A/N: hOHo~ it's been a while since I've written anything! Looking at my bio, you will probably guess that I'm one of those authors who abandon their own stories and never updates… well guess what? You're right! This is just a spur of the moment and my writing has gotten a little rusty so give me some advice if you all will be so kind^_^
ENJOY~!
HourGlass
Chapter 1
By Violet Karuto
~*~
"You drew this?"
Silence.
"Yes"
"I see"
She glanced briefly at the title printed in neat handwriting subsiding at the corner of the painting. Framed by thick redwood embrasure, it hung in solitude at the corner of the exhibition room, with the light illuminating dimly on its pastel.
The two stranger and friend were the only ones there in the sun-lit room, basking in the morning breeze that seemed to slithered in from a nearby window. Everyday, she will see him, standing there, looking at the painting with dazed eyes as the clock ticked away.
There was something familiar about him, she told herself when she first saw him, but at the same time he felt like a total stranger.
So today, gathering her doubts and theories, she approached him silently when she arrived. It was a routine, for her at least, to come here every morning and stare at the open windows in frames that hung on the walls.
Through those windows, she could see into the abstract world of happiness, wonder, and fantasy, everything reality is not. This tiny sanctuary in Tomoeda was part of her life, giving her at least a sense of emotions which she can no longer feel.
This was also one of Sakura's favorite places to go, she remembered.
They used to come here together when they were small, hand in hand, and look at all the beautiful pictures hanging high above their heads. They had made stories and told tales of the places represented in the paintings. They had pinky promised that they would go to all of those places when they grew up.
But now, alone, it was Tomoyo who remembered those promises, those stories.
"My name is Eriol Hiiragizawa"
She turned from the painting and looked at him, tilting her head. Something seemed to click faintly in her mind but she ignored it as the ticking of the clock.
He seemed to be in his early 20's or so, with rare midnight blue hair and thin-framed glasses. His lips curved in a perfect arc as he smiled at her. His cloudy dark blue eyes, which hid a twinkle or two, seem to contrast to her clear amethyst ones. His fair complexion, shadowed by the dimly lit light, appeals to her as a side effect of his boyish personality.
Interesting, she had thought, a foreign blood in the little town of Tomoeda? Recalling the name she saw on the painting, she figured that this was the author, the painter, of this masterwork.
"I'm Tomoyo Daidouji"
His eyes seemed to flicker at the spoken name but said nothing and kept his freakish smile on. Turning, he started to walk around in the painting-filled room and started to observe each one.
"Do you come here often, Daidouji-san?"
"Hai. I come here everyday"
Amusing, her mind chortled , even though I come here everyday, he doesn't seem to notice me very much.
"Do you like to draw, Daidouji-san?"
She turned and walked towards a scenery painting to her left. In this one, she could see that the painter has taken to a lighter tone and brighter feelings. Fingering the frames, she answered.
"No, I only like to look at them"
"Do you like to look at my painting?"
She walked back and stood beside him once again. This painting, base on her observations, was probably his first works of art. Determining by the date on the painting, it has been here for 5 or 6 years.
"Yes I do"
"I drew it for a very dear friend of mine. It was actually displayed here on her birthday."
"She must be wonderful to receive such a present from you"
"She is"
Here, Tomoyo's heart twitched a little. Reason? She knows not, but an urge to ask who that person was persisted in her mind. Deciding that it was too personal, she clamped her mouth shut and deafening silence consumed them once again.
"Do you want to know who she is?"
"If you don't mind me asking, yes."
Here, Eriol turned slowly from the painting and smiled tenderly down at her.
"Her name is Tomoyo Daidouji"
~*~
TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGG
The girl sleeping on the queen-sized bed gracefully unfolded her eyelids and reflected her purple irises toward the ceiling.
Yes, it was that dream again, that dream which had haunted her for the past week since that meeting.
Bringing up her arms, she crisscrossed her fingers and set them gently on her eyelids, seeming to refuse the fact that she was awake and thinking, thinking about him.
The event which had taken place in that small room happened less than seven days ago, and it still left a fresh mark in her mind.
She remembered that face when he turned towards her; a look of aching love, of sweet sadness. She remembered the way he said her name, the intricate pattern his lips formed, and the tingling voice when he pronounced each syllable.
