I Know The Meaning Of Pain…Chapter 1…Acts

Once they are destroyed, the seal cannot be placed on me again. Once the cards themselves are set free, and the book burned, not a single thing in the world can stop us. And we will wreak havoc and chaos
among the world, punishing man for their foolishness. Nothing will oppose us…not anymore. Many years, so many years have I been waiting for the right time to start the mission. And shrouded in the shadows I
lay, pretending that I was one of them. If they call me traitor, I will shake my head and disagree. I was never one of you. I was merely…a spy for the enemy. Nor will I ever be one of you. Such dull and needy
creatures.

It is amazing that they never suspected a thing. Amazing that they could be that blind. Not a single thought crossed their minds when they stared at us. Not a single time did they stop to wonder how and why we
were there. Why are they so strange? Why so different, why so unlike us? Did they ever wonder once? No. Why bother, they thought, when you can just raise them and boast how wonderful you are? This is the
way they always think. Their minds are weak. So unsure and unstable. Being able to understand all these feelings make them that. Love is a dangerous thing. Those who hold it are vulnerable and helpless in the
eyes of those who are strong. They say love is a powerful thing. It is, but a powerful and treacherous thing that only attacks its holder. And I am aware that many years they have held this emotion. No wonder man
has grown so idle as it is today. They think everyone loves them. That if you show love, people will love you in return. Wrong again.

It is a good thing we are not weak. For if we understood these unneeded feelings, we would probably fail this mission. Too risky of a chance.

Nothing will stop me. Nothing can. No one can touch me, not even a Clow Card. Forget about the Card Mistress. I have heard that her own cards have manipulated her, when they were not yet hers. To think! Her
mind was that soft, as to let such weak creations and life forms get to her! At first, I thought this mission would have been harder than now. And I know I am wrong. Being with them, I have found their weaknesses
and know how to attack them. Such is the strategy to be used. Get to know them, gain their trust. Then, when they least suspect it, launch the attack. It would merely be like playing a marionette. I hold the strings
to whatever movement they wish to make. And when I believe it is time, I will cut them. They will fall, and not get up. For in this fight, we will win. And I will no longer be the only one to suffer this pain.

Let’s see their precious love shield them from this.

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"Shotoku! Go get the door!" Sakura called from the kitchen. She had agreed to make breakfast today, and the rest of the teenagers, and Kirin, were either playing or loafing around. Shotoku, was one of those
loafing around, flipping channels. He nodded and continued to press the button on the remote control. Kirin blinked at him, wondering why he hadn’t followed his order and shrugged. Putting her stuffed animal
down, she got up, and unlocked the door, smiling cheerfully at whoever was standing there. When she opened her eyes, she stepped to the side, to let Himika in after she had been working in the fields. Kirin took
her hand.

"Hi! Miss Himika, would you please play with me?" she asked innocently. Himika looked around, heard Sakura in the kitchen, saw Shotoku and Syaoran now bickering about which channel to watch and smiled.
She nodded. Kirin quickly led her to the carpet behind the chairs that the two boys had been sitting on, and stared at them while they fought. Himika looked up from the dolls, and stared at them also.

"I say we watch soccer!" Syaoran said, grabbing the remote control and flipping the channel. Shotoku grabbed it back and switched it again.

"I say we watch basketball!"

"Soccer!"

"Basketball!"

"Soccer!"

"Basketball!"

"Socc…" Syaoran started, before Sakura walked in and flipped the TV off. She put her hands on her hips after wiping them on her apron.

"You’ll watch neither. Now why don’t you two find something else to do! Where you won’t fight!" she commanded, before walking calmly into the kitchen, taking the remote control with her. Both of them stared
after her. Shotoku pointed and his jaw dropped, but he didn’t say anything. Syaoran crossed his arms and looked away, eyes closed. After a defeated sigh, he walked into the room that he and Shotoku shared,
leaving Shotoku pointing there, alone. He put his hand down, and closed his mouth. Slowly, his head turned, to be met by the stares of his little sister and the couples’ daughter. Turning bright red, he rubbed the
back of his neck, smiling uneasily. Not saying a word, he followed Syaoran’s lead. Kirin and Himika stared after him, until he was out of sight. Then, they both started to play.

"Do they do that often?" Himika said, putting a doll in its place. Kirin nodded.

"All the time. Big brother and Syaoran always fight."

"Big brother?"

"Yeah. He’s my big brother." Kirin replied. Himika nodded and continued putting the dolls back in place. Kirin looked up, and smiled. "Okay, all my dolls are set!"

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Ishiro stood with his back against the side wall of a house, looking upwards towards the illuminated window. Silhouettes and shadows played across the yellow light, telling both Tomine and him what was going
on. Silently, the walked up further towards the front. As he did so, his appearance changed, his eyes turning a different color, a slight hue of red covering the gray-blue. And a purple jewel-like crest appeared on
his forehead in the shape of a diamond, in the middle of where his bangs slightly separated. Tomine had a similar transformation. The red hue covering her eyes as well, except her hair faded to a light green
color. But in the middle of her forehead, the jewel was a dark green. He turned back to her, his eyes and crest shining dully at the light from the moon. "Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded and narrowed her
eyes. Bringing her hand down to the floor, she moved it up. As she did, her appearance changed from the normal-looking girl to a ragged, bruised and cut sixteen-year-old. Ishiro blinked and nodded. "That was
pretty good." He said, "Not bad."

