DISCLAIMER: See previous chapters for official disclaimer.
DEDICATION: Empress Sasami. Arigato, otomodachi-san.
If Only For A Day
by Ekai Ungson
Chapter IV: Everyday
Tomoyo was working with Eriol every spare chance she got. She wrote new lyrics for some of his old compositions. She was pasting some of her old words on them, either old or new, as long as it worked to both their liking. They worked sometimes together, in the same room, throwing comments and suggestions at each other, or apart, he at home and she at home, afterwards calling each other when new improvisations or inspirations arose.
Music was keeping them together.
Or was it really just that?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tomoyo really wasn't aware she was doing it.
But one day at Eriol's manor she had been writing things without actually thinking about them, letting the words flow. It didn't matter if the words were coherent or not, as long as she was writing.
And then she just found herself staring at the man on the piano.
Staring at him, studying him, without actually consciously noticing.
She found herself understanding just how beautiful he really was, when she'd memorized his beauty.
Beautiful. Yes, there was no other word. It... how would she put it? It came from within.
She shook her head furiously and stared at the paper she held in her hands and was surprised to see the whole sheet covered with verses about 'the beauty in him' and 'ice blue eyes' and... and...
"Am I falling for you?"
She folded the paper quickly, then shoved it in her bag. This was scary. Very scary.
She could NOT be falling for the man.
She should NOT be falling for the man.
She WOULD NOT be.
For Kami-sama's sake, he was engaged!
For another, he was... well, he was practically Sakura-chan's father. A very malevolent, manipulating one. NOT her type, thank you.
Just a crush. There was no other explanation.
Attraction is to attraction was, and so what? The man was truly handsome. Intelligent to boot. But no, really. Thanks, but no, thanks.
The more she tried, the more feeble her reasons sounded to her own ears.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Was she aware?
Eriol atched subtly as the girl in the red armchair swung her legs over one arm and rested her back on the other. A slender hand went up to throw an insistent strand of raven hair over her shoulder. Watched as her violet eyes pored over the sheaf of papers in her hand, squint a bit and jot down another line.
And he realized just then that this girl was completely unself-conscious, that she was completely unaware of her own beauty.
When she smiled, she did so openly, without a trace of fake demure-ness. She walked proudly, with a regal gait in each step.
She was real.
Now he wondered about himself.
He began to contemplate exactly what the woman had in her that he couldn't seem to get enough of her.
He questioned why he could see exactly what she saw, and wanted what she, too, sought.
He wondered why her mere presence was making him feel considerably lighter.
He wondered.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"The crescendo's off."
Eriol looked up. "Again, Daidouji-san?"
"It's off by five notes, and don't call me Daidouji-san, call me Tomoyo," Tomoyo replied.
"I apologize on both counts."
"You're forgiven, and my thanks."
He smiled at her. "You're an enigma. A walking contradiction."
"No, I'm just terribly brutish. You become like that in this business," she replied. "You, on the other hand, are impossibly prim, like a gentleman from the highest high court."
An eyebrow rose from the Prim One.
And an innocent smile from the Enigmatic Brute.
Then, the insistent ringing of a cellphone. Hers.
She listened intently to Fia, who was on the verge of insanity, and to Will (using the private extension in her office, no doubt), who was on the brink of tirade.
She jumped up. "I have to go, Hiiragizawa-kun."
"But we're not done."
"We can't finish it in one day. Fia and Will are going crazy. I fear that if I don't get back to 0105 now, I'll find it in ashes later. I'm sorry. We'll do this another time." She gathered up her things, planted a kiss on his cheek, and with the speed of a skittish panther, let herself out of the mansion.
He smiled. There was always that friendly familiarity. You get that after being friends for over ten years.
As for the kisses, they were nothing. She'd began doing it a week after she began working with him. It surprised him at first, but he found comfort in them later.
But he couldn't quite understand why he longed for something more.
He frowned at the prospect of having to share her with her all-important fashion company.
