Disclaimer: I don't own CCS
BLACKMAIL
It's Monday morning and Daidouji Tomoyo was still brooding about last night's events. Almost every other person that greeted her was unintentionally ignored. Even her bodyguards were waved off when they inquired about the time of her dismissal from class. She was completely oblivious to her surroundings that she was unaware of the looming presence of a certain blue haired teenage boy.
While she stood in front of her locker, Eriol examined Tomoyo secretly from the entrance. He smiled, pleased to know that she was in deep thought and all the more unnerved by his sudden profession of love yesterday. The magician had definitely ruffled Tomoyo's feathers.
Tomoyo was busy stuffing her bag inside her locker when she heard a familiar voice whisper behind her, "Did you sleep well?" Her body twitched in surprise. She located the owner of the voice and found him already opening his locker three rows away from hers. Tomoyo wondered how did he get to his locker so fast when he was just whispering behind her a second ago. It was physically impossible to get there even in less than a second. Then again, this is the reincarnated Clow Reed she was dealing with.
Instead of approaching Eriol to spite him, she decided to just ignore the sorcerer. What good would it do her anyway? So she gave a plain "Ohayou, Hiiragizawa-san".
Eriol was right when he predicted she would display indifference regardless of her annoyance with him. The prim and proper Daidouji Tomoyo was back. Of course, the demure girl wouldn't dare cause a scene in front of hundreds of students. But he wanted to find out just how long could she keep it up.
Meanwhile, Tomoyo was closing her locker when she caught a glimpse of Eriol coming up to her. She panicked and prayed silently to Kami-sama for divine intervention. Out of the blue, their music teacher, Kusanagi-sensei suddenly called Tomoyo regarding choir practice.
Talk about timing. Eriol mentally complained.
Arigatou, Kami-sama! She praised and quickly left.
o-o-o-o-o
Tomoyo spent her break under the shade of a sakura tree drawing new designs of clothes as a hobby. Since Sakura-chan already declined to wear any of her creations, she thought of giving her sketches to her mother, for the dolls the company was manufacturing. It was better than to let them rot in a sketchbook.
"It's a lovely day, isn't it Tomoyo?""
Tomoyo paused. There was no shadow in front of her, which meant he was somewhere else—somewhere she could not see him. "Hiiragizawa-san, you are aware that what you're doing is defined as stalking?"
"How would I stalk you when I was here first?" he negated.
The heiress looked up at the tree and found him lounging on a sturdy branch with one leg swinging carelessly beneath him and the other bent upwards to support his arm. She sighed to calm herself down. "Fine, then. I apologize for the intrusion," immediately collected her belongings so she could leave.
He gave a deep laugh, "Tomoyo, no one is telling you to leave."
"Don't worry, Hiiragizawa-san. This is a voluntary decision." When Tomoyo turned around, he was already in front of her. The heiress gave a short yelp. She was startled by the same boy for the second time that day. Furthermore, this nasty habit of his was irritating her. As she tried to catch a few breaths she told Eriol with sham dignity, "Sayonara, Hiiragizawa-san," and walked away.
"You sketch very well," he said to her.
This certainly made Tomoyo stop in her tracks. Darn it! Apparently she forgot her sketchbook which was now in his possession. She reluctantly turned back for her precious collection of creations.
Eriol was casually flipping through the pages impressed by her flair for both style and practicality. Dolls don't need these they belong to real people.
"Arigatou, Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo politely said but figuratively suggesting that he hand it over—now.
He closed the sketchbook and tucked it under his arm. The sorcerer smiled, "So it's back to 'Hiiragizawa-san' huh?"
"I don't see a problem with that."
Eriol faked a frown, "Just when I thought we were making progress."
With the mere hint of what took place the night before, the normal crimson hue of her cheeks turned darker. "Forgive me for the things I've said to you before. They were out of line. It's best that we forget about everything that happened yesterday and get on with our lives, separately. The sketchbook if you please, Hiiragizawa-san?" this time she extended her hand, palm up.
