L-chan's notes: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter. It's good to know there's an audience for this pairing.
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Shadows
Chapter 2—Look Out
"What do you think of this one?" Meiling asked as she held a daffodil-yellow dress in front of her.
Tomoyo shook her head. "That color really doesn't do anything for you. Do they have it in blue?"
Meiling returned the dress to the rack and continued rooting through the display, pushing the undesirable garments aside with one hand while she examined tags with the other. No one could shop like Meiling. "Here's a blue one, but it's not my size. What about this one?"
"You know, Meiling-chan, I'd be glad to make a dress for you." Tomoyo hadn't felt like sewing lately, but maybe a little manual labor was just what she needed to take her mind off things. She still sketched all the time, but she never got around to actually creating the dresses she designed. She didn't have anyone to dress anymore.
Meiling looked at the price tag for a red dress and made a face. "I couldn't ask you to do that. Besides, you should be making one for yourself."
"But I'm not even going to the dance."
Meiling stopped looking at clothes and turned to her friend. "You should. You've been so mopey lately. You could use a little fun."
Yes, I have been mopey lately. I don't even really know why. But the last thing I want to do is have fun. "I didn't think you were going," Tomoyo said, obviously turning the subject away from herself. "You've turned down every boy who's asked you."
Meiling got that sly smile on her face. "I've been waiting for Tanaka-kun to ask me. We're finally going out tonight, so I'm going to drop plenty of hints."
The poor guy. Tomoyo almost felt sorry for Meiling's latest crush. He doesn't stand a chance.
"In fact," Meiling continued, checking her watch, "I need to get home and start getting ready. He's picking me up at five. We're going to see that new movie. You know, the one with what's-his-name about that thing and then some other stuff happens."
"You have no idea, do you?" Tomoyo laughed.
"No, but who cares? Have you seen Tanaka-kun?" Meiling grinned, glad to see that Tomoyo had cheered up.
"Do you want me to help you get ready? I could do your hair for you."
"Actually…" Meiling looked a little uncomfortable. "We're doubling with Syaoran and Sakura-chan, so she's coming over early…" Her words trailed off as Tomoyo's face fell. "I'm sorry, Tomoyo-chan," she said softly.
Tomoyo pasted a bright smile on her face. "Don't worry about me. I still have homework to do, anyway. You'd better get going. You'll want to look absolutely gorgeous for Tanaka-kun."
Meiling put her hands on her hips and pouted. "You mean I'm not gorgeous already?" Now Tomoyo's smile was genuine. Meiling took her hand and gave it a friendly squeeze. "I'll call you, okay?"
Tomoyo nodded. "Have a good time." She waved as the ruby-eyed girl skipped off, her raven ponytail bouncing behind her.
Tomoyo sighed. Alone again, she thought as she left the store and walked down the street, pausing occasionally to look at the window displays. We all used to be so close, the four of us. In junior high we always hung out together. Then last year Sakura and Syaoran started getting serious about each other, and things were never the same after that.
That's how Tomoyo and Meiling ended up spending so much time together. When Sakura and Syaoran paired off, it was like they'd each lost their best friend. At least she lives with Li-kun, so she still sees him. I never see Sakura-chan anymore. And now, they're double dating, which leaves me out all together.
She really missed going over to Sakura's house after school. It was such a warm, happy place, so different from her big, empty house. Sakura's father was always so kind and welcoming, which lessened the pain of not even knowing her own father. And then there was the teasing way that Sakura and Touya would fight with each other, making Tomoyo long for a sibling of her own. Of course, he doesn't live there anymore. So much has changed. Why do things have to change?
She'd thought she was done crying over all that, but she couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes. I'm just overemotional today. I guess I know what that means. Maybe I should just go home and crawl into bed for the next four days.
It was a good excuse. She almost believed it. She kept her head down, trying not to cry, as she stepped off the curb.
"Look out!"
The next few seconds were a blur. Tomoyo felt a pair of strong arms go around her waist and snatch her out of the street just as a car honked and braked to a screeching halt. She fell backwards and landed on something hard. The wind was knocked out of her, and she tried to catch her breath, putting her hands over her pounding heart and gulping for air.
"Are you all right?"
It was then that she realized she was sitting on her rescuer. She turned her head and found herself looking down into the dark eyes of Touya Kinomoto. "Tou—Sensei," she breathed.
"Are you all right?" Touya asked again.
She managed to nod. He has the most beautiful eyes, she thought, that rich coffee brown with little gold flecks. She stared at him, wondering why she'd never noticed before, and wondering why she was noticing now.
"That's good." He leaned up a little and rubbed the back of his head. "Think you can get up?"
Because you're still sitting on him. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she scolded herself as she stood up shakily. But she wasn't sure if she was shaking because of the fall or for some other reason. She smoothed out her skirt with sweaty palms. "I'm sorry." She noticed that he grimaced as he stood up. "What about you? Are you hurt?"
"I don't think so. Besides, it's not every day that I get to save the life of a pretty girl." Her eyes widened at his words. Now, what made me say that? It sounds like I'm hitting on her. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but the way she was looking at him made him afraid that it came across as a leer. Maybe she's just in shock from what happened. "Look at you. You're trembling." He closed his hand around her arm and led her to a bench. "Sit here. I'll get you some water."
He soon returned with two bottles and handed her one as he sat down on the bench next to her. "Thank you, sensei," Tomoyo said politely. She felt herself blushing as she took a small sip. He's only being nice to me because of the accident, she told herself. It doesn't mean anything.
