"Kero-chan, Where are You?" A Cardcaptor Sakura Halloween Fanfic Story Written by Freedom Fighter Rating: PG We all know that Halloween is a holiday that is celebrated only in the United States and the United Kingdom on October 31st of every year. So why write a Halloween story about a Japanese animated show? Because this is a fanfic, and tons of people use holidays to write special fanfics celebrating special holidays. So what makes this Halloween fanfic any different than anyone other one you might see this month? Well, there will be no Halloween-isms, such as trick-or-treating or dressing up in costumes. But there will be... Oh, that's right, I can't tell you! That would ruin the story! You'll just have to trust me on that! Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that this will be written using the Japanese character names and personalities. This is an alter-universe fanfic, set in the third season (aka the 'Star Card' season (aka the 'Sakura Card' season)). Here's a quick and handy reference chart for those of you have never read or seen a CCS fanfic, the CCS manga, or the original CCS anime series. 'Cardcaptors' dub name = 'CCS' sub name Sakura Avalon = Sakura Kinomoto Li Showron = Syaoran Li Madison Taylor = Tomoyo Daidouji Eli Moon = Eriol Hiiragizawa Chelsea = Chiharu Mihara Nikki = Naoko Yanagizawa I know, there are a lot of you who don't need that chart, but there's always someone who does, so... better safe than sorry! Bear with me as I have not seen any of the original third season and therefore I am guessing as to how Sakura, Syaoran, and Tomoyo refer to Eriol. If anyone reads this and knows that I've stuck the wrong honorific on, please correct me and you will be credited! You've got to be the first, though, and you have to be 100% sure that you're right! And now, at last, our story begins... ********** Chapter One - A Haunted House in Tomoeda? (10.02.02) [Tuesday, October 29th - Tomoeda Elementary School] It was after school, and as usual the elementary's school cheerleading squad was having practice out near the track. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and numerous fallen leaves littered the base of the fence all around. It wasn't hot enough to exhaust the girls heavily. And it wasn't cold enough to break out the tights to wear under their skirts to keep warm. It seemed to be a normal day. The girls were twirling their batons around. Every time their coach blew her whistle, they would flick it into the air with their thumbs and then catch it. They would resume twirling until the coach blew her whistle again, and the process repeated itself. They would continue to do that for several minutes. Usually the exercise continues until the coach blew on the whistle hard. Or until one Sakura Kinomoto daydreams long enough to lose concentration and forget to catch the baton with her hand, and not her head. Two of Sakura's best friends, Chiharu and Naoko, also members of the squad, commented from behind, as always. "It looks like one of those days again," Chiharu said. "Yes," Naoko nodded. "Every once in awhile, THAT happens." "Yes." Sakura was sitting on the ground, crying out in pain while her hands on her top of her head. ====== The coach gives the girls a ten-minute water break. Sakura uses the time to recover as she walks around with Chiharu and Naoko. "I can't believe it happened again," Sakura whined. "It happens to the best of us," Chiharu assured us. "No one's immune from mistakes. Not even you, Sakura-chan." Sakura nodded, although she wished that she could keep this from happening ever again. "Say... where's Tomoyo-chan?" "She's at choir practice," Sakura told Chiharu. As if on cue, we look into the music room. Tomoyo is singing a song as the music teacher plays the piano. It's a sweet, melodious tune, as per usual, and Tomoyo was hitting every note with the greatest of ease. Back on the track... "They have a competition next week. Tomoyo-chan is hoping to help the school win in both the solo and full choir divisions." "You could say she's a Kelly Clarkson wannabe!" Naoko exclaimed. "Who's that?" Chiharu asked. "Never mind," Naoko sighed, waving her hand as if she was hinting at Sakura and Chiharu to change the subject. Which Chiharu happily did. "Did you hear about what happened at the library?" Sakura shook her head, although she had an idea of where this was going. And that was confirmed by glancing at Naoko and seeing her nod happily. "I did! Three kids claimed that there was a house right across the walkway from the library yesterday." "Yeah! Several of the librarians have claimed that they've seen this house before, but in the past." "I know! The house only appears around this time of year!" "You know what that means, right?" Sakura covered her ears, having already figured out the obvious. "It must be some type of haunted house!" Unfortunately, Sakura had not covered her ears long enough, pulling her hands away from her ears just enough to hear the word 'haunted.' "HOOOOOEEEEEE!" Sakura's scream nearly swept Chiharu and Naoko off of their feet. It was also loud enough to ring throughout the entire courtyard. "Sakura-chan, you don't have to scream so loud!" "Chiharu-chan, why did you have to bring that up?" Naoko sticks her pinky fingers into her ears to make sure she can still hear properly. "Because it's true. It's happened for the past four years, starting on October 28th, and appearing briefly everyday for five days." "Stop it, stop it!" Sakura was covering her ears again, trying to avoid hearing anything that Chiharu said. "I don't want to hear anymore!" "Why don't we check it out after practice?" Naoko asked. "We have to go there to find books to read for our reports anyway." Chiharu nods just as their coach blows her whistle, signaling the resumption of practice. The three girls walk back to their positions, pick up their batons from the ground, and start their drills again. ====== At the library, Syaoran was inside working on his own book report. He was reading an old novel about sorcerers around the time of King Arthur. Of course, he still didn't know Japanese 100%, so he still had a Japanese-Chinese dictionary handy for translations. Syaoran begins to make notes on a piece of paper. He turns back to the book, reads another sentence or two before glancing at the dictionary. Only to find it not there anymore. Or at least, not on the table. It was in the hands of Eriol, who was studying the dictionary himself. "You've been here in Japan more than a year and you still need this?" Without saying a word, Syaoran grabs the dictionary from Eriol and places it on the other side of his paper. He then turns back to the book he's reading... only to find that Eriol now has that in his hand. "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table? Interesting." "Don't you have a report of your own to do," Syaoran asked, snatching the book from Eriol. "Unlike some people, I do my work once it's assigned. I don't wait until the last week like you." "I don't have time for this! If you want to bother someone, go bother someone else!" Eriol smiles and walks away, heading for another part of the library. "Good riddance," Syaoran said, returning to his report. But that wouldn't last long, as something grabs his attention. "What's that?" Syaoran jumps out of his seat and stands still. He starts to sense something out of the ordinary. "I've never felt this way. Some type of strange magic..." Syaoran followed his senses to a nearby window, which he promptly looked out of. And sure enough, something began to appear across the walkway... To be continued...