Chapter 49.5: Words We Couldn’t Say

Release date: January 26th, 2006

Word count: 26,300

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Thoughts: There's a two year gap between this chapter's release date and the last one! 

This chapter is an absolute delight. Syaoran's job hunt is pure fluffy fun and it was hilarious seeing him run into people he knew at every turn.

Lol, I love the running gag of the restaurant manager always getting Syaoran's name wrong.

Even though he didn't have to, I appreciate the way Touya came to Syaoran's rescue when they had to deal with the difficult client.

I love how Syaoran's sword training overlaps onto his dexterity with kitchen knives and chopping food.

Oh, I remember that the Age was used on Kai, but I forgot that it was in this chapter. Getting a peak of Mikai was a lot of fun, especially when he loses his memory as Kai.

Sakura lets an "hanyaan" slip while Mikai was being charming. The fact that Kero-chan mentions that he hasn't heard her say that in a while falls in step with CC Sakura consciously doing the same thing.  

The Riddle's "On the night the lone wolf calls" poem is so gorgeous and I love how I'm able to understand the meaning of certain parts since this is a re-read. 

I've always loved the scene where Syaoran cooked dinner for Sakura in secret. That pink Sakura chiffon cake sounds divine. I can only think of a handful of restaurants where I had the same experience that La Seine offers. 

Now the chapter shifts to Miho and although this NT special is pretty light, we are privy to the fact that when she was young, she had suicidal thoughts. Eriol truly saved her.

Wish-chan says that this chapter is a better read after reading Ch 50, but I like an in-depth origin story behind Miho's poem, which is probably my favourite poem in New Trials. I wish I thought about incorporating it my wedding like how Melanie did!

When Wish-chan comes back to edit this chapter, the main thing to change is that it ends with Miho at the ski resort instead of it being closer to Christmas. Unless that slight flash forward was intentional? First time readers will be confused!

Hazuki Goldair covered Kristen Chenoweth's "Taylor the Latte Boy" and added her own NT twist with "Syaoran the Waiter Boy". Wish-chan was so enamoured with the song that she made an AMV to go with it. 

Fanart spotlight: I'm so happy that I did Fanart100 for NT over a decade ago because now I have drawings of such random things. Here's the dinner that Syaoran made for Sakura. In my early MS Paint days I could not draw people at all so this was more up my alley.

Chapter 49: Venomous Minds

Release date: September 8th, 2004

Word count: 47,379

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Thoughts: Come to think of it, the Obedience is one of the HP unforgivable curses, which makes it all the more scarier.

Eron weakly protesting the fact that Syaoran didn't beat him up while Erika was torturing Sakura ended up being funnier than I thought it would be. 

Eriol draining out Syaoran's power so he can't help Sakura against Erika's wrath is the most CCS-Eriol ploy that we've ever seen in NT.

While this isn't the first time Syaoran drains his power (we saw this when he converted the Werewolf), this is the first time Wish-chan delves into the nitty gritty of it through Eriol's explanation, which includes life supply. More foreshadowing.

After Syaoran brings Sakura home and Touya gives him a horrible time about it, Syaoran privately calls him a wicked, evil ogre. Usually this wouldn't be noteworthy but it negates the Ch 73 assumption of Syaoran believing that ogres are cute. Speaking of Touya, I always thought that NT takes his sister complex way too far, but it's amended in the next arc. When it comes to Touya, I think about the quote from Father of the Bride: "You worry about her meeting the wrong kind of guy who only wants one thing [...]. Then, you stop worrying about her meeting the wrong guy, and you worry about her meeting the right guy."

Sakura is incredibly brave to train with the Phantom. While Syaoran pushed the force away, Tomoyo and her father were the true victims and Sakura never experienced it herself.

Oh my gosh, scratch my last thought. Sakura was able to capture the Obedience because she used the Phantom on herself!!! I'm so shocked. It's like reading it for the first time. And I don't know whether to laugh or cry when Syaoran thinks that this was Sakura's craziest and most dangerous plan that she ever came up with.

