Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura nor its characters. This is a fan-made story based on this great series.

Response to lightprincess14: Yes, I know that Tomoyo's being a little negative, but it's because she sees a bigger picture than most people. And she fully knows that her love for Sakura-chan is going to go unrequited, but she doesn't want to separate from her darling Sakura-chan. In any case, her thoughts will change over time. =]

Note: This is still from Tomoyo's POV.

Don't Ask by Tomoyo Daidouji

By animefanrk2k

And here I was in this strange situation. Before me, Meilin-chan was chatting animatedly about life in Hong Kong with myself, Eriol Hiragizawa, and Spinel Sun. While the aforementioned duo, that being Eriol Hiragizawa and myself, were smiling and letting her talk, Spinel Sun was genuinely interested with Meilin-chan's words, having never been to Hong Kong himself. She continued to talk about her family, her school life, her martial arts training, and other such things while Spinel Sun would comment a few times here and there. (It actually turned out that Spinel Sun had only been to England and Japan, so hearing firsthand reports on today's Hong Kong was fascinating for the small guardian.)

However, before I talk about that, I should first mention how this had happened. Turning the clock back around 24 hours before, I had just arrived at my home after departing with Eriol Hiragizawa. Touya-san was kind enough to drop me off after my encounter with the British gentleman. The surprise of our last meeting still fresh in my mind, I should honestly say I was a bit… distracted and did not expect what was to follow.

Chapter 2: Afternoon Tea

Entering my own domicile didn't help matters when I arrived at my room only to find Meilin-chan over a cup of tea talking with another acquaintance. Before anyone gets shocked, I will tell you that Meilin-chan arrived a week earlier to meet both Sakura-chan and Li-kun before they headed off for their trip to Hong Kong. I believe we both had similar ideas about the two. While we were both happy for Sakura-chan and Li-kun, neither of us particularly liked the fact that our respective loved ones were happy with each other. So, Meilin-chan came up with this brilliant excuse that while Li-kun, and of course Sakura-chan with him, were visiting the homeland of the Li Clan, she would spend that time to vacation in Japan. It was a brilliant strategy that allowed Meilin-chan minimal contact with the Li-kun and Sakura-chan pair being mushy with one another and for her to catch up with old friends here.

In any case, this meant that it wasn't Meilin-chan that surprised me, but the acquaintance. While I had only met him a few times in person, he was definitely an unmistakable being. Before I could speak, Meilin-chan had noticed my presence. "Ah, Tomoyo, back from the airport?"

I nodded once before looking at the strange visitor once more. "Meilin-chan… this is?"

Spinel Sun calmly sipped the black tea that had been served to him. I would later find out that Meilin-chan had lied and said the second tea cup was for me, who would be coming back soon. 'Good timing too!' she would exclaim later. For now, Meilin-chan turned back and laughed. "Ah, this guy? He looked cold outside, so I let him in and asked him why he came over here. Actually, he's here for you. He's pretty interesting."

Spinel Sun then spoke, taking his cue smoothly. "Daidouji-san." It felt odd being addressed by someone just about Kero-chan's size in this manner. "My master had remembered that he did not make any of the arrangements for the tea party, so he asked me to relay a message. Would you be free tomorrow afternoon?" He glanced at Meilin-chan. "Of course, we'll gladly extend the invitation to Meilin-san. Master has expressed interest in meeting the cousin of Syaoran Li as well."

Meilin-chan smiled. "Let's go, Tomoyo!" Meilin-chan had not met any of her other friends yet except Sakura-chan and I. Tomorrow, we had dinner plans to meet Chiharu-san and Yamazaki-kun, so the afternoon slot was certainly free.

After carefully thinking it over, I gave my affirmative to Spinel Sun. "Yes, we'll be glad to Spinel-san. Could we arrange the time at your place around three in the afternoon?"

"Yes, that will be just fine, Daidouji-san," Spinel Sun responded. It was here that I finally realized the oddness in the way Spinel Sun addressed me.

"Oh, 'Tomoyo' is fine."

"Pardon?" The small cat-like guardian looked at me.

"When addressing me, 'Tomoyo' is fine, Spinel-san. It's what Kero-chan uses to address me too." I smiled at the small guardian.

