Cardcaptor Sakura: The New Trials (Wish-luv)

Chapter 67.5: Ring

Valentine's Day Special

The story takes place in between Part II and Part III of "The New Trials of Card Captor Sakura, Chapter 67: The Sacrifice

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A quarter-century ago, Tomoeda, Japan...

Fifteen year old Amamiya Nadeshiko stared at the sapphire blue gem sparkling on her fourth finger. Half a year ago, she had been a regular junior high student with no worries in the world. Her parents had passed away in a car accident when she was a young girl, and all her life, she had lived in the same neighborhood with her grandfather and had the same friends and went to the same places. "I've never seen anyone so carefree", her best friend and cousin Sonomi had often told her. Everything had changed when she met Li Ryuuren. Ryuuren was a young man from Hong Kong who had enrolled in Seijou High, the adjoining escalator school to Seijou Junior High. The first time she had met him, she had fallen off a tree and landed on him. She knew not that he was the destined Chosen One of the mighty Li Clan from Hong Kong and a descendent of one of the Great Five, as was herself. Overnight, she was thrust into a world of magic, plotting and schemes. Her rainbow-hued sky was dyed crimson as she and he knew that the day of doom was pending. And yet, in her heart bloomed an unfathomable feeling of despair and joy. The midnight blue eyes of the boy from Hong Kong was hypnotic as the stone on her finger, and as the days passed by, the ring on her finger weighed down heavily.

Two months ago, on Christmas Eve, Li Ryuuren had given her the ring. I want you to have it, he had told her. A tiny voice had told her it was too valuable of a gift to receive. Yet, he had given it to her. Why?

Mizuki Miara, her classmate and sometimes friend, stated to Nadeshiko. "Do you really want me to believe that Ryuuren-san gave you THE Five Force Treasure? Why would he do something like that? Do you realize that is the ring that Lord Landon Reed gave to Li Shulin as an engagement ring? It's been passed down for generations in the Li Clan—it's a priceless heirloom."

It was not the first time that Miara had vented her frustration at her, and her questions were not unjust. They were the same questions she herself had, and the ring sparkled like starlight on her slender finger. She had known that it was an important heirloom that Ryuuren's mother had passed down to him before she died. So, why had Ryuuren given her the ring? It was far too extravagant even as a thank you gift for the meager Christmas tree she had given him. Besides, they were more rivals than friends, more friends than lovers.

"A ring signifies a promise," stated Miara. She tugged at the unruly auburn curl that tumbled from her long braid. "As romantics say, a ring symbolizes a 'repetitive unbroken wholeness in time and space.'" She glared at Nadeshiko. "Are you sure that Ryuuren-san didn't give it to you with romantic intentions?"

Letting out a long sigh, Nadeshiko stated, "You know Ryuuren-san hates me."

"Who dares to hate my precious Nadeshiko-chan?" demanded Sonomi. Sonomi adored Nadeshiko and was jealousy protective of her cousin and best friend.

"No, he doesn't," said Miara, her steel gray eyes penetrating. "He thinks you're foolish and silly and a big klutz, but he doesn't hate you. In fact, think about it. Why would he give you such an important ring? It must be his way of proposing to you!"

"Eh?" exclaimed Nadeshiko and Sonomi in unison.

Miara's arms were folded across her chest. "All male heirs of the Li Clan used the ring as an engagement ring up till now."

"B-but..." stammered Nadeshiko. She twisted the ring around her finger. "I'm too young to even think about marriage. A-and... it's Ryuuren-san. He wouldn't."