Disclaimer: i do not own any of teh characters of CCS, i have modified them to my liking however.. :D
One look
One look was all it took. All she did was glance his way and he was completely taken in. He couldn't stop staring at her. She was beautiful no doubt, but that wasn't why he was staring. There was something else about her. Something he hadn't notice before. He watched, fascinated, as she made small talk with the other executives of his company, well, his father's company, but he was going to inherit it anyway so it didn't matter. When she laughed she did it from her heart, he could tell. When she sipped her champagne it was with a graceful tilt of her wrist and with her lips just barely meeting the rim of the glass. When she spoke she held herself with complete confidence, even though the people she was talking to were far beyond her years. He just couldn't help but stare at her. She might not have been the most attractive young woman in the room but she was certainly the most interesting to observe.
She glanced at him once. She didn't mean to, it was purely by accident. She had seen him when she walked into the gala and couldn't help but take in the sight of him. He looked so splendid in his tailored suit, and black tie. His hair shone blue in the dim lights of the chandelier and his stance at the refreshment table was confident, cool, and extremely bored. She couldn't help but laugh at her own observation. Galas probably weren't his party scene. She looked away and followed her mother and made small talk with some of her mother's colleagues who she was introduced to. Her mind wandered away from the conversation for a second as her eyes took in the beauty of the room they were in. Her gaze traveled along the string of lights, down the line of curtains and stopped as his eyes locked with her eyes. She smiled a little awkwardly and took a quick nervous sip of her drink and turned back to the conversation. She really hadn't meant to look at him. It just happened.
"Sonomi! What a pleasure it is to see you again!" Mr. Hiiragizawa greeted happily to his business partner.
"Takashi! Kimiko! It's been so long!" replied Mrs. Daidouji with a bright smile on her face as she greeted the Hiiragizawa couple. "Thank you so much for the invitation! May I ask how the world has been to you thus far?"
"Ah, not too bad I'd say. I mean I do have this fantastic house to prove it." They laughed over their silly joke.
"I don't believe that I have introduced you to my son now have I Sonomi?" asked Mrs. Hiiragizawa.
"No, no I haven't met the young man as yet." said Sonomi.
"Well, then I should introduce him to you now!" She turned her attention to a handsome boy who was standing at the refreshment table and staring at nothing in particular. "Eriol honey, could you come over here please." She called out to him, and he came toward them obediently.
"You called Mom?" his voice was completely respectful, but he sounded terribly irritated. Sonomi couldn't help but smile at this. The boy could not have been over eighteen.
"Yes. Dear, I would like you to meet Mrs. Sonomi Daidouji. She is the owner and founder of the famous Daidouji Toy Company." said Kimiko to her son.
"Oh! It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Daidouji." said Eriol with a slight bow.
"And Sonomi, this is my son Eriol." smiled Kimiko.
"Ah, yes, I've heard so much about you it feels like I know you already! Well it's a pleasure to meet you too." Sonomi smiled at the boy in front of her. "Since we're all introducing people to each other, I would also like to introduce to you my daughter." There was a shine in her eyes as she said this. "Tomoyo, sweetie?" she said to a young girl with pretty amethyst eyes and smoky hair. The girl excused herself from the conversation she was in and came to her mother's side. "I want you to meet some very good friends of mine." She said turning to the Hiiragizawas. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Hiiragizawa."
"How do you do?" greeted Tomoyo politely with a soft smile. "I'm Tomoyo. It's very nice to finally get to meet you. Your home is so lovely! Thank you for inviting me to the gala. I really hadn't expected an invitation!"
"Oh, it was our pleasure and thank you!" smiled Takashi. "I'm glad that you are enjoying yourself. I did fear that you would be a little bored here as there aren't any people your age here. I know that my son wishes he could be somewhere else. He hates galas like this, but we forced him to come." at this Takashi let out a hearty laugh. "We told him that here would be a lot of pretty girls here."
"Dad!" Eriol was mortified, and tried hard to control his blush as everyone burst out laughing.
"Oh and Tomoyo, this is Eriol." Sonomi gestured toward the blushing boy.
"Yes, I know, we've met before. How are you Eriol?" Tomoyo said calmly.
"I'm doing well. And you?" Eriol looked her straight in the eye as their old rivalry started to surface again.
"I've never been better." Tomoyo smiled at him, knowing that a competition was to come.
"Pardon me, but did you say that you both have met before?" said Kimiko, a little amused.
"Yes Mom. We worked on a play together." He said still looking at Tomoyo; silently daring her to say something.
