OK, time to cheat and leap ahead of Del Rey to find out what terrible event was hinted at in xxxHOLiC Volume 11. Anyway, onto Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE Volume 13. Thanks to BWYS for the scans.

Chapter 091

Syaoran is seeing himself through a thin, water-like barrier and recognizes the other Syaoran as the same as he’d dreamed about. The mirror Syaoran (apparently) mentally recalls that Syaoran was a child when he last saw him but now they are like twins. He reaches through the barrier and begins to choke Syaoran.

Syaoran awakens from the nightmare with a concerned Sakura-chan standing over him. He admits to her that he had a nightmare. Because of her newly found feather and restored memory, she remembers what the priest Yukito did to help her, and so she performs this on Syaoran-kun to help him have a good dream.

They are interupted by Mokona, who’s brought Fai and Kurogane. Mokona teases them about being in love before Fai continues to explain a bit about this new world they’ve landed in and to present the new clothes they’ve purchased. Mokona has sensed a lot of mysterious powers because this is a country of magic. The country looks a lot like 19th Century Britain. Fai thinks Syaoran-kun will enjoy it. That’s because of the giant library located in the city which they soon visit.

Syaoran is impressed by all the books and Sakura happily notes his excitement. Syaoran discovers he can read the text and Fai ponders purchasing books but is reminded they are out of money. Mokona suggest selling the swords (which Mokona stores within itself). Kurogane notes a book with nothing written on the spine. He flips through the text and sees nothing, but when Syaoran opens the book, he appears to be pulled into another world.

Chapter 92

Syaoran finds himself in a strange land with none of his companions. He looks at the book, which now has text written on it when it had been blank before. He sees a child that looks like Kurogane, but even after exclaiming in surprise, the child doesn’t notice him. The child runs with a piece of cloth he captured and returns it to his very regal-looking mother. A man the boy identifies as his father does look exactly like Kurogane, only his left hand isn’t injured as Kurogane’s was.

As the man embraces his son, he reports to his wife about a mission they’d undertaken which included getting rid of some monsters that had invaded their territory. He reports that neighboring country Japan is having some trouble with monsters too and that there are medical plants and herbs at the border of their country (Suwa) and Japan. Since his wife is a powerful miko, they are protected. She’s troubled because unlike the princess in Japan, she cannot spread her protection over a wide area. Her husband assures her that because he’s there, the protection she provides is perfect.

As Syaoran observes this happy family setting, he remembers that Kurogane comes from a country called Japan. He wonders if he’s come to the world that Kurogane-san is from, but wonders about the man and boy that look so much like Kurogane.

Syaoran turns the page and the scene changes. He turns the page again, and again the scene changes.

Chapter 93

Syaoran observes the boy being trained by his father and successfully cut in half a training dummy. The boy’s father says that as a reward, he’ll teach him the technique of his choice. Hama Ryuuoujin is what he wants to learn, which Syaoran recognizes as a technique that Kurogane uses. The father remarks on the difficulty of the move, then does it. The boy is excited and impressed. His father wonders why his boy wants to be so strong. His reason is that he wants to protect the country of Suwa, its people, and his parents. This is the answer the father wanted to hear.

Syaoran wonders why if they are in the world of the book, there is someone who looks like Kurogane and uses his sword technique. Flipping pages forward, the scene changes and the boy is now a young teenager who’s learned the Hama Ryuuoujin. However, he has not mastered it as the training session proved. One of his trainers recalls a moment when the boy’s father defeated a monster in an accidental way. The teen boy remarks on how his father is so busy as there are many monsters that have invaded the territory. He’s advised to be patient because his father has entrusted him to take care of any creatures that may appear nearby in his absence.

Syaoran having figured out that the pages show things future or past, advances the pages a bit to see the young teen boy bringing a fish for the staff to prepare for his mother who has been unwell. He goes to his mother’s room just as she collapses.

Thoughts

Wow! This has proven to be a rather interesting volume so far. I’m fairly sure that this is Kurogane’s life, possibly recorded when Kurogane initially handled the book. If it is, this will be some very welcome character development for him and a clever way by CLAMP to explore Kurogane’s past. If it isn’t, it will be somewhat disappointing but I suppose we’ll see soon enough.