Sakura plays with the idea of maybe forgetting about Syaoran after he left for Hong Kong the first time would have been better than having the pain. I can't believe the Memory was teased so soon.

When Nadeshiko says, "Maybe I should just have disappeared with that dark force—it wouldn’t have made a difference and would have been less painful than this" when Ryuuren was pushing her away, what Dark Force is she referring to? The Despair? 

Chapter 48: The Duel of the Sun and Moon

Release date: June 17th, 2004 

Word count: 52,383

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Thoughts: If I was reading these chapters in the order of release date, the next chapter would be the Christmas Special, aka Chapter 49.75 (posted on Feb 29th, 2004). But since I'm reading chronologically, after Ch 48 there's still Ch 49 and Ch 49.5 before I get there! At this point in time, Wish-chan was in her first year of college so her schedule was all over the place and she had a roommate too who apparently bugged her about the writing.

The Yahoo Ring was born in February 2004. Past!Wish-chan pondered about how it will turn out. Thankfully after 18 years it's still a place for NT and CC discussion and I'm also using it to lead a book club with the manga chapters.

Kai is getting sicker because of his gunshot wound. Very nice foreshadowing on Wish-chan's part. 

I love the subtle passage of time in NT. I'm just a handful of scenes in and there's already three mentions of the weather getting colder.

Erika is stunned when Syaoran asks her about her aspirations. I think she would make a great fashion model but she has the potential of being an actress too. In that conversation he tells her about Sakura's greatest weaknesses and he also tells Erika that she's nothing without Eron. This place a huge part in what's to come.

I still remember coveting the imaginary Card Captor Sakura and Friends PC game that Kai designed. 

Hmmm, Erika just bounded herself to a promise with Syaoran on how she won't hurt Sakura if he tutors her. How does she get around that?

It's amazing how Wish-chan connected Erika's failed attempt of controlling Syaoran with The Obedience with Eriol's failed attempt to do the same but with thread during Erika and Eriol's first conversation in NT.

Chapter 47: Shredded Fantasy

Release date: August 2nd, 2003

Word count: 26.813

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Thoughts: I'm so happy that we're hitting the climax of the true identity of Mikai in this chapter. I purposely kept myself away from Ch 47 fanart on dA to not spoil myself.

Coordinated outfits are the best outfits and the S&S pirate and gypsy costumes are some of my favourites. I love it whenever Final Boss Tomoyo gets her way!

There's a lot more bickering than usual between Syaoran and Eriol. Foreshadowing for the next chapter!

Oh, the second force was The Transform! Now that I think of it, I totally remember Googling "pink amorphous jelly" and using it for the Sakura Card.

I like how Kero-chan was muttering about how fitting it was for Tomoyo to conjure a dangerous dragon instead of a peaceful unicorn.  

While Sakura's Fantasy in Arc 4 was only populated with characters who passed away, there are versions of Miara and Keisuke here. I loved the comment about how Miho's father looked familiar.

Good news: Syaoran told Sakura the truth about no longer being the Chosen One, that he loved her and then he kissed her. Bad news: he made her forget everything.

Everyone's pyjamas in The Fantasy were so cute!! It would have made for adorable fanart. 

Syaoran and Sakura were not only provided with dinner, breakfast and a place to sleep, but their outfits were washed and mended as well. Does Miho's Fantasy include house elves?

Chapter 46: Spinner of Cobwebs

Release date: August 2nd, 2003

Word count: 25,661  

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Thoughts: The opening scene is so beautifully written and it pulls on your E&T heartstrings even if you aren't a shipper.

In my Breakfast 2.0 fanart I dressed Meilin in her Seijou middle school uniform but she's not attending classes while her leg is healing.

I love S&S telepathy so much. I hope that present-day Arc 4 Sakura will finally take down the walls and let Syaoran in again before the finale.

It's so odd with how Eron can openly joke about not sending out forces from the emotions category yet because S&S cause enough turmoil themselves. 

