from skybluescramble:

hi friends (:

thanks for everyone who left reviews: Shanaa12, James Birdsong, Cata06, redeyes143, sakuraakamichelle, and chiharu-tanaka. I know this story is rather slow in being updated, but I'll try my best to finish it.

and I owed my beta-reader, Lemon Sherbet, big time. thanks for fixing up the mess I made, dear. hahaha~

enjoy. and please leave review.

DISCLAIMER:

Card Captor Sakura/カードキャップたーさくら

CLAMP©1997

:: Damsel in Distress, Daidouji ::

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CHAPTER 04:

Dealing with the Devil

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"DAIDOUJI-SAN!"

Pivoting on her heels, Tomoyo caught a glimpse of a tall, young man waving his hand to her direction before jogging closer. She smiled at him and greeted politely, "Good morning, Nakajima-senpai."

"Ah," Nakajima Kouta grinned, unconsciously rubbing the back of his head. "Morning. Nice weather today, isn't it?"

She nodded, eyes wandering up and down, noting the appearance of him. He was clad in a pair of black jeans, topped by a long-sleeved shirt rolled up to his elbow and a waistcoat. Pretty decent, she had to admit. They walked together in a comfortable silence for awhile until Tomoyo remembered that she should ask why he called out for her.

"Actually, I didn't know why."

Tomoyo turned her head in surprise. "Eh?"

Did she say her thoughts out loud? No, no, no. She had been keeping her mouth shut as from they started walking, and she could guarantee that. Probably Nakajima was just thinking about the same thing as her.

"I didn't know why I called you earlier." Nakajima gave her a sheepish smile. "Well—I saw you walk by from distance," he paused, "…and suddenly I felt like I had to talk to you."

They had stopped walking. They were now standing under a big, birch tree, feeling the morning breeze blow past them while it played with her long hair. Tomoyo was a bit surprised at his honest confession, but, as a Daidouji, she couldn't let outsiders know they get her flabbergasted. Then, with such an expertise, she smiled back at him and spoke, "I feel honored, Sen—"

"KOUTA-KUN!"

What?

Tomoyo nearly jumped back like a startled rabbit at the loud voice. She instinctively glanced at the source of the noise, precisely when another girl appeared out of nowhere beside Nakajima and casually linked her arm with his—Tomoyo flinched at the action—, pretending as if Tomoyo wasn't there.

"I'm looking for you!" That girl pouted, her eyelashes seemed heavy with mascara when she batted them. "Why don't you reply my mails?"

Nakajima seemed troubled. "I haven't checked my cell-phone since morning. And you are too close, Amane. Move aside."

"It's back to 'Amane', then? Kouta-kun, you don't have to be so shy."

Feeling so stupid, Tomoyo froze on her ground. She blinked and blinked again, lips slightly parted but she couldn't form any coherent words despite of how hard she raked her brain. This situation was completely unexpected. Okay, she had heard that Nakajima-senpai was clearly popular among girls (just as what that prat named Hiiragizawa Eriol stated to her last week), but to be interrupted by one of them like this…

It was unbelievable.

Did the senior girls really compete to win him? She knew he didn't have a girlfriend… yet, and that meant all girls had the same chance as her. Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of unstated rules to have a fair play? For instance, not butting in when a girl tried to have some friendly chat with him.

"Ah. So, you're talking to her?" Eventually, Amane decided to drop off her pretense of not recognizing Tomoyo, her voice sounded half-hearted. She scanned her brown eyes on Tomoyo in an examining fashion and flashed a challenging look. "My, my. What a surprise. Miss Prim and Proper, Daidouji Tomoyo? I've heard some rumors about you are floating around."

"Seira!" warned Nakajima, but Amane simply brushed it off.

"Why, Kouta-kun? Surely you don't fall for her, do you?" Amane confronted boldly. "This girl doesn't deserve you anyway. Rejecting all men who confessed to her for no reason after letting them got their hopes up… what a bitch. Tell you what, Kouta-kun? Forget her. She will only toy with your feelings."

Tomoyo was far too shock to say anything to defend herself. She stayed rooted on her feet as Amane dragged Nakajima away, completely ignoring his sound of protests.

"Oh! By the way, Daidouji," Amane spoke again, turning to look at her stunned figure for the last time with a broad, cunning smile, "nice to meet you."

And suddenly someone's quote came to her, snapping her mind out of its trance.

He seems to like you,though,but your chance can slip away anytime… if you keep rooted in the backline.

Damn that Hiiragizawa.