"Don't you ever get tired of saying my last name over and over? It's so long I sometimes wear myself out just by listening to it," Eriol joked as he pushed the bridge of his glasses higher. A sudden thought crossed his mind and decided to stall her.
The heiress insisted, "My pad, onegai." Their afternoon class was about to start and she did not want to be late since it was the physics class of the testy Akibara-sensei.
But Eriol ignored her plea. "Hmm, come to think of it, maybe I should change it to something shorter. How does Hiira sound? Or maybe Izawa would be better. I think—"
"Eriol!" she yelled.
"Yes?"
"My drawings please," she muttered.
The mischievous magician grinned, "See, that wasn't so hard," quite pleased with the partial success of his scheming. He handed the pad to an exasperated Tomoyo but before he released his hold, "Just one more thing. Promise me, you'll let me walk you home starting today."
"In case you're not aware, I can go home by myself. But thank you for the offer." She tugged the sketchbook on her end. "Now let go."
Eriol persisted, "Do we have a deal?"
Tomoyo did not answer. When she heard the afternoon bell that signaled the end of lunch break, she tugged harder desperate to get back to class and away from him.
"Do we have a deal?"
"Yes! Yes! All right?" she gritted.
Now fully satisfied, Eriol released his grip and an irritated Tomoyo frantically ran back inside while muttering curses again about a particular manipulative reincarnate.
o-o-o-o-o
Tomoyo dreaded ending the day for this would mean fulfilling a promise she wished she never gave. Come to think of it, that oath was the result of blackmail actually. But she did give her word and she will keep it regardless of her hesitations and circumstances. She slowly walked out of the school and saw him talking to Nakuru wearing a new bartending uniform for girls. Last she heard from Sakura-chan months ago, Nakuru was a shop clerk at Twin Bells as Maki-san's reliever but because of his inert clumsiness, Ruby Moon was immediately fired after four hours of employment.
The heiress gave a polite greeting when she reached them. "Konichiwa, Nakuru-san."
"Ooh Tomoyo-chan! You're getting prettier everyday! No wonder Master is so nuts about you!" The moon guardian bluntly revealed as she squealed with glee. "Look at you two, so kawaii when together! Wait, let me take a picture!" He brought out his camera phone to take a shot but unaware that the two teenagers under discussion were beet red in embarrassment.
To avoid further damage, Eriol reminded Nakuru he was already late for his new job. As expected, it worked like a charm. The master had the guardian running to make it on time. Eriol cleared his throat, "I apologize for Nakuru-chan's excessive candidness. Uh, call it misplaced priorities."
"Apology accepted," she answered and was…genuinely nice.
"Well then, shall we go?"
Tomoyo laughed, "You're really serious about this?"
"Why not? A deal's a deal. I plan to keep my end of the bargain. Are you going keep yours?"
"I don't have a habit of breaking my word…no matter how tempting it is." She openly told him as they began their leisurely walk home.
"Touché," he laughed, greatly impressed with their ongoing banter.
o-o-o-o-o
A few minutes had already passed but no conversation even a light bickering would be heard from them since Nakuru's departure. The heiress made passing glances to check on her now-quiet companion. Looking at his facial features, she can't seem to get a good read on Eriol's motives. Even when she tried to goad him into an argument neither a hint of anger nor irritation came to make him reveal anything.
"You want to ask me something?" Eriol asked without looking at her.
Tomoyo immediately turned her gaze back to the path ahead and remained silent. Darn it, why does she keep forgetting he is a magical being capable of reading minds?
"Did you like the cake?"
"What?"
"The cake I brought for you yesterday," he reminded.
"Oh that cake." She laughed softly. Recalling the way her mother dreamily savored each bite. "Yes, even 'Kaasan loved it. She said it definitely challenged the ones I made."
The sorcerer smiled, "Then I'll take that as a compliment."
Tomoyo found herself smiling back at him. "Tell me, was it homemade?"
He nodded.
"It was delicious. Thank you."
Eriol felt Tomoyo's hostility diminishing.
"Then feel free in asking me to bake whatever cake you want." He offered while bending down to a formal bow.
