A/N: Thank you for all who reviewed. Apple and cheng were quick to respond after I posted. LOL Please read and review. :)
Act 21, Winter
"Daidōji Tomoyo." Sakura uttered her name as if challenging her.
The former heiress swallowed nervously and then made a meek gesture of assent, unsure of how to act around her friend under this scrutiny because it was hard if she was looking at her like that. Nobody had explained to Sakura until she got back from the urgent business call that Aya was now living in the Amamiya house, and that Aya wasn't exactly her real name as well.
The emerald-eyed girl circled Tomoyo once in the most agonizingly slow manner, making the latter fidget.
She hadn't expected Tōya's sister to easily accept her explanation of her deception but she didn't think Sakura would inspect her this way either.
The dark-haired girl squirmed on her chair again.
The younger Kinomoto sniffed before she finally faced Tomoyo.
"You still look and smell like the same girl I met in the library." Surprisingly, there was no derision in her light tone.
"Eh?"
"And react the same way, too!"
Tomoyo's bewildered expression was priceless to behold.
"Sakura-chan, I—"
Her friend held a hand up, grinning cheekily and obviously enjoying the whole act.
"Nai nai nai. Don't even start again. It was necessary, a disguise, I get it. It's just that everything sort of blew me away. Who would have thought the girl oniichan was telling me about is also my friend?"
Her confusion was plainly written on her face. Tomoyo didn't know why Tōya would even talk about her at all.
"Thank you, I guess..."
"Sugoi! You can definitely stay with us for as long as you like!"
"Oh. I'd hate to abuse your hospitality—"
"That's the most absurd notion, Tomoyo-chan. Christmas is in a few days. Did you actually think I am going to let you mope alone in your apartment on that day while my family is having a party here?"
"A party?" Her eyebrows had risen.
Sakura nonchalantly smoothed her blouse after she removed an nonexistent lint on the fabric.
"Un. We host a party and dress up and enjoy our family and friends' company," the girl explained, pleased that she was the one telling Tomoyo this. Then the expression on her face shifted noticeably, softening in the glow of the sunlight as if remembering a happy memory. "We do it every year like sort of a reunion. We see the people we don't usually see."
A snort interrupted the girls' conversation.
"I sure hope you're not talking about the gaki."
"Aniki!"
Tōya was leaning his back on the door frame, his built readily melting against it and his scowl in place.
"Who is he talking about?" Tomoyo whispered her question but she might as well announced it out loud.
"No one!" Sakura cried back at her friend that poor Tomoyo could only blink at her outburst.
"Anō..."
"Jaa, I have a gorgeous kimono that I would like you to wear in the party. It's going to be perfect."
She was undeniably defensive all of a sudden, bright flags still staining her face despite her attempt to change the subject. It was hard to tell if her brother had just come in the living room to bait her or to amuse himself. Seeing Tōya's conceited expression the dark-haired young woman guessed it was both. Nakuru had walked in just as Tōya started to look bored.
"You're up," the doctor stated his wonder, straightening up from his slouch at the presence of his assistant. "Shouldn't you still be sleeping?"
Nakuru had stayed up most of night to keep watch of his cousin's condition until Tōya relieved her.
The comely nurse beamed at the girls.
"And miss out on the fun? We're on vacation, Tōya-kun," she purposely drawled the honorific to tease him, rolling her golden eyes in mirth. Somehow there was suspicious color on her cheeks when she turned to the girls.
"Ohayō minna-san. What are we up to today?"
"A party! And we are going to prepare for it." Sakura happily announced, clapping her hands and almost bouncing.
"Only a kaijuu gets excited like that."
Tomoyo couldn't stop her giggle on time and her friend had seen her amusement of the situation.
"Hoe!"
Nakuru shot an effective glare in the doctor's way.
"Ignore him, Sakura-chan. We'll have our revenge soon."
"Oi. What could you possibly do to avenge my sister, Nakuru?" Tōya challenged the nurse with a raised eyebrow. They had readily dropped the professional front and fell to a comfortable familiarity that was built through the years.
"Prep up your sister for a certain gaki. Wouldn't you just love that?" It was easy to tell she relished the idea of borrowing his own terms and that grimace on his youthful face while she taunted him further with a snicker.
