A.N. I don't own CCS.
Thanks for the reviews:
- Lugia Haruna Tohno Brunestud
- tomoyo-amethyst
- cullen4ever96
- Cavetta
- James Birdsong
Guys, I'm so sorry I took so long to update. Life's been too crazy for me these last months. First Year of High School is hard in all ways possible. Anyway, I hope I'll be able to write more from now on. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
XoXo
Keep 'On Rocking
Chapter 37:
As The Music FadesSyaoran's POV
"See, I told you everything was going to be fine"
"Yeah, Yeah" I ignored Elisabeth as we walked through the area near the stage, exiting it. Most of our friends had already left but we stayed, maybe it was because we were the only ones whose parents were not there… well, there was Kiyoshi too but it didn't look as if he cared about that. I suppressed a sigh as I watched most of the kids being hugged to death by their mothers. He couldn't be like that, even I wanted my mother and my sisters here. And that's a rare thing for me to say since every time I'm with them, mother keeps trying to brainwash me with the stupid things the elders say (just because she's brainwashed it doesn't I have to be too) and my sisters are annoying me as they tease me and hug me until I can't take it anymore. He had to care, that'd also explain why he disappeared right after the concert ended.
"Where are the others?" I asked Elisabeth, trying not to think about it
"Eriol's with his parents, Nakuru dragged him there before he could protest. Sakura's with Fujitaka-san and Touya-kun. Tomoyo went off somewhere, I don't know where… And I have no idea where Kiyoshi is" She said frowning as she said Kiyoshi's name.
"Did you have a fight?" I asked amused but at the same time knowing it couldn't be it, they fight all of the time…
"No, It's just that I think he's hiding something from me…" She attempted, an strange expression crossing her face
"Just because he didn't want to tell you about what happened to me…" I said "C'mon, Liz, that's not that much of big deal. Actually, I'm glad he didn't say anything"
"I'm not talking about that…" Elisabeth rolled her eyes "He just did that in attempt to annoy me, he's planning to tell us all later"
"That's good to know" I said sarcastically, that traitor
"I think that he's hiding something really serious and important from me" She said
"You know, Elisabeth, this must be news to you but in our world having our minds exposed isn't exactly what we can call pleasant" I stated.
"Syaoran" She exclaimed frustrated "I'm being serious. We all know he has been hiding something from us since day one. But… lately I think it's been getting worst. And I have a bad feeling it's something really serious and dangerous"
"Humm…" I didn't know what to say, my mind was racing, there were so many possibilities to my answer and many reactions as well. I couldn't decide on the right one, I was about to open my mouth to respond when a rush of doubt filled my mind. Elisabeth's a very cleaver girl, she knows exactly what to do to get what she wants, what if she already knows and just wants me to confirm it. And what if she doesn't really know but knows that I know something and just wants me to spill it out. Sounds like a really simple plan, who'd know the guy's secret better than his cousin? Damn her, she's smart.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Elisabeth snapped "What do you know? What are you two hiding from me?"
So, she didn't know… Ops. Don't think, Syaoran, don't think…
"Syaoran!" Elisabeth hissed, she would have yelled at me if we weren't in a public place. Actually now that I think of it, she'd have kicked my ass if we weren't in public…
"Scared of a girl, are you 'oh-the-powerful-heir-of-the-Li-Clan'?" She almost yelled at me. Hey! I'm not a chicken, you had like two lives of experience while I just had my almost fifteen years!
"No one called you a chicken, but if you say so" She hissed at me. Don't think, Syaoran! Argh, that's not fair! I almost let it slip when Terada-sensei approached us.
"Arroz-san, please, I need to have a word with you" He said. Elisabeth didn't look surprised but she gave him a look that said 'Do-I-Really-Have-To-Go?', Sensei didn't seen to notice that. Elisabeth sighed "Of course" She gave me one last glare and then replaced it with a fake smile "Will you be a sweetheart and carry this for me for a while?" She asked. I knew that look, I was going to die…
"Sure" I took her bag, man, what does she carry in that thing? I watched as she walked away with Terada-sensei, not looking happy at all. I waited for them to be far away enough and ran to the other direction. Shit, Eriol's plan as brilliant as it is was not going to work. She wouldn't be able to read Kiyoshi but she'd be able to read us. And if all three of us do that, she'll notice, actually she'll also notice even if only Kiyoshi does it. What the hell are we going to do? Kiyoshi? Eriol? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TWO? Damn! We won't be able to hide it from her long, that's why I suck at lying... to them at least. I sighed out loud, if it's a teacher asking why I'm late for class then I tell him I overslept easily but if it's one of my friends asking me awkward things like 'What is he hiding from me?', I'll probably end up saying 'The fact that he's bloody in LOVE with you!'