But he planned to fix that.
DEDICATION: Empress Sasami. Arigato, otomodachi-san.
If Only For A Day
by Ekai Ungson
Chapter IV: Everyday
Tomoyo was working with Eriol every spare chance she got. She wrote new lyrics for some of his old compositions. She was pasting some of her old words on them, either old or new, as long as it worked to both their liking. They worked sometimes together, in the same room, throwing comments and suggestions at each other, or apart, he at home and she at home, afterwards calling each other when new improvisations or inspirations arose.
Music was keeping them together.
Or was it really just that?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tomoyo really wasn't aware she was doing it.
But one day at Eriol's manor she had been writing things without actually thinking about them, letting the words flow. It didn't matter if the words were coherent or not, as long as she was writing.
And then she just found herself staring at the man on the piano.
Staring at him, studying him, without actually consciously noticing.
She found herself understanding just how beautiful he really was, when she'd memorized his beauty.
Beautiful. Yes, there was no other word. It... how would she put it? It came from within.
She shook her head furiously and stared at the paper she held in her hands and was surprised to see the whole sheet covered with verses about 'the beauty in him' and 'ice blue eyes' and... and...
"Am I falling for you?"
She folded the paper quickly, then shoved it in her bag. This was scary. Very scary.
She could NOT be falling for the man.
She should NOT be falling for the man.
She WOULD NOT be.
For Kami-sama's sake, he was engaged!
For another, he was... well, he was practically Sakura-chan's father. A very malevolent, manipulating one. NOT her type, thank you.
Just a crush. There was no other explanation.
Attraction is to attraction was, and so what? The man was truly handsome. Intelligent to boot. But no, really. Thanks, but no, thanks.
The more she tried, the more feeble her reasons sounded to her own ears.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Was she aware?
Eriol atched subtly as the girl in the red armchair swung her legs over one arm and rested her back on the other. A slender hand went up to throw an insistent strand of raven hair over her shoulder. Watched as her violet eyes pored over the sheaf of papers in her hand, squint a bit and jot down another line.
And he realized just then that this girl was completely unself-conscious, that she was completely unaware of her own beauty.
When she smiled, she did so openly, without a trace of fake demure-ness. She walked proudly, with a regal gait in each step.
She was real.
Now he wondered about himself.
He began to contemplate exactly what the woman had in her that he couldn't seem to get enough of her.
He questioned why he could see exactly what she saw, and wanted what she, too, sought.
He wondered why her mere presence was making him feel considerably lighter.
He wondered.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"The crescendo's off."
Eriol looked up. "Again, Daidouji-san?"
"It's off by five notes, and don't call me Daidouji-san, call me Tomoyo," Tomoyo replied.
"I apologize on both counts."
"You're forgiven, and my thanks."
He smiled at her. "You're an enigma. A walking contradiction."
"No, I'm just terribly brutish. You become like that in this business," she replied. "You, on the other hand, are impossibly prim, like a gentleman from the highest high court."
An eyebrow rose from the Prim One.
And an innocent smile from the Enigmatic Brute.
Then, the insistent ringing of a cellphone. Hers.
She listened intently to Fia, who was on the verge of insanity, and to Will (using the private extension in her office, no doubt), who was on the brink of tirade.
She jumped up. "I have to go, Hiiragizawa-kun."
"But we're not done."
"We can't finish it in one day. Fia and Will are going crazy. I fear that if I don't get back to 0105 now, I'll find it in ashes later. I'm sorry. We'll do this another time." She gathered up her things, planted a kiss on his cheek, and with the speed of a skittish panther, let herself out of the mansion.
He smiled. There was always that friendly familiarity. You get that after being friends for over ten years.
As for the kisses, they were nothing. She'd began doing it a week after she began working with him. It surprised him at first, but he found comfort in them later.
But he couldn't quite understand why he longed for something more.
He frowned at the prospect of having to share her with her all-important fashion company.
But he planned to fix that.