eating to say, "I was wondering who this person is we'll be chasing?"
The black haired woman sighed, leaning back so that the light
caught on her press badge. "No one's entirely sure," Tomoyo said. "For
the past several months there's been sightings of a mysterious woman,
one who seems to use real magic while fighting monsters."
"And since no one has learned anything about her you want to
be the one to break the story," Yukito nodded thoughtfully. He hefted
the zoom lens camera that he usually carried and vowed, "I'll do my
best to photograph her."
"We'll go out tonight, see if we can find anything," Tomoyo
agreed. She picked up a bag from her side and passed it over to him,
"Here."
Yukito pulled the black clothing out of the bag and blinked,
"Why.."
"If we're going to be skulking about at night," Tomoyo held up
her own matching black shirt and pants proudly, "you've got to be
dressed properly!"
Yukito blinked at his partner, "You are a very interesting
person, ma'am."
A smiling Tomoyo stuck her tongue out at him impishly, "You're
no fun." She picked up her notebook and stowed it away beside her
tape- recorder as she said, "I'll pick you up at your boyfriend Toya's
place at nine, all right?"
For such a pale young man Yukito blushed quite charmingly. "He
is not my boyfriend," Yukito said with as much dignity as he could
muster.
"Yeah, yeah," Tomoyo waved that off as she strode away.
The sun shone down, the breeze ruffling her long black hair.
She walked by a few cherry trees, the scent filling her with a kind of
familiar peace. She loved this city, and she loved looking for all the
secrets beneath the surface. It was part of why she had begun to play
with a videocamera as a girl, and why she had grown up to become a
newspaper reporter as an adult.
'And now there's a new mystery,' Tomoyo thought, finishing the
short walk from the cafe over to the newspaper offices. The Times was
the town's main newspaper, other than a few gossip rags, and she knew
she was lucky to be working there. 'Well, luck and a wee bit of
parental influence,' she mused, walking in the front door.
"Hey Daidouji," the chief's voice cut across the bullpen as
she stuck her head out of her office to yell, "get in here!"
"Yes," Tomoyo sighed, walking over there. Ms. Kaho Mitsuki was
an old fashioned reporter, someone who had worked her way up from the
bottom, and she expected all her reporters to do the same. "You wanted
to see me?" she asked brightly.
"I've got an assignment for you," Kaho passed a folder of
papers over, "there's a new exhibit opening at the museum, I want you
to cover it."
Tomoyo flipped through the papers thoughtfully. An entirely
new wing was being opened, based around a series of artifacts
discovered by an archeologist who was based out of Tokyo itself. A
photograph slipped from the papers, and Tomoyo scrambled to get it.
"Who is that?" Tomoyo blinked at the brown haired young woman
who smiled out of the photo. Wide green eyes, short, slightly ruffled
brown hair, she looked.. lovely.
"Sakura Kinomoto," Kaho said crisply, "she's the archeologist
in question. I also understand that she has a position at the museum,
possibly a assistant-curator."
"The opening is this afternoon," Tomoyo rose smoothly,
studying the papers intently, "I'd better get going, then. What
photographer is available?"
"Call up Yukito," Kaho smiled slightly, "I know you work well
together."
"Got it," Tomoyo grinned suddenly, "In exchange, could I look
into the oddness that's been around the city, lately?"
"You're not going to let that go, are you?" Kaho asked Tomoyo,
an amused smile on her face. "All right," she nodded, "but don't do
anything too stupid chasing that lady."
"Right," Tomoyo headed out with a wave. She flipped her
cellphone open and dialed a number from memory. "Yukito? It's me.
We've got another job, over at the museum. Meet me there by three."
"Hai," Yukito's sigh came through loud and clear.
The two of them met in front of the museum, both of them being
sure to be just a little bit early. Yukito checked over his precious
camera before he gave her a curious look and asked, "So when does this
event actually start?"
"At four," Tomoyo made sure that her dress was straight, the
matching coat snug over her shoulders. "And yeah, we're early so that
we can talk to these people and try to make this a bit more than a
puff piece," she explained fiercely.
Yukito just nodded, being well aware of his partner's
enthusiasm.
The museum was quite modern, but the architecture was all
modeled after that of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Great pillars
rose up around them, supporting the museum roof, and the floors
gleamed like polished glass. They were met at the door by a young man
who checked their ID, then he lead them inside to where the exhibit
itself was going to be.
People rushed about, trays of food being set up and a mini-bar
assembled in the corner. Standing out of the chaos a woman waited
protectively by a set of displays, watching the goings-on warily. Her
short brown hair fell messily down into those blue eyes, and her
tasteful clothes were just a bit rumpled looking, somehow.