His quizzical glance then softened into a small smile. "Then I will keep that in mind, Tomoyo-san."

With the time decided, Meilin-chan thought it best to eat the cake that the servants had brought us. However, I couldn't warn her of the dangers of such an action and thus, she kindly offered and fed the poor guardian some of his weakness, sugar. Spinel Sun then spent the next few hours causing a rampage in my room.

Personally, I think the maids were very skeptical of my excuse that a stray cat had jumped in from the balcony and caused the mess. Of course, they didn't know how close to the truth that excuse rang.

Back to the present, which was about twenty four hours later, it was at this time that Meilin-chan and Spinel Sun decided to go off and play some video games with one another. Despite Spinel Sun's cool demeanor, he was actually quite competitive about these little things. Then again, his habit of reading seemed to say that Spinel Sun had a thirst for knowledge.

Eriol Hiragizawa and I met eyes after the pair left and we both smiled at each other. Once again, it was fake smile against fake smile that couldn't be differentiated from one another. Eriol was the one that broke the silence. "This is peaceful." He took another sip of tea.

I had to admit that this homebrew was quite exquisite so I took his lead and also took a small sip of the fragrant rosemary blend. "Well, we are simply going about our ordinary lives, Hiragizawa-kun. Peace is to be expected." This unreadable man aside, I really felt at ease, almost to the point that the smile I had on my face could be considered natural, a thing of rarity in more recent years.

However, the unreadable man wasn't as unreadable as I thought. The faintest hint of emotion came across Eriol Hiragizawa's face. Unlike the illusion of the day before, he didn't try to hide the small crack in his mask and instead looked to me directly. "Do you think that our lives are truly ordinary?"

In the spur of the moment and surprise of the sudden situation, I gave him a blunt, honest answer. "We're hardly normal, are we?" Eriol Hiragizawa's face was priceless, almost as if he were a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. I'm sure I would have had the same expression if I were him at that moment. However, I then realized that it was I who had caused such a face and quickly tried to cover up. "I mean, none of us can hardly say we are ordinary after the incidents with the Clow Cards," I said, forcing my perfect smile to stay in its best form.

At this comment, Eriol Hiragizawa chuckled a little. "Daidouji-san, you're absolutely right." However, the chuckle wasn't a happy one and a very poor attempt at hiding what he was feeling. This was certainly an emotion that Eriol Hiragizawa was showing. He briefly glanced over to where Meilin-chan and Spinel Sun were completely engrossed in their video game in the den. A few moments passed with him watching the two before he looked straight at me. This time, he had a serious expression on his face. He finally spoke. "Kaho broke up with me."

A few moments of silence passed between us. Kaho Mizuki was our former substitute mathematics teacher in fifth grade and someone who was deeply involved with Eriol Hiragizawa. She was a plethora of kindness and good will, so much that I would never believe she would break their relationship. After all, the two seemed to be perfect for one another. "I see," I answered.

I really did not know what to say. I thought that Eriol Hiragizawa would be the same mischievous and masked Eriol Hiragizawa that I knew from childhood days. A few minutes passed by in silence, both of us unsure how to proceed with the conversation, before Meilin-chan declared victory over Spinel Sun in their puzzle game.

Eriol Hiragizawa saw us off at the door. By now, he had already placed his mask in place. In fact, we both regained our composure and were back to being our old unreadable selves. "It was a pleasure to have the two of you over."

Meilin-chan gave him a hearty handshake. "It was fun, Hiragizawa-kun."

"Yes, thanks for inviting us," I added. While I was smiling on the outside, thoughts of Eriol's words before were already swirling inside of me and suddenly, the big mansion seemed a little too big for just a guardian and his master. For a moment, I imagined what it would have been like for me to pass my time with no servants, no family, and no friends in my home. He said before that Mizuki-sensei broke up with him. Mizuki-sensei was someone that Eriol had deemed important to him. While he didn't show it, there was no way that it would not affect him and his sudden invitation to his home finally became clear.

He was lonely.

