DISCLAIMER: I do not own CCS or any of its characters. CLAMP does. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
UNFULFILLED LOVEBy bishounen lovah a.k.a. touya_mou
Chapter 1: Rika Sasaki
Rika shivered as she hiked on a snow-covered trail. It was cold outside but she didn't mind. She wanted to get away from reality for a while. Wanted to get away from her troubles. But try as she might, she can't get any peace of mind. She feels as though she's slowly losing her mind.
She was already 24 years old and a celebrated chef. Everybody who loved to eat knows her name and her heavenly creations. People all around Japan, may they be famous or not, line up at her restaurant for hours just to eat her food.
She was successful in every possible way. But she was lonely. That was a fact that she forgot until two weeks ago.
~Flashback~
"Congratulations, Naoko," Rika said to her childhood friend sincerely. They were in her restaurant where the wedding reception was held. Naoko got married today to her publisher, Yashko Sagara.
"Yeah, congratulations," Sakura hugged Naoko yet again. "And not just because you snagged Yashko."
"What do you mean," Naoko asked as she smiled at Tomoyo and her camera, trying hard not to sweatdrop. So this is how Sakura feels, she said to herself.
"I mean that you lucky that Rika agreed to do your reception. Honestly Rika," Sakura faced the other woman, "if anyone asks me what ambrosia is I'll definitely say that what you cook is definitely food fit for the gods."
"She's right, you know," Naoko agreed. "I am so thankful that you did this. I'm pretty sure Yashko won't eat any of my cooking now that he's tasted yours."
"Aw, come on," Rika sweatdropped as she juggled her friends compliments and dodging Tomoyo's swinging camera. "I'm sure he'll eat anything you cook. He's so smitten with you he won't even notice if you serve him a pile of rocks. By the way, where is Chiharu," she said, deciding to shift the attention from herself.
"I think she's with the guys, trying to put a leash on Takashi (Yamazaki). There they are," Tomoyo pointed at the woman who was shaking her head wearily. Unfortunately for Chiharu, her husband and Eriol had teamed up again and were telling another tall tale.
"Come on," Tomoyo said as she turned off her camera. "We'd better rescue her before she goes nuts."
As they neared the small crowd, they heard the topic of their conversation.
"…And that's the reason why they make wedding cakes so tall," Eriol finished just in time when Tomoyo squeezed his hand in warning.
"But that's not all," Takashi said but was quickly interrupted.
"That's enough, Takashi," Chiharu threatened. "You'd better stop it before anyone gets hurt (meaning him)."
"Hey Rika. Why do you chefs make such tall wedding cakes?" Syaoran asked as he put his arm around Sakura's shoulder.
Rika noticed this and realized, for the first time, that she was the only one among their group who was still single. This made her catch her breath.
"Are you okay," Sakura asked as she touched Rika's arm.
Rika started from her trance. She saw that her friends were looking at her worriedly. Not wanting to look as pathetic as she felt, she decided not to hang out with them when they are in pairs. "Um, yeah. I'm fine. Just a little bit thirsty. Excuse me," she said as she made a hasty retreat.
She dodged between the waiters and busboys who were cleaning up and walked to the kitchen. The reception was over and all of the guests have left (with the exception of Sakura & Co.) She leaned on the wall and closed her suddenly tired eyes.
Breathe, girl, breathe, she said to herself. Her heart was pounding madly and she has a very strong urge to drop on the floor and bawl like a baby. But she couldn't do that. Not in front of her staff.
She took several deep breaths to calm herself and after a while she decided to go back to the dining room. As she was about to push the swing doors, she saw what was happening in the other room through the round window. She could see her friends and their husbands dancing to a slow tune on the dance floor, unaware of anybody else but themselves.
She took a step backward from the sight. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes. She ran to her office before they fell to tell the whole world how lonely she is.
~End of Flashback~
How could this have happened, she thought angrily as she stomped on a small snow mound. When they were still in grade school, everybody (including herself) thought that she'd be the first to marry. She was so good in cooking and sewing people were already telling her she was ready to get married even before she hit puberty.
Maybe that's it, she realized. I wanted to prove to everybody that I could do better than just being somebody's wife. I drove myself to be somebody so hard I forgot all about my social life.