She had froze just then, standing there, staring at this complete stranger before her as she tired to comprehend the knowledge he just provided. Was this some sort of a sick joke her friends are playing on her? Was he in any of her classes in the past years? Questions piled atop of others as her mind was soon overfilled with Who's and Why's.
Curse it, she thought, already so many questions in the early morning.
After about a minute of still silence, her reflex picked up and she fled from the scene, through the opened door, and out of the exhibition building. Her heart was pounding so viciously at her chest that she was afraid it might pop out any second.
Subsequently, she never returned to that sunlit room ever since that incident. She avoided it at all cost, taking alternate route to work, busying herself with jobs so she wouldn't have to think about it.
Yet sometimes, in certain mornings, she would wake up in mid-dawn and stare blankly at the milky ceiling, a part of her mind shouting for her to go back to her sanctuary and pretend nothing has happened.
This, she reminded herself as she removed her hands from her eyes, is one of those certain mornings.
Deciding that there was nothing she can do, she gently pushed the satin sheets from her and got out of bed. It had almost been a week since I went there, her mind reasoned, maybe he's not there anymore, maybe I can return to my daily routine again.
Maybe you can just shut up and stop thinking about it.
It was tiring, she have to admit, fighting these endless battles with her ever-persisting conscience. Yet it gave her something to think about, to ponder.
She knew that at a certain stage in her life, she had a temporal amnesia caused by a fever, resulting her to forget anyone and everyone she had ever met.
Maybe Hiiragizawa is one of those 'everyone' in her life, maybe he was one of her friends before her amnesia kicked in, maybe he was her boy-
There I go again, she reprimanded herself, enough of my Maybe Ramblings.
But if so, then why hasn't he contacted her through all these years? How come she remembered Sakura and not him? How come…How come…
Maybe you should just go there and ask him, her mind gently prodded her.
It's also in times like these that she hated when her conscience is right
In deft motion and pace, she opened her mahogany closet and got out a floor length coat. Flinging it across her shoulders, she buttoned it and grabbed her keys on her table before shooting out the front door.
~*~
Tap
Tap
Tap
Tap
The sounds of echoing feet brought his mind back to reality. Stealing a glance at the clock by the wall, he found the short hand landing at nine, whilst the long hand jabbed at the 12.
So, he concluded, she's not coming today either.
It was partially, or probably all, his fault. It was just too much, to see her actually standing there, all well and fine, that he forgot about the fact that she has no memory of him.
Yet at the moment when he introduced himself, he saw that flicker of light, of recognition, in the midst of her purple orbs and hope bloomed in his heart once again.
How long has it been? Five? Six years, probably?
Running his hand through his hair in frustration, he aimed his glare at no one in particular as he paced his way to the nearby window.
The sweet smell of morning dew brought a sheen of coolness against his face as he looked out the window to the front lawn of the building. Sparrows, crows, and blue jays danced in cordial patterns while hunting for worms and such on the grass below.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Funny, he thought absently, I hear sounds of people coming this way. No, too loud to be people; a person probably.
Tap
Tap
Ta-
The door busted open and a gasping Tomoyo Daidouji entered the scene. Yet all through this commotion, not once had Eriol turned to look at the intruder, nor made any acknowledgement of her presence.
Unfortunately this piqued Tomoyo even more as her eyes trekked wildly around the room while trying to focus on the person by the window. Closing their distance with a few dainty steps, she stopped short and waited.
"I think we need to talk"
And it was with such a nonchalant manner when he turned that she realized that the one thing she had been searching for so long was right in front of her all along.
~*~
ANNNNNNNNNND here we stop~ =D well so… how was it? I'm still deciding if I should put a little magic in here… just to spice things up.
Drop me some comments. Was characters a little OOC? I dunno since I haven't been writing for so long I don't even know how the characters are supposed to be like anymore =_=;
Well according to my 'so-call' plotting, this story is going to be about 2 or 3 chapters.. Depending if I want to add anymore stuff, so give me some ideas people! =D
Oh and yes, I know that there are dozens of grammatical errors in here since I didn't proofread and all ^_^; so would you all be so kind to 'accidentally' overlook those mistakes?
See ya all next time!