Argh! Since when I am such a drama queen? That's what I get for spending a lot of time with three of them and No! I'm not counting Sakura, she certainly has her moments, but the third member of the trio is none other than Eriol. I swear that sometimes I think that guy goes on PMS.
"That's what you wanted me to see? That stupid song?" A rude, angry-like voice laughed, interrupting my track of thought "You're pathetic"
"I just thought you had to know…" A voice I knew very well declared. What the hell was Kiyoshi doing?
"Know what? That you're even more pathetic than I thought" The voice barked, I stepped closer realizing the voice was coming from the woods. I hid in a bush. There I could see a man, he was about thirty, his eyes caught my attention they were dark, coal black, they were cold. He had blond hair, dirty-blond much like… Kiyoshi's. He wore a black over-coat over black jeans and a white shirt. He looked familiar somehow.
"I think I preferred when I had to pretend you were dead" Kiyoshi declared. What the hell?
"It would have stayed that way if you had stayed at the fucking Li clan" The man yelled.
"I told you I had no choice! Mother made me come" Kiyoshi protested
"I know Cho, boy, if you're a bit persuasive you can easily get your way with her" The man had a smirk on his face
"You mean by hitting her like you used to do" Kiyoshi snapped "She told me about that when I turned thirteen, but I didn't want to believe her, because I used to think you…" He paused "It was true, wasn't it? What everybody said… that you're a stupid jackass"
"Look, boy, I won't say that it's one of my brightest moments because it's not but I'm not going to apologize…"
"Because you're always right?" Kiyoshi snapped "Yeah right, it'd be more of the words like you're a fucking self-centered bastard" He yelled "You can't be my father"
"Well, I am" he was my uncle?
"I HATE YOU" Kiyoshi yelled, the stupid jackass came up to him and slapped him in the face. Kiyoshi fell on the floor. I stood up, my sword already in my hand, I was about to go there but something pulled me back. It was Eriol. I gave him a look
"Wait" It was all he said, since he could read my dearest uncle's mind I trusted him and did what he said. We watched as Kiyoshi stood up from the floor, for the first time in my life I saw him cry.
"What? Can't you take the truth?" Kiyoshi yelled
"You insolent boy" He was about to hit him again and I couldn't take it anymore. I took my sword and put it between them. My uncle looked surprised but just scowled unhappily.
"What a pleasant surprise, nephew" He said.
"You know what I think it's funny," I faked a smile at him "You did so much just so you wouldn't be related to us Lis, but now you're taking this family names so seriously, dear uncle"
"You're just like your father" Uncle made a face "Insolent, always putting his nose where he's not wanted"
"And what are you doing?" I asked
"Taking care of my business" He responded "He's still my son and you can't really change that"
"What a great father you are" I snorted, looking sideways slightly, where's Eriol? I hope he has a plan…
"Syaoran…" Kiyoshi started, I knew what he was going to say and I didn't care.
"Kiyoshi, forget about it" I rolled my eyes.
"Look, I don't have time to play tag with you, I'm just going to warn you one more time" Uncle said "I'm going to make you pay" With that he turned to leave but as he turned around something threw him in the ground. We looked over to see Elisabeth and Eriol glaring at him. That was an strange scene. Elisabeth and Eriol are scarily alike when we're talking about personality, but when it comes to looks they're really different. She's blond, and has Brazilian features and a greenish eye. While Eriol has a bluish black hair, slightly Asian features but still you can easily tell he's not Asian and bright blue eyes. That moment as they stood up, it was strange, as different as they looked they were so alike. They looked taller as well, somehow as if it wasn't even them. It took me a moment to see that Eriol was holding his sun centre. There was a light surrounding both of them, they looked older and darker.