Sure she had dated some just for the sake of dating. Dates that were fixed by Sakura and the other girls. But she never took them seriously for the reason that she wasn't interested. Not in dating and most especially not in her blind dates. And when she finally became the famous chef that she wanted to be, she stopped dating altogether to make sure that her restaurant would be a booming success.
Now I am so successful and yet the taste of success is bitter. "It's because I have no one to share it with," Rika whispered to herself as her vision blurred with tears.
Rika stopped walking because she can no longer see what's in front of her. She can no longer hold her tears back and gave in to that same urge that she felt in the restaurant. She fell down on her knees, buried her face in her hands and cried uncontrollably. Her shoulders shook as she cried her loneliness out, hoping it would wash away.
Minutes had passed before she calmed down. She was suddenly so tired and cold. She decided to go back to her cabin. As she turned back she noticed that snow had fallen down so hard that it covered her tracks. She looked around and realized that she must have veered away from the path.
"Just great! Not only am I alone, now I am alone and lost in this stupid mountain." She muttered. "What did I do to deserve this kind of fate?!"
Relax, Rika, she tried to console herself. Shouting won't do you any good. Keep your head together. You'll surely get out of here in no time.
With that, she walked on deciding that going straight would be a good idea. She's bound to reach somewhere. But a couple of hours had already passed and she was still going straight in the woods. She was hungry and cold. To make matters worse, there seems to be a blizzard and the sun was already setting. She knew that it was dangerous to stay in the woods after dark. There were lots of wild animals and there was also hypothermia.
Rika snuggled inside her winter coat. It was thick enough to keep her warm during a short walk but was not thick enough to protect her from a blizzard. She stopped shivering when she heard some sort of a howl. It wasn't the wind, which means that it was a wolf.
She held her breath waiting to hear another cry. Thankfully there was none. She sighed her relief and walked on. Minutes have passed before she heard another sound. Footsteps, she thought as she looked around. That's when she saw, what seemed like, a wild dog running towards her.
She got scared and acted on instinct. She ran away from the dog as fast as she could, occasionally turning back to see if she lost him. The last time she did this, she tripped over something and fell down to the ground, hitting her head on a log. The last thing she saw was the dog pouncing on her and looking at her with dark eyes.
After a while, she drifted back to consciousness because of some rocking motion. Thinking that she was already dead, eaten by the wolf, she opened here eyes hoping that she was in heaven. But she was not. A strange man was carrying her. She couldn't see what he looked like because he was covered with bulky winter clothes from head to foot. All she could see from his face was his nose and small slits of eyes.
At first glance the man looked scary. But for some reason she trusted this man. After she thought that she slowly became unconscious.
It must have been an hour before she woke up again. She felt so warm and cozy that's why she was reluctant to move a muscle. But then she remembered what happened to her. She got up with a start and was instantly rewarded with a sharp pain in her head. She raised her hand to her forehead and felt that there was some bandage plastered on it. She looked around and saw that she was in a bedroom of a cabin. It wasn't hers so it must be someone else's.
That man! Rika remembered of being carried by some strange man. She slowly got out of the bed and quietly went out to look for him. The cabin was well kept. It was clean except for some crumpled papers littered on the floor. He must be a writer; she thought when she saw the typewriter.
She could smell the aroma of cooking food coming from the kitchen. She followed her nose and found herself looking at a man's back. It was the clothes after all that made him look scary. The man was slim yet muscular. And his hair was brown and slightly short. He's quite good looking actually. And that's just his back, she giggled.
She mentally shook her head. She sounded like a schoolgirl. "Ano...sumimasen," Rika said, wanting to get the man's attention.
He stopped stirring the pot and turned to look at her. "So you're awake," he said with a smile.
Rika couldn't believe her eyes. She stared at the handsome face of the man, unsure of what to say. Finally, she let out her breath and said, "Terada-sensei."
To be continued…
bishlov's notes: I got the idea of the name of Naoko's husband by combining characters from another anime (Rurouni Kenshin). Yashko is a reinvented name of Yahiko while Sagara is the last name of Sanosuke. I borrowed their names because I am not good with Japanese names. Bono, on the other, I got from the lead singer of U2. I love that name so I borrowed it too.