"You remember which one right Mom?" said Tomoyo to her mother, taking the dare happily and adding her own finesse to it. "It was the joint production of Romeo and Juliet, the one that the Tomeda Girl's Academy did with the Tomeda Boy's Academy."
"Yes, Tomoyo and I were co-directors." Eriol smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Yes. I also designed the costumes and Eriol composed the music for the play." She finished with a smirk. She had gotten the last word. She had won.
Their parents watched this little exchange in fascination. Never before had they seen their children so quick witted and competitive. "I don't believe I remember this particular play." said Sonomi sharing a knowing smile with Kimiko and Takashi.
"It's the one that you missed I think." Tomoyo said quietly.
"Oh yes, I remember Eriol telling me about that play as well. We missed it too." Kimiko said, realization dawning on her. "Remember Takashi, we had to leave for Australia and we couldn't go and see it."
"Ah, yes. I remember now. I heard from quite a lot of people that it was very good. There was lots of praise especially for the costumes and the music." Takashi winked at the two teens.
"Eriol, why don't you ask lovely Miss. Tomoyo over here to dance with you?" suggested Kimiko to her son.
"Yes, the two of you would probably get bored of talking to us old people." laughed Sonomi.
Tomoyo looked a little panicked and Eriol smirked at her reaction. "Why I would love to. Tomoyo, shall we?" Ever the gentleman, Eriol held out his hand for her but didn't even try to hide his smirk. She threw a glare at him but took his hand none the less. He was winning now but she would do something about that.
"They make quite a pair don't they." Commented Sonomi as they watched their children head to the dance floor.
"Yes they do." Kimiko had a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Kimiko dearest, are you thinking what I am?" Takashi had a sparkle in his eyes as he said this.
"Takashi! We couldn't!" Kimiko giggled a little.
"Oh, but it would be so much fun!" Sonomi smiled as a decision was made, and the three adults regressed into a secret conversation much of which concerned the two presently dancing teens.
As they reached the dance floor, Eriol pulled her in dramatically to himself and began to waltz slowly. He was completely aware that the few other teens at the party were staring at them, and that his dance partner was extremely annoyed with him.
"Why did you do that Eriol?" said Tomoyo through gritted teeth, pushing a little away from him so that she wasn't pressed up against him. "You know that they're gonna start plotting now!" her eyes narrowed as she effortlessly glided along with him to the song.
"Oh don't be such a party pooper!" he said with laughing eyes, "It's probably the most fun that they'll have all night. Besides, at least you don't have to talk to boring executives now. You should be thanking me for rescuing you Miss. Daidouji."
"They weren't that boring." She couldn't help but smile. He was right though; this was a lot more fun. "Some of them had very interesting opinions."
"But none that you agreed with right?" he looked down at her and smiled knowingly.
"Well…you're dancing is weak." She said in a lame attempt to change the subject. If she admitted that he was right then that would mean that he won. He laughed openly at that and she huffed at his outburst. Unbeknownst to them, their parents were watching and doing silent little dances in their minds. He spun her into a twirl that she accomplished gracefully and they stepped back into the rhythm of the song.
"I noticed you standing at the refreshment table earlier." She glanced around at the other couples on the dance floor.
"You did, did you?" he was looking around as well.
"Yes. And I noticed something." He looked down at her when she said this, one eyebrow raised inquisitively. "You really don't like galas do you?" she giggled a little as his exasperated sigh confirmed her observation.
"I don't." he managed a weak smile. "You're holding up well though. Don't tell me you actually like these snore fests."
"Well, if you want them to be, these snore fests can actually be fun." she scoffed in response. He smirked and she stuck her tongue out at him.
They danced through two more songs, neither wanting to return to the party. Eriol had settled comfortably enough with his arms wrapped around her waist. Tomoyo on the other hand could not be more nervous. She didn't know what to do with her hands. If she held onto him too tight she might give him the wrong message, and if she held him too loose it would give him a reason to press closer to her. She was battling with herself when his voice broke through her thoughts. "Do you want to get out of here?" he wasn't looking at her when he asked, it was almost like he was thinking out loud.
"Did you say something?" she asked softly even though she knew what he had said.
"I said," he looked down at her, "do you want to get out of here?"
"By that do you mean that we leave the party?" she gasped a little at the slight nod of his head that was his response to her question. "But, won't we get caught or something?"
"No we wont." He chuckled a little at her response. "I own the place remember, I can do whatever I want." She wasn't convinced by his answer. "Don't worry, we won't go anywhere far. I don't know if you noticed, but there's a beach right outside. It's really nice especially at night."
She couldn't help but smile at his earnest tone. Of course she knew there was a beach outside, she wasn't stupid. And of course it would be pretty, it belonged to the Hiiragizawas. "Are you sure we won't get caught or anything?"
