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Silence

By: Yuuna Miyako

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Flashback: Touya finally burst in the hospital with the bloodied Tomoyo in his arms. "DOCTOR!" He yelled with his all might as he ran down the hall. "DOCTOR!" Touya yelled once more. Tomoyo opened her mouth to scream for help and just cry in pain but no matter how hard she tried, no sound could be heard. On her way, her pained amethyst eyes met with indigo colored ones who are just walking by.

Disclaimers: I don't own the CCS characters or Silence's plotline. I absolutely worship Clamp and Silence's staff for making it possible. I also don't own Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu.

Pairings: Eriol and Tomoyo. Other supporting pairs: Touya & Tomoyo, Eriol & Sakura, Sakura & Syaoran, Eriol & Meiling, Yukito & Sakura.

Authoress Notes: OMGosh! Thank you all for all your reviews! It's so encouraging to know people rooting for me while writing a story. So, to all my recent reviewers, I proudly dedicate this chapter for you all. Oh yeah, news. For mangalvr and all other readers who are wondering what Silence is and is interested in watching it, the whole complete series is posted online in . Just search for it, and you could easily find it. Watching it will spoil the whole plotline of this story though. Please be warned.

So, yeah, yeah, Arc 1-2 is here! Enjoy!

P.S: Don't forget to review afterwards; I need all the encouragement to go on writing!

YuMi

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Memory Arc 2: Rest

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In every music sheet, there's a rest…

"Young master?" A voice rang through the inner dreams of young twelve-year-old Eriol Hiiragizawa. "Young master, please wake up." The voice came over once more, forcing the cerulean haired boy to slowly open his indigo eyes. When he did, he automatically saw a worried young flame haired teenager in front of his face, but his vision was quite blurry.

Then slowly, he lifted his head from the teenager's shoulder and blinked out every hint of sleepiness. He yawned a little and he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands. Meanwhile, the flame haired reached for a purse and dug out an eyeglasses case.

"Here's your glasses." She handed it over to the young boy who mumbled a low thanks, "Sorry for waking you up from your beauty sleep, young master. But we're close to our destination. I definitely won't carry you, so I made sure I woke you up before we actually arrive."

"I understand Nakuru." The boy sighed as he glanced out the car window. He rested his elbow in one of the car door handles and then rested his chin on his hand. The car was moving in a steady, careful pace, enough for the young boy to study his surroundings.

The day before Daidoji Tomoyo's car accident, young Eriol Hiiragizawa was headed to a piano competition in Tomoeda, Japan with his trusted young servant, Nakuru Akizuki. Eriol is not your typical kid. He's the next heir of one of the largest and the most successful businesses in the whole nation, the Hiiragizawa-Manchester Corporation. Due to this title, no one below his status level dared to mix with him. Thus, he was considered a loner, not wanting to mix with children even with the same status level. His father, Daisuke Hiiragizawa, always took control of his life, choking him of all the calculations of business. His only way of escape through all of this is playing the piano.

Music, symphonies, notes—these are the aspects of escape for him, entrancing himself to be in his own peaceful world. This was against his fathers own wishes, thinking that all these piano stuff was just a waste of time. But with the help of his mother, Elandrith Hiiragizawa, and Nakuru, he gained permission to join the national competition.

Nakuru Akizuki, in the other hand has been with the family since when she was young. But so, in her blooming age of fourteen, she one of the most trusted servants of the Hiiragizawa-Manchester residence. She works for the family to pay off personal family debt, but ever since, she's been closely attached to the mistress and the young master. Nakuru is bubbly and very cheerful, which is a good contrast to Eriol's distant attitude.

The black luxury car then soon entered one of the most lavish hotels found in downtown Tomoeda. This was the location where the whole competition will be held and also where the contestants will be staying for the meantime. Then the car slowly and surely stopped in front of the glass doors of the hotel. The chauffeur stepped out the car first, opening the door for Eriol to leave the car first. Then, after him, Nakuru stepped out the car. The chauffeur handed their small lug gages to one of the hotel's workers.

Nakuru and Eriol headed inside the hotel, which caught the attention of many of the other participants who just arrived. Some of them whispered, as some just glanced at them and quickly turned around.

"He's the representative of that prestigious private school down at Tokyo right?"

"I heard he's the son of the owner of the Hiiragizawa-Manchester Company."

"He can't play, he's just rich."

Echoes of comments filled the room. Nakuru glanced at Eriol worriedly, but he just smiled at her in response. He taught himself to conceal his feelings and no matter how annoyed and pissed he was right now, he promised to bury everything under a smile.

Nakuru sighed softly as she checked both of them in.

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That evening was the competition itself. It's going to be held on the biggest dance floor the hotel had. The ballroom was already fixed up for the special event, with a stage and a black grand piano that stood in the middle of the ballroom. Chairs were surrounding it, making sure everyone in the audience could get a good view of the whole presentation.

The table of judges is currently criticizing the last performance, and next in line was Eriol himself.