Her melodious laughter was coated with pure joy and amusement. "I think I can manage on my own. Thank you." She walked ahead of him and told the sorcerer, "You are such a character."
"Well it is what makes a person unique, is it not?" he drolly asked.
o-o-o-o-o
Days and weeks passed by so quickly for Tomoyo didn't realize summer was fast approaching. Eriol proved to be an entertaining friend with his dry humor, outrageous witticisms and wise words. Though he would still provoke her to bickering and annoy her by using magic on her until she felt like choking him to death, he demonstrated his sincerity as a friend. But what came as a surprise was that Eriol did not attempt to express his feelings for her again. In fact, he was being the perfect gentleman. In addition to being in Eriol Hiiragizawa's company, her disposition had dramatically changed and even her outlook of school as a place of learning was restored. She no longer had to avoid Sakura and the others since then. Sequentially, they also noticed the improvement as effect of too much exposure to a blue haired seatmate of hers. This was reason enough for the four girls to corner Tomoyo one early morning in the classroom and make her dish out the goods.
"Ohayou, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura greeted together with Rika, Chiharu and Naoko.
"Ohayou, min-na san." She cheerfully replied to them before examining a new composition for choir practice. Although completely oblivious to their plot, she did realize there was something strange about the way these girls were acting.
Each took a seat around the heiress. Rika asked with a certain amount of hesitation, "Ne, Tomoyo-chan, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine, thank you." Tomoyo gave her friends a weird look.
It was Naoko's turn, "So anything new happened to you recently?"
"Hmm, not that I know of."
"Um, do you have plans about going to the beach or a ski trip up in the mountains with somebody this summer?" Sakura inquired.
The curious heiress shook her head. "Not yet, but I could go ask…"
The girls leaned closer waiting for her to continue. Eagerness sparkled through four pairs of eyes.
Naoko urged, "Yes? Go on."
Chiharu questioned, "Ask who?"
"My mother, of course! She's the one who plans our trips." Tomoyo laughed at them. Something suspicious was definitely going on.
Her friends moaned in dismay. Their heads bowed down despondently.
"Can I ask what this is all about?"
The others looked at each other having no idea who will answer Tomoyo's question. Sakura, being the brains of the operation, volunteered to tell her about their own observation.
"Eriol?" Tomoyo exclaimed incredulously.
The four girls nodded. Sakura said, "Yeah, since you two have been hanging out together most of the time, everybody figured out that you guys have been dating."
"Dating?" Sure, if you consider Eriol walking me home as a date! Tomoyo snickered at this.
Seeing Tomoyo laughing at herself gave the girls a different impression. Rika pointed a finger, "A-ha! So you are dating Hiiragizawa-kun!"
Tomoyo laughed more, "I'm not. This is just a big misunderstanding. Eriol is my friend. Nothing else."
They were still skeptical. She tells them no but all signs point to yes.
"Now why would I lie about something like this?" she reasoned out.
After some thought, they agreed with her logic. Tomoyo and Eriol would have no reason to hide their relationship. They're both smart, loaded with money and good genes after all. Normally, they're considered as a good match. They finally left her alone with this belief.
But Sakura remained beside her and took Tomoyo's hand between hers. She told her cousin, "I'm just glad you're back, Tomoyo-chan and I have Eriol-kun to thank for it."
Tomoyo smiled and gave Sakura a tight hug.
o-o-o-o-o
"Ohayou, Tomoyo." Eriol greeted as he sat beside her.
She returned the greeting to him as well. Tomoyo has been sensing something different about the girls this morning and that proved to be their little ambush interview. Now, it was Eriol who was acting strangely.
"There's something important you should know," he told her seriously.
But before both could say anything their homeroom teacher, Morikawa-sensei already arrived. After the class settled down, Eriol put his hand over Tomoyo's and whispered, "Gomen-nasai, Tomoyo."
The heiress's brows knit together puzzled by his cryptic apology.
Then Morikawa-sensei announced, "Class, please be aware that your classmate, Hiiragizawa-kun will no longer be joining us next week. This weekend he will be going back to England."
To be continued