Sakura had blushed again, disconcerted that she was still somehow the receiving end of the dispute.
Despite the childish banter the adults in the room enjoyed themselves, completely oblivious of the emerald-eyed girl's embarrassment or her friend's curiosity. All of a sudden, Tomoyo was envious for the first time, and she wished she had a family like Sakura's. She hated that she had to run away from her own mother like this and be alone in Christmas and possibly for the rest of her life.
"You're doing it again, Tomoyo-chan." She wasn't really alone anymore.
"Doing what?"
She couldn't thank Eriol Hiiragizawa enough.
"Spacing out. Come on. Let's go see Eriol-nii now."
Tōya was still whining about how Eriol wouldn't stop playing the piano when he should be resting. Sakura said something about her cousin being a workaholic while he was inspired, her brother, however, simply tagged it as inappropriate manic manifestation.
"I am not obsessed," Eriol fought back with conviction. "I've wasted too much time getting sick. I need to practice for the concourse."
"Which is funny because you're bound to get sick again with the stress."
"It won't even come to that point, oniisan."
It appeared like Tōya was about to gravely retaliate, and Nakuru was quick to physically steer the doctor away from Eriol before they could start another wave of argument. She was always sensitive like that and the pianist was grateful for the interruption.
He couldn't stop now. He had to concentrate on rehearsing the two pieces. Terada, who acted as his mentor, would have expected nothing less of him. Inevitably, one of the loose pages of the second piece slid gracefully on the floor, and he abruptly stopped playing to pick it up. That same time another pale hand was reaching for it.
Curious sapphire met dazed amethyst.
Eriol wondered if Tomoyo had also felt the variation in the air between them. Neither could move for a few seconds until the girl's pink flush crept to her neck and ears, and when they started to they jerked too sharply and consequently bumped their heads together.
"I'm sorry, Hiiragizawa-san," the young woman blurted first, still caressing a growing bump just above her temple.
"No, I apologize. I moved too soon." He grinned awkwardly as he fixed his glasses in place. "Daijōbu desu ka."
Eriol helped the girl to the piano bench.
"It's nothing," the former heiress, who still seemed dizzy in his eyes, tried to assure him.
"Are you sure?"
She beamed that sophisticated smile and he was compelled to consciously turn to the doctored notes on the piano rest.
"Did I break your rehearsal? Forgive me. I shouldn't have—"
He laughed, the rich tone pleasantly ringing through the whole house.
"You really should stop it, Daidōji-san." The bespectacled man was still chuckling to himself as Tomoyo tilted her head naively.
"Stop what? I'm sorry—"
"There you go again. Has anyone told you that you apologize too much?"
He may have found her habit amusing, but the former heiress just fell silent, her heliotrope orbs betrayed her discomfort at his careless jest. Eriol groaned inwardly.
I am now officially an idiot.
"Sumimasen. That was not funny. Actually, it was rather obtuse."
He slumped beside her and rested his head in his hands, suddenly exhausted though he didn't know why.
"Did it feel good though?" She was asking him as if he hadn't just offended her.
"What did?"
Right then he realized that Tomoyo never had her hair down anymore since she stayed with them, and he was unexpectedly sorry.
She's still exquisitely beautiful however. That train of thought loudly crashed against the rational part of his mind.
"Laughing." Tomoyo said it so naturally that he was transfixed even when she was playing the Ravel piece as she sight-read.
"I hadn't laughed like that in a very long time," Eriol confessed, watching her expert fingers run across the keys.
"Then I'm glad that I made you laugh...even if it had to be in my expense." Her voice blended in the music she was making. "You have a beautiful laugh."
He dared to anticipate another color to manifest in her pale face but there was only a peaceful smile.
"Arigatō."
It was him who had too look away. He was probably the awkward one between the two of them.
Quick notes:
nai - no
un - yes
aniki - one's older brother (A/N: note that oniisan here is still used to refer to an older male. I did that to make a distinction of how Sakura calls Tōya and Eriol.)
hoe - (A/N: not really sure what this means but Sakura in anime and manga says this a lot.)
kaijuu - monster