"Contestant number 10, Eriol Hiiragizawa of the Tokyo Prefecture Social University, will be playing Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu."

Applause came from the audience as Eriol stood up from his seat and calmly made his way to the grand piano. Everyone eyed him closely, wondering if the rich heir really does have skillful art of creating music.

"WHOHOO! Go Master!" Nakuru yelled, standing up from her seat. This caused everybody's attention to turn to her. When she noticed that most of the attention, she quickly blushed in embarrassment and smiled apologetically as she slowly sank back down in her seat.

Eriol smiled as he bowed before he took his seat in the cushioned chair. He quickly positioned his fingers in the piano keys and his feet on the pedals. Then he started playing.

Waves of beautiful, complicated notes tumbled into the air, making it sound like one of the connoisseur piano sonatas that are played in a CD. But this wasn't a CD, but a young boy who was sitting alone at the piano, producing incredible sound. Eriol's eyes were squinted shut, and his hands and move like lightning over the keys as his feet pumped the pedals. The notes rang out, filling the whole ballroom.

The audience was clearly captivated by the music that floated in the air, catching each note the piano produced. It was incredible, breathtaking—nothing's like it…it can't be described by words. And for Eriol, as music played, he was locked in his own serene world, not caring about the audience anymore but every emotion was played by his very hands.

After a few minutes, the music grew and changed, circling around the same complex theme again and again. Finally, Eriol pounded out three loud chords—and one final soft one. The piece was called to an end. He sat with his head bowed, eyes still closed, and his hands resting gently on the keys.

The audience burst in a thundering applause, with a large percentage of them that stood up. Slowly he opened his eyes and glanced at the audience groggily, as if he was awoken from a nap. All the judges nodded their head in approval, no one sensing any mistake on his performance. Slowly Eriol stood up and retreated back to his seat.

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Like everyone suspected, Eriol Hiiragizawa easily won the first place of the piano competition. Then he found himself in a special party which only contestants are allowed to join after the competition. He ignored other contestants that were dining in the room. As always, he sat alone, staring at his food grow cold as the trophy stood next to his plate.

He remembered the feeling of temporary freedom as he played the grand piano earlier. It felt relaxing, so calm, so serene, and so safe. A world of music that only he could dwell upon, as long as he could escape from everything…

Even though it was just temporary…

"You're Hiiragizawa?" A voice asked in back of him.

Eriol turned around as he smiled. Surprisingly, a group of boys around his age was behind him. The young boy who called him looked at him irritably, "Quit the act, we know you cheated."

"Wha—?"

Before he could finish his sentence, a fist came flying to his face. Then, in a second, the young boys joined in the fight. He could feel the blows coming to him one by one, not giving him a single chance to fight back or even block himself. Then, the whole scene caught the attention of one of the attendees of the hotel and called in some people to stop the whole chaos. The whole thing calmed down a second, when all the guys got rounded up and Eriol, now with bruises and scabs slowly stood up.

"You cheat! No one could play like that!"

"YEAH!" The others yelled.

"I bet you he just paid the judges to let him win!"

"Everyone calm down!" One of the grown ups yelled, overthrowing the noise of the young boys.

Eriol just smirked, "Fools…! You guys are just jealous that you lost."

With gritted teeth, the young boy who started it all managed to wriggle free from his the grown-up's hands and dashed towards Eriol again. He grabbed the trophy that fell in the ground from the beating earlier, backed up and with all his might threw it towards Eriol's direction.

"Take that you rich jerk!"

Eriol froze in his spot as the trophy was headed towards him. He due to shock, it seems like he lost control of every part of his body waist down. He had no choice but to raise his arm in defense to shield his face.

And thus, it caused the worst injury a pianist could ever have.

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That evening, Eriol Hiiragizawa was admitted to the nearest hospital. Due to the trophy accident, he fractured his arm and damaged two of his fingers. This forced his arm to have a cast for a couple of months. He asked the doctor if he could play the piano when his hands heal, but the doctor told him it depends. He could maybe play the piano, but not as masterful when he has uninjured hands. Nakuru immediately notified Eriol's parents when he was in the hospital that late night. His father was outraged. He was in the middle of a business trip when he was informed. He ordered Nakuru to stay by Eriol in the hospital until he comes personally to pick him up.

The next morning, Eriol found he was all bandaged up, walking down the hospital hallway with Nakuru next to him. He got a room for himself in the hospital for temporary stay. He felt trapped now; hopeless…he knew his music is gone. His music is on rest, forever. His escape is gone—now all he had is silence.

He felt he was the most pained person in the world…not until when a teenage boy dashed in the same hallway as him carrying a bloodied girl in his arms. Her amethyst eyes pierced through his azure colored ones. Exactly when her eyes met his, a jolt of electricity ran through his spine.

Pain. Her eyes pictured pain. Pain he knew that's worst than his.

Maybe, he wasn't the most pained person in the world.

it silences all terms of music.