Before Tomine’s eyes, Ishiro faded away into a boy just as ragged and bruised as she was. The only thing that was different was that he had a large scar across the right side of his face, down his cheek. He looked
at her. She raised an eyebrow. "Not too shabby yourself." She replied. His lips twisted into a faint smile. Then, he motioned for her to follow him.

"Now the act begins." He said. She nodded.

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"You don’t have to tell me, I’ve done this many times before, just as much as you have." she reminded. He nodded.

"Fall into my arms, and pretend to be unconscious." He said. She nodded and closed her eyes. Turning her back to him, she fell backwards, while he caught her. To the naked eye, it would seem like Ishiro had
been dragging her for quite some time now. Something nagged at the back of Tomine’s mind, but she paid no heed, as her face because emotionless and instantly pale.

"Pretty good acting." He whispered again, before turning to the door and knocking. A instantaneous and fake concerned look crossed his features, as a middle-aged man answered the door. Behind him, Ishiro
could see the man’s family seated at the table, looking at him, obviously disturbed from their meal. Ishiro made his voice sound as innocent as possible, just the opposite of what he was.

"Sir, me and my friend here were traveling for days, and with no food and no water, she passed out. You’re the closest house we’ve seen, and I was wondering if you could help her." He pleaded. Still Ishiro,
you’re still the best at acting, Tomine thought. She made her head tilt to the side, making it seem as if fell to the side, just for the effect of it. The man stared at her, and then at Ishiro. A woman, probably his
wife, bustled to his side and pushed him out of the way.

"Please come in! Poor children!" she exclaimed. As he passed the couple, his mouth twisted into the same sinister smile, but it faded away quickly. "You can place your sister on the couch." The woman said. So
she thinks that she’s my sister! Might as well, it’s less suspicious that way, he thought, as he gently lay Tomine on the couch, putting her head on the pillow. He stood up and faced the husband and wife, bowing
slightly. "No need, you seem half-starved. Would you like something to eat?" the woman said. Tomine put on as honest a smile as he could manage and shook his head.

"No, thank you." He said, then tilted a little to the side to look past their heads into the kitchen. Two boys, two girls and one little girl stood there, looking at him. He faced the man and woman again. "Are they all
your children, ma’am?" he asked. The woman looked at them, then turned back, smiling.

"Oh no, only Himika, the one with dark brown hair, is. The others are students from the city that have come here on a class trip as part of a program. They’ll be staying for the summer. They really are very nice,
you should meet them." she said as she pulled him by the arm into the kitchen. Ishiro was surprised, but nodded and smiled uneasily. Over-friendly humans, he thought. She stopped and he found himself the
center of attention. He felt the heat rush up from his neck as his face flushed a little. "Children, this is…um…"she said, stuttering once she realized that she didn’t know his name.

"Ishiro." He helped. She nodded.

"Ishiro…"

"No last name." He replied. She stared at him, and then nodded.

"Ishiro. He and his sister…"

"Tomine."

"Tomine have just come after a very long journey. They will be staying with us for quite a while, until they decide to leave. I expect you all to be every nice to both of them." she explained. Ishiro stared at her, as
if he had just seen a ghost. She stared back at him. "What’s wrong?" He shook his head and smiled uneasily, though the smile quickly faded off his face. This would be harder than he thought. It would take a lot
longer now. He was just supposed to make them feel bad for them. Sympathy is a great way to gain trust. But now, he couldn’t make the move as quick as he thought. He would have left right after he found out
where the Cardcaptors were staying, Tomine would know when to wake up. Then, they would set out to destroy them. But now, they had to stay here. If he refused, they would grow suspicious. Now things were
complicated. Then, they introduced themselves.

"I’m Syaoran."

"I’m Sakura."

"I’m Shotoku."

"I’m Kirin!"

"And I’m Himika." She said. Ishiro smiled weakly and bowed before he walked back into the room and sat on the couch that Tomine was lying on. The man and woman had returned to the table, and the rest of
them were occasionally glancing at him. He whispered to Tomine, his face turned away.

"Things are going to be harder than I thought." Tomine’s eyes snapped open; no one would see her.

"What?" she whispered. Ishiro covered her mouth.

"You can’t whisper that loud!" he said. She nodded as he removed his hand. "They want us to stay for a while. I guess we looked more wretched than I thought. If we refuse their offer, they’ll ask why, and we can’t
answer that. Even a sufficient lie would lead to questions in the end. We can’t risk even that little chance. So we’ll have to stay. Don’t worry, we’ll get this done if it’s the last thing we do." He said. Then both of
their heads turned and Ishiro heard the woman calling him. He got up to leave, but felt Tomine grab his hand. He looked back down at her. "What?" She smiled impishly.

"Don’t make any more deals, Ishiro." She said. He nodded, a faint smile playing on his face, though it faded when he got up. Tomine saw him leave through the corner of his eye, then closed them. She was
more tired than she thought…