HER amethyst orbs swept around the crowded cafeteria, seeking for any signal of a certain young sorcerer inside. Frankly speaking, Eriol wasn't someone who was difficult to find. He always had that kind of aristocratic aura around him which caused people to feel respect, admiration, and strangely, fear, and he also had a tendency to sit in the corner alone while enjoying his meals. She could usually spot him right away. Moreover, sometimes he was surrounded by people who seemed to like discussing things with him—well, Tomoyo had to admit that Eriol was undoubtedly smart and a know-it-all.

But today, Tomoyo ended her searching effort in disappointment.

"Tomoyo?"

Oh, speak of the devil.

Eriol was right behind her, hand holding a tray filled with his lunch and, to Tomoyo's utmost surprise, was standing side by side with Li Syaoran, whose facial expression was only as confused as the young sorcerer on his left. Just two of them. Without Sakura. Her jaw dropped automatically. "Hi, Li-kun. You too, Hiiragizawa," she added quickly, wishing her slightly shaky voice didn't catch his ear. "It's a bit… astounding to see you both are getting along."

"I'm just being civil," the Chinese boy snorted. He was undeniably bothered by her misunderstanding. "We're kind of calling a truce for a few hours today."

"Sorry if we make you down, Tomoyo. But nothing had changed between us. We're going to discuss something… private."

Eriol had thrown the bait. Having known her personality too well, he expected she would soon ask them another question. It was just in her nature. His eyes glowed in amusement when they surveyed her gesture. He couldn't help not to let a crooked smile forming across his feature as she finally spoke up, head tilted to the side with a quizzical look. "What's so important until you boys need to discuss it behind Sakura's back?"

"Curiosity killed the cat, Tomoyo." Eriol said whimsically. "You must know that sometimes, ignorance is bliss."

Tomoyo knew she had lost this debate. She bitterly resented feeling dumb whenever she dealt with him. How did he manage to win every argument they shared? Where had the polite, gentle, sweet-talker, old Hiiragizawa gone to? Was it just her, or this new him was utterly despicable?

I need to change the topic, she thought.

"Actually, I came here to see you. We have something to discuss… privately."

Tomoyo meant it as sarcasm, by reciting over the words they used upon her earlier, yet clearly, she didn't expect the side-effect it might cause. There was a cracking noise; Syaoran had just broken the edge of his tray, his nostrils flared dangerously. In a split-second, Tomoyo realized her mistake and added to whomever's sake, "I cannot understand some points in today's class, so I hope you can teach me… or do something about it."

She knew she was a bad liar.

So did Eriol.

But, wonderfully, that cheap trick seemed to work on Syaoran. His stiffened body relaxed again, and he even asked, "You're sharing classes?"

"Just a few," replied Eriol lightly. "One or two."

Syaoran looked pleased with his answer. "Oh."

Eriol glanced at Tomoyo, who started biting on her lower lip—it was a habitual action whenever she felt uncomfortable or anxious—before shrugging his broad shoulder casually as though he didn't give a damn at her problem. "I'm busy right now, sorry. You'll have to wait until after the last period is over. My schedule for today is quite tight I can't even spare some minutes to go to the rooftop for a nap."

It was only a made-up story, she was perfectly sure. Nonetheless, Tomoyo noted a clue slipped between those words: rooftop.

He would meet her there after the last period.

Decoding had never been this easy.

ERIOL was lying on the flat surface of the rooftop when Tomoyo arrived. His arms propped under his head like a pillow, eyes closed, and she almost—almost—came to a conclusion that he was fast asleep, had it not been for him opening his mouth to break the silence between them. "What made you change your mind?"

It was a blatant question which caused her cheeks to turn pink a little, but Tomoyo continued to make determined steps towards him. "Your theory proves you right. I need this stupid allergy to be gone. Forever."

He let out a crisp laugh. "You've decided to join the open competition at last?"

"It's not just about Nakajima-senpai!" Rather irritated, she stomped over. Her mood wasn't good enough today and to have Eriol made her it worse was the last thing she wanted. Desperately trying to control her spiteful remark which threatened on the edge of her tongue, she breathed deeply while tilting up her head to look at the open sky.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale again.

Her annoyance subsided. Good. One who suggested to the others to take a long breath when they needed calming down for the first time possibly didn't know that he, or she, had created a postulate. No matter how furious people were, when they spared a few seconds to just breathe properly, it felt as though their rage was gone the moment their lungs released carbon dioxide into the air.

"I want...," she hesitated, "I want to stop those idiotic rumors. I'm starting to feel sick of them."

Eriol didn't reply right away. Tomoyo used this opportunity to scoot closer to him and sat on his left, carefully tucked the hem of her lightweight skirt under her legs so that it was safe from the attack of the afternoon breeze.

"I've heard some." He confessed, "And none of them sounds complimenting."

"Obviously it is!"