"You're welcome, Daidouji," Touya replied, raising his bottle in a mocking toast before taking a long swig. "Why so formal? We're old friends, right?" Well, not really, he thought.
"Sure, I guess." Not really.
She still seems shaken up. Maybe if I sit with her for a minute, she'll relax. "So, old friend," he said jokingly, trying to make her feel better, "if I were to ask you something, would you give me an honest answer?"
"Of course."
Way to go, genius. Now you have to come up with something. "What do you think of my class?"
She wasn't expecting that. She groaned. "You don't really want to know, do you?" she asked, smiling a little.
He laughed, and the sound made her feel warm all over. "That bad, huh? Sakura says I'm too tough, but she's just mad because I won't help her."
"By helping her, you mean giving her the answers?"
"Exactly. So, what do you think? Is it too difficult?" For some reason, he really did want to know what she thought.
"Well," Tomoyo began, "it's supposed to be difficult, isn't it?"
He wagged his finger at her. "You said you'd answer honestly. Stop evading the question," he teased.
She hoped she wouldn't give her feelings away. It would be too embarrassing. "It's challenging, but interesting. I think you're doing really well." He's going to know, she thought. He asked the one person who hangs on his every word.
"Really?" He seemed relieved. "It's hard to tell, you know? Especially when all I hear are complaints from Sakura and that ga—" He bit his tongue. "—Li. Ow."
What a strange thing to do. But the expression on his face was too funny. She couldn't help it—a little giggle slipped out. "What was that for?"
Touya rolled his eyes. "I can't call him that anymore, but I still slip up sometimes. What's really irritating is that he's a smart kid, so I can't say anything bad about his work. I think the little punk just does it to show me up."
"You two will never get along, will you?"
"No, but that's okay." He gave her a knowing look. "You don't like him, either."
Tomoyo was taken aback, not so much because of his matter-of-fact tone, but by the way this statement seemed to make something click inside her, like the missing piece of a puzzle that had stumped her. "Of course I like him," she said slowly. "Li-kun is a good person, and he makes Sakura-chan happy." It was all true, but the words sounded hollow, even to her own ears.
"Maybe so, but you still don't like him. I can tell. You're like me." He stared off at something she couldn't see, like he was lost in his own thoughts. "We resent him. He's taking her away from us."
She thought about this, and she realized he was right. No matter how much she liked Syaoran, she would always resent him for coming between her and Sakura. It wasn't his fault, but that didn't change the way she felt. And deep inside, she knew that they both cared about her and weren't intentionally hurting her. That's just what happened when two people fell in love. Their lives became about each other, and everyone else was left out.
Touya drained the rest of his water and tossed the empty bottle into a nearby trash bin. He hadn't meant for the conversation to take such a melancholy turn. He was trying to make her feel better. But then, I've always been lousy at making people feel better. "Anyway, enough about that. How do you feel?" he asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She looked at him blankly. "Feel?" What does he mean by that?
"Do you feel any better?"
He wants to know if he can go. "A little," she said weakly. Liar. You're perfectly fine. She was ashamed of her behavior. What am I doing? Why, after all these years, have I suddenly developed this silly crush on him? And shouldn't I be over it by now? She took another sip of her water and looked down at her feet as she swung her dangling legs.
When she'd smiled earlier, she'd looked like the happy little girl he used to know. And, although he didn't know why he'd noticed, she looked downright beautiful when she smiled. But now, she seemed so sad, and lost, and withdrawn. His heart went out to her. "You know," he began, not entirely sure why he felt the need to comfort her, "if you need someone to talk to, you can always come to me. I know I'm just Sakura's mean old onii-chan, but, if you want, I'll be your mean old onii-chan, too." Not only was he lousy at making people feel better, but apparently he was also lousy at making jokes, if her lack of response was any indication.
Tomoyo twisted the cap onto her water bottle and turned it upside down, then right side up again as she considered his words. Maybe that would be best, she thought, because he'll never see me as anything more than another imouto-chan. She met his brown eyes, which was a huge mistake. She felt that ridiculous fluttering in her heart again. No, she decided. I don't want him to be my onii-chan. But what do I want from him?
He would have given all the money in his pocket to know what she was thinking. Granted, it wasn't much, but still. She hadn't responded to his offer, other than to look at him with an expression he couldn't describe. He could see that there was a whole world going on behind her violet eyes, but she wasn't willing to confide in him. Well, what did I expect? We're practically strangers. But that didn't change the fact that something in him was drawn to her. It was almost like he wanted to protect her from whatever was haunting her.
Touya shook his head. What the hell am I on about, anyway? I don't need any drama in my life right now. The silence was starting to get to him. The longer it remained quiet, the more these thoughts kept popping up and confusing him. Say something, anything. School. Talk about school. "Parents' Night is coming up next week," he said incongruously, his voice breaking the silence like a hammer shattering glass. "Will your mother be coming? I haven't seen her in a while."
"Okaa-sama!" Anything else Tomoyo might have been thinking was immediately pushed aside as she imagined Sonomi sending the family bodyguards out to search the streets for her daughter's lifeless body. She stood up quickly. "I have to go. Thank you for—" Saving me? Sitting with me? Talking to me? "—everything." She bowed politely before taking off, leaving him sitting there, looking after her, and still staring at the spot when she was no longer in sight.
"Such a strange girl," he said to himself. "But then, she's always been a little strange." He gave a little snort of laughter when he realized what he was doing. "And I'm sitting here talking to myself. So which of us is the strange one?"
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Gee, in case you couldn't tell, this is my twist on the whole Nadeshiko-falls-out-of-the-tree thing. Well, you have to get them together somehow, don't you?