"Good afternoon," Tomoyo took the initiative once they were
close enough to her, offering the woman from the photo her hand,
"you're Dr. Kinomoto, correct?"
"Ah, yes," the woman blinked, "Sakura, actually. Whenever
someone says Dr. Kinomoto, I just look around for my father."
"Sakura, then," Tomoyo was just a bit surprised at how nice
the lady's smile was, "my name is Tomoyo Daidouji, I'm with the
Times."
Sakura looked past Tomoyo's shoulder, her eyes widening
slightly as she saw the man with the camera, "Yukito? Is that you?"
"Hi, Sakura," Yukito smiled back at her engagingly. At
Tomoyo's clearly confused look the elegant photographer added, "Toya
is Sakura's big brother. I just didn't realize that it was her we were
coming here to interview."
"Well, isn't that interesting," Tomoyo smiled slightly.
"Come on," Sakura beamed as she pointed towards the display
cases nearby, "I'll give you a private tour." With a cheerful manner
she and Tomoyo talked, Sakura explaining about her trip to China, and
talking about the unusual artifacts she had found there. All belonging
to a mysterious figure named Clow Reed, they were said to hold great
mystical power.
"You don't really believe in that sort of thing, do you?"
Tomoyo asked at one point as they passed a old book, the inside
hollow, designed to contain.. something.
Sakura hesitated, then she smiled just slightly. "I've seen a
few things that made me wonder," she finally admitted.
It was only a few minutes before opening before Tomoyo finally
put her little tape-recorder away. "You do a good interview," she said
to Sakura, "thank you."
"You're welcome," Sakura met Tomoyo's eyes, and the dark
haired woman felt a moment of vertigo as Sakura continued warmly, "it
was my pleasure." She gave Yukito a scolding look, "I hope you got
enough photos, too."
"Oh, I guess," Yukito smiled back impishly.
"Are you going out on another expedition soon?" Tomoyo asked
Sakura curiously as she walked them towards the entrance.
"No, I plan to stick around Tokyo for awhile," Sakura said
firmly. She gave Tomoyo a curious look, "Why do you ask?"
"I.." Tomoyo felt a blush coming on, though she couldn't
imagine why. "I was wondering if we could do lunch or something," she
said, "your work sounds fascinating."
"I'd like that," Sakura smiled.
Walking down the Museum's front steps towards Tomoyo's sports
car Yukito gave her a thoughtful look, "Well, wasn't that
interesting."
"There might be another story in it," Tomoyo said to him
firmly, just wishing that she wasn't blushing once again.
"See you tonight," Yukito gave her a wave as they split up.
The sun set over the city, and sitting together in the front
seat of Tomoyo's car they patiently waited. Well, mostly patiently.
"If you don't stop clicking your camera," Tomoyo gave him a look, "I'm
going to take it away from you."
"Sorry," Yukito put it down. He sat there for a few moment,
fidgeting until he asked, "So how are we supposed to find this mystery
woman?"
Tomoyo reached up to tap a device on the dashboard, "Police
band radio. If one of the monsters appears, or the lady herself, we'll
hear about it."
"Nice," Yukito put his hand on it only to jerk back in
surprise as it squealed loudly.
"That was fast," Tomoyo nodded, listening intently. "Looks
like we've got a hit!" Tomoyo squealed out of the parking lot, the
sleek little sports car racing across the city.
They came around a corner, and Yukito gasped in alarm. The
thing was big, nearly as tall as three men, and a figure wearing a
long hooded cloak faced up against it. "Where are the police?" Yukito
asked weakly.
"They usually pull back when she's around," Tomoyo said,
climbing out of the car to take a better look at the battle.
The cloak was red, trimmed in gold as it fluttered around the
body beneath it. It was hard to tell gender, but a few glimpses of
curves convinced Tomoyo it probably was a woman. Dark pants stuck out
the bottom, and her arms were bare except for black gloves. In her
hands the hooded figure carried a bird designed staff, almost
reminding one of a large key.
"So what do we do now?" Yukito asked, clicking away with his
camera.
"What in the.." the hooded figure was distracted, seemingly by
their presence. A backhand from the muscular, rocky skinned creature
sent her flying away, hammering her into a wall nearby the two
newspaper reporters.
"No," Tomoyo murmured, running over towards where the figure
had fallen, wondering why that voice had seemed familiar. She grabbed
an arm, pulling her up, then Tomoyo just froze. "Sakura?" she said
softly.
"Hooee?" Sakura blinked up at her dazedly.
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