She shot him a glare—the one that said "I will kill you if you're going to make fun of me today"—but her lips were pressed tightly, forming a thin line which, virtually, was no more than a defiance of her silent cry. Eriol noticed this and finally got up to sit with her; the space between them was around sixty centimeters, possibly longer.

"I mean what I said, Tomoyo." He looked straight at her as he sat up, his every good intention reflected in his eyes. With brows knitted, Tomoyo studied him, mesmerized with this sudden behavior. And out of her will, she began to feel guilty for speaking in a harsh tone moments ago.

"So many people get it wrong. I'm not that prissy," she said tiredly.

Eriol seemed pretty interested. "I thought you don't give it a damn. True, those rumors are awful, but I was under impression that you don't care at all."

Tomoyo frowned. "At first, yes."

And then she told him everything. The detailed version of today's incident involving her, Nakajima Kouta, and a bitch called Amane Seira (Tomoyo nearly forgot about her name—who in the world was she, anyway?), who appeared from nowhere only to ruin her moments with him. Oh, and that provocation! She could understand this Amane person's jealousy, but to tell him such a wrong issue under her nose was crossing the line.

"What if Nakajima-senpai takes it seriously and our relationship is ruined?"

Eriol looked amused. "What relationship?"

"Our friendship, Hiiragizawa." She quickly replied. "Friendship is a kind of relationship, after all."

Tomoyo knew she sounded pathetic. But, oh, to hell with it!

"So, what are you going to do?" asked Eriol as his chin rested on both hands. This time, he was honestly asking her without any hidden intention. He had decided to go along with her pace. "If you're so bothered with it, why didn't you just go see him and make things right? What does this matter have to do with me?"

She shook her head. "No. I want all people to know that I don't treat men like germs."

Eriol almost laughed. "But, in fact, you do."

"I don't, Hiiragizawa." Tomoyo snarled, teeth gritted in obnoxious feeling.

"Oh, really? To tell you the truth, my dear old friend, Daidouji Tomoyo-san, when you're with me—and also whenever another male tries to have some talk to you—you often jump back slightly if I become a little too close to your liking, or pretend not seeing anything if someone wants to shake your hands." His explanation was long and merciless; it left Tomoyo sit thunderstruck, eye-widened. "In normal people's dictionary, that's what called as 'treating men like bacteria'. It's only natural if you don't realize it," he cut in even before she fully opened her mouth to speak, "because I think it's just your autopilot, an unconscious act of defense to prevent the allergy."

Tomoyo bit her lips. "Is that so…?"

"I've predicted that the allergy will cause trouble. It must be gotten rid of."

"Whatever." She huffed loudly whilst throwing both hands to the air. "I can't think anymore. I guess I'd like to follow your plan, Hiiragizawa. Just cure me. Make me what you call 'normal'. I'll be a good girl who does not complain."

Eriol clearly didn't expect this coming from her mouth. "Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute, Tomoyo. What's with the sudden change of heart?"

The raven-haired girl shrugged nonchalantly without saying anything.

"You're desperate," he chased. "You do not want Nakajima having a bad impression on you."

For a moment, there was silence between them.

Then, "Perhaps."

She whispered so low until it was almost impossible for Eriol to hear her.

"Do you like him that much?" His gaze was slowly turned investigative. Tomoyo turned her head to look at him and—noticing the way he stared at her—pouted.

"To me, he is more like a good partner for discussing any topics than someone whom I grow a crush on. But if you insist on asking me whether I like him or not… then yes." She was glad her voice sounded convincing and didn't falter at all. At a time like this, she needed to be sure with herself. Having a crush on someone was different from falling in love with him, that was what she always believed. The first one was less painful. Not too many emotions involved. If one day she found out that her feeling was one-sided, it became easier to move on.

"By the way, Hiiragizawa. I have one thing which bugs me for some time." Tomoyo spoke again, searching his eyes. "Despite of how hard I think for an answer, I just cannot understand why you are suddenly willing to help me out of this problem."

She spotted his eyed flickered when they met hers, his trademark smile (the ambiguous one; a smile which looked sweet and tender, yet frightening and mysterious at the same time) resurfaced as he responded to her statement. "I'll allow you to keep guessing."

What Eriol did next caused Tomoyo to have a sharp intake of breath. Smile changing into a wide smirk, he reached out a hand and swiped his palm along her exposed forearm in a swift motion, successfully leaving a tingling sensation on her skin.

"Lesson one: overcoming an unintentional contact. Your therapy had begun, Daidouji Tomoyo-san. Do your best."

Within her heart familiar shivers provoked it until it was beating faster and stronger. Tomoyo silently hoped that someone would wish her good luck.

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to be continued.