He laughed a little and let go of his hold of her waist and caught her hand instead. "Come on, let's go." Saying so he half pulled half led her out the house through the patio that let out to the shore.
She stepped lightly out of her shoes and hoisted up her dress. She trekked softly onto the sand and stopped to breathe in the salty air. He looked at her face and marveled at the way the moonlight played on its contours. He hadn't noticed that he was staring at her till she turned around and grinned childishly at him. "Race you to the water!" she declared before taking off in a sprint. He stared after her retreating form and smiled to himself. Another challenge had presented itself, and he would most definitely not loose to a girl, especially not Tomoyo. He caught up with her easily enough as his long legs carried him much faster than her's and the fact that he was a conditioned soccer player didn't hurt much either. He grabbed her around her waist and tackled her to the soft sand. She shrieked in surprise and burst out in laughter. She struggled out of his grip and shoved him down, splashing him with water and running a little farther away.
"You ruined my dress." She stated with a grin as she pointed the definitely ruined blue silk.
"You asked for it." He smirked at her and motioned for her to sit next to him. She complied and they both sat in silence. The moon was bright that night, and the city lights were too far away to blind out the stars. The waves crashed gently against the earth and the sounds of the party drifted through the cool night air.
"It's so peaceful here." Tomoyo gave a contented sigh. She snuggled closely into the soft sand and stared up at the stars with him. He smiled at her sigh but said nothing; he didn't want to ruin the quiet. "It's like nothing can reach us out here…" she giggled a little but she had spoken too soon for she had barely uttered her sentence when she heard the chime of her cell phone. "Oh, no…" she said as she sat up and rummaged through her purse.
"What's wrong?" he said sitting up and staring at her face as it eyebrows knitted in concentration. He was just about to offer his help when her face broke out in a happy smile.
"It's Shiro." she said as she recognized the number, and answered her phone. "Hey! How are you?"
Eriol couldn't help but gag a little. He had met Shiro at the play. Shiro went to his school, and had been one of the minor characters in the play, as well as the background designer. Naturally, they had all become friends, and as far as Eriol could tell, Tomoyo had developed a small crush on the chestnut haired boy who was considered one of the five hottest guys in the Academy. According to Tomoyo, he was a smart, sweet, caring, charming, guy. In Eriol's eyes, he was a total wuss and major jackass. Let's just say that Shiro had a reputation that Tomoyo was not aware of. "I'm at that party I was telling you about…yeah, the one at Eriol's house… he really isn't as bad as you think you know" Eriol smiled at the off hand compliment that she had given him. "…No! You can't crash it!" he heard her giggle over the phone and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, enough about him, are we still on for Saturday? …No, but why? We've been planning this for weeks! …ok fine. Well, I'll see you later I guess. Bye!" she hung up and sighed deeply.
"What do you see in that guy anyway?" Eriol said a being a little too hostile.
"I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're not as sophisticated as him." She huffed and scrunched up her nose angrly at him. Eriol couldn't help but laugh at her behavior.
"If by sophisticated you mean that I'm not an arrogant jerk that toys with peoples emotions and stands them up on dates that they have planed out to the very last detail then you're right. I'm not sophisticated at all." He looked at her and smiled. He had won again, and he could tell that it was taking all her will power to stay calm.
"Well, since you know him so well, maybe you can be civilized and help me out with something." She hugged her knees to herself and unconsciously undid her up-swept hair.
"If by 'something' you mean landing your lover-boy, then my answer is no." he didn't want to admit it but she looked very pretty with her hair down, and he had the sudden urge to run his fingers through it and see if it really was as soft as it looked.
"Oh, come on. Please!" she begged, "It's the only thing I'll ever ask of you!"
"What do I get out of it?" he asked innocently enough.
"I'll make you all the cakes that you can stuff yourself with for a week." She smiled hopefully.
"Make it two weeks and you have a deal." He looked at her with an amused expression. The only reason he had accepted the deal was because he didn't want to seem like a jerk. After all, she had gone through all that trouble of begging him. To be honest, he didn't really like sweets that much, but he did have a soft spot for her. To his surprise, she squealed and engulfed him in a hug. "I promise you won't regret this!" she said happily as she got up and started to head back toward the house.
"This should be interesting…" Eriol mumbled to himself and smiled at the thought. "Well at least I have an excuse to spend time with her now." He gave one last look to the ocean and stood up. "Hope I don't mess this up." Saying so he raced back to catch up with her.
a/n: sooooo? should i continuee? really i want to know. if the story is worth continuing or if i should just give up now.. anyway flames r welcome R&R!