Hello, Nina! I wonder if she always was Sakura's relative or if that just something Wish-chan developed along the way. 

Wish-chan talked about her journalism internship in the updates so it's fun to see Miho's actual article included in this chapter instead of the key points being expressed through the text.

Sakura hiding Syaoran and Wolfie-chan under the covers when Touya comes in to check in her at 2 am will never not be funny.

Syaoran finally says that he loves Sakura! Too bad it was buried in his warning to Eron to stay away from her.

Chapter 45: The Silence of Darkness

Release date: June 10th, 2003

Word count: 26,141  

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Thoughts: I love how the chapter opens up with the flashback of Eron just before he received Ruichi's power. It reminds us why he got himself in this situation in the first place.

Eron's blatant comment during Shing's Kaitou Magician exhibit about the subject being like the artist's own flesh and blood and the masterpiece his own child is a reference that won't make sense for years to come. 

Does anyone else remember Syaoran going missing after he discovered the letter? Sakura briefly thinks he returned to Hong Kong but she pushed that thought aside after reassuring herself that Syaoran would never do that. Wish-chan, you're killing us with the foreshadowing. At least this time he was only at the Li estate near Eitoukou.

It's too bad that CLAMP made Nadeshiko super young when she met Fujitaka. Developing a love story between a 14-year-old and 17-year-old sounds next to impossible so I appreciate the way that Ryuuren sees Nadeshiko as an annoying teenager when she pokes around his home for the first time.

Ryuuren commenting on how he only uses two rooms in the whole mansion so he doesn't clean the rest reminds me of how CCS:CC Syaoran doesn't do much with his apartment space either.

Hmm, at this point I thought there were only three hovering dark forces but that hazy Eriol scene informs us that it's five. The Wave, The Riddle and The Magician come to mind. I don't remember if Fake!Mikai was The Fantasy or something else all together. 

Chapter 44: Like a Child

Release date: February 26th, 2003

Word count: 19,245

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Thoughts: I discovered New Trials a couple of months after this chapter was posted so this marked the end of my first NT binging and the beginning of NT waiting. 

The Li Council voting to remove Syaoran as the Chosen One if he doesn't return to Hong Kong is huge -- and we don't even know what fully happened in Voice of a Wolf. I wonder if Wish-chan is holding off on writing that fic because it necessarily means killing off a dog.

This is the first time Sakura visits the orphanage and low and behold, CCS:CC Sakura is also planning on visiting children to read to them! Not only are the similarities continuing, but they're happening at a nice pace with my NT re-read.

Oh, it's Subaru's introduction. He calls Sakura a witch and by Harry Potter standards, he's actually on the nose. 

Sakura finally gets some background information about pre-Dark Ones Erika and Eron thanks to Yuri's shared history with them. I'm glad Yuri mentioned that she was adopted because I was wondering about her situation too.

I used to be miffed that Subaru crashed S&S's date, but now I can enjoy the comedic effect of it all.

Aquariums are fun. I'm glad that Wish-chan predicted that NT-CC coincidence too. 

“I want you to kiss the grouchy ‘nii-san” ~ We are all Subaru in this moment.

I'm glad that S&S got to have dinner alone in a fancy restaurant in Tokyo. I recently came back from vacation and we went to the Moscow aquarium and had a couple of fancy dinners so this chapter is well timed with my life.

Syaoran explaining Sakura's Star Analogy is one of my favourite examples of CCS and NT blending together seamlessly. And seeing it all come together in Arc 4 is great. In the mean time, this scene can be revisited because I made it into an appendix.

With The Wave triggering so many earthquakes, I'm surprised that The Dark Ones let it become so chaotic. No wonder Sakura only waited until now to confront Eron.

Fanart spotlight: Since this is Subaru's introductory chapter, it only makes sense to use this sketch by Wish-chan. He was such a brat and then we grew to love him to pieces. Thanks to eagle-eyed Wish-chan, he'll get to live on in CCS:CC.