While I didn't know the full details, I knew that Eriol Hiragizawa was no normal youth and thus, did not live a normal life in England. At the very least, there was never any mention of him leaving his mansion from his letters to Sakura-chan. I heard from Touya-san that Nakuru Akizuki even had to lie about her address to properly attend school in England and thus, could not contact her master regularly while she was off at her university's dorms. If that lively Nakuru Akizuki was away and Mizuki-sensei had broken up with Eriol, I could only imagine how this man must be feeling inside. After all, I wouldn't be able to survive without my mother or Sakura-chan.

It was then that the idea popped into my head. Later tonight, Meilin-chan and I were going to dinner together to meet a few familiar faces. "Hiragizawa-kun!" Eriol looked quite startled at me as I began to speak, the words coming out as quickly as the idea formed in my head. "Meilin-chan and I are going to meet up with Chiharu-san and Yamazaki-kun for dinner tonight. I know that we had made plans for everyone to meet later this week, but would you like to join us for tonight too?"

Eriol still had a surprised look on his face while Meilin-chan began to chime in. "Yes, the more the merrier, they say. Why don't you join us? We're all friends, right? It'll be fun."

Eriol Hiragizawa quickly gained his perfect mask. "Ah, yes, but I must decline for tonight. I have… matters to attend to."

It was an obvious lie to me and normally, I would have been fine with accepting such an answer. After all, to each his or her own was the saying, right? However, leaving him alone would certainly do no good. I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about this, but my best friend's somewhat meddlesome side to always do the right thing and help a friend in need had rubbed off on me. At the very least, I wouldn't consider this trait to be a bad one to have. In any case, I walked right up to Eriol and brought my face close to his. His eyes opened wide in surprise. "Daidouji-san?"

A smirk crossed my lips. "Eriol-san, are we not friends?" It was my best "I have complete control of the situation" smile.

And it was working. "Y… yes," he stuttered out, almost like a kid caught red-handed by his mother when he was misbehaving.

"Do you have casual wear and warm clothing for the evening?"

"Yes." This time, his answer came out more clearly.

"Then you'll be ready by seven, right Eriol-san?"

"Yes," he said with a small gulp before realizing what I had just asked him. "Eh?"

With that, I turned to Meilin-chan. "Let's go. We'll see you at seven, Eriol-san. Don't keep us ladies waiting." Meilin-chan was chuckling as the two of us left. While Eriol stood there dumbfounded about the situation, we gave him our best over exaggerated waves possible.

For now, I had gotten my revenge from yesterday.

Or so I would have wanted to end it like this, but for some odd reason, Meilin-chan was still chuckling to herself. When we left earshot of the Hiragizawa mansion, she finally stopped chuckling, but the smile never left her face. "Tomoyo, I never knew you had it in you."

"What do you mean, Meilin-chan?" I was clearly confused by her odd comment.

"I just never thought that you'd be that forceful." Meilin-chan seemed to be holding back a few laughs. "I mean, this is certainly a surprise. Tomoyo Daidouji just invited a guy out!"

As her words sank in, I stopped in my tracks. Indeed, while it was the meddlesome good girl part of me that had done it, I had definitely just invited a guy out like Meilin-chan said. "It… it's not like that!" Oh no! The heat was already rising to my head. I knew that I had turned beet-red at Meilin-chan's comment. "It really isn't! I… was I that forceful? What should I do? No… calm down, calm down!"

As I lost my cool, Meilin-chan laughed at my antics all the way to our bus stop.

Author's Notes:

And that's another chapter for the books! Originally, this chapter was supposed to be much longer, but because of the way I paced it and moved around ideas and stuff here and there, I decided to split the stuff I have into two separate chapters. The next chapter will obviously be covering the dinner and probably will be out sooner than this one was.

For the process of writing this, I usually start with a hard copy in my notebook. I then type it in Word, correcting any grammatical errors I see on the way and expanding or rewording sentences to make more sense. Then, I load the document and repeat the process again while bolding the title of the story and such. It goes through one final read through here too.

Hopefully, you'll get a better grasp of Tomoyo's personality as the story goes on. There's a reason why I started the first chapter the way I did and why things are paced the way they are.

In any case, please read, review, and comment at your own leisure.

Until next chapter,

animefanrk2k