"Insolent" Elisabeth declared
"Impertinent" Eriol agreed. Kiyoshi and I shared a look, it wasn't their voices, it was as if something was speaking through them.
"Eriol Hiiragizawa and Elisabeth Arroz" I had to admit that uncle has guts, even after watching this creepy scene he was still confident. I guess that also makes him a loser. Elisabeth and Eriol continued to simply glare at him, their expressions were emotionless, I couldn't see anything through it. Eriol raised his centre and put it on Uncle's face.
"What shall guarantee you the rights to act in such a disrespectful manner with our decedents?" Eriol asked, still emotionless.
"What the hell are you talking about, boy?" Uncle yelled confused.
"Don't pretend not to know such things like this. Even thought you seem to be ashamed of being a Li and do not want to relate with them, you still were created in the Li ways, there before you know about your family's great ancestors" Elisabeth explained. Uncle stared at her as if she was crazy.
"What the hell?" He repeated, standing on his feet he tried to shake them off of his way, but they didn't even cringe. Eriol, instead, grabbed his hand and waved him down on the floor again.
"Yi Ze Li, you dared to disrespect us" Eriol declared "We do not enjoy that"
"As we don't enjoy traitors who like to take their anger on poor defenseless children" Elisabeth added. Kiyoshi and I looked at each other. Defenseless? Ouch! That one hurt!
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Yi Ze shouted.
"Keep in your mind that you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for us" Elisabeth said as she raised her hands and the woods started to move around her. Yi Ze jumped a few steps back. His face was white
"Y-You…" He muttered
"What?" Eriol smirked, finally showing an emotion, "Freaks. Is that the word you're looking for" Yi Ze still had the nerve to nod. Elisabeth smiled
"You just seem to be forgetting the fact that the blood that runs through our freak bodies is the same one that runs in your body"
"It's not, you're from England, and you're from Brazil, I am from Japan, so that means we are not in any means related" Yi Ze said in a defensive way, as if this would mean the end of the world to him.
"Yes, Elisabeth's and Eriol's present bodies are by no means related to yours. Differently from their origins, us" Eriol said
"What?" Yi Ze looked at them suspiciously, as the moving wood began to move towards him.
"We're not Eriol Hiiragizawa or Elisabeth Arroz." Elisabeth said
"We're Clow and Carla Reed" Eriol finished
"That's not possible" Yi Ze shuddered "Clow's dead for I-don't-know-how-many-years-now and they aren't even sure if Carla existed"
"I did exist, and I'm now here to make you pay" Carla said "Shall I do the honors, Clow?" She looked at Eriol who nodded "Sure" With a final scream Yi Ze disappeared into the woods. They turned their glance at us.
"Good show guys, you really tricked him off" I said, they continued serious.
"It's not a show, Syaoran" Elisabeth said. I looked at them… of course… it's really them. I opened my mouth to ask why they did such thing, but Kiyoshi cut me off
"Is he dead?" He looked pale, he was really white. I wondered if he had hurt him more before I arrived because Kiyoshi was bleeding hard, he had a cut that came from his ear to his neck and another one on his left cheek.
"No, the woods will keep him busy for a while" Elisabeth… I mean Carla said
"Why did you come?" I asked
"We have to warn you about something" Erio-Clow said "Time is coming"
"Time?" I asked confused
Carla sighed "You have to be prepared, difficult things will happen. Darkness draws close"
"Don't be so dramatic, Carla" Clow rolled his eyes
"I'm being realistic, Clow. They need to know…" She hesitated "You know how hard this will be on them…"
"Yes, but…" Clow looked like he wanted to argue but thought better of it. "Look, we don't have time for that" He turned to us "Just be prepared"
"And remember that as cliché as this might sound love and friendship is the most important thing" Carla added.
"Good Luck" Clow said and with a nod to Carla they both closed his eyes and then the glow that filled them was gone and we were left with good and old Elisabeth and Eriol. They blinked several times and looked around "Where are we?" Great, they don't even remember it.
"We'll explain later" I sighed, then I heard Elisabeth gasp
"Kiyoshi? Why are you bleeding?" She asked
"Uh… what?" Kiyoshi let out still dazed by all of this mess. Elisabeth sighed and walked over to him, and started to clean his wound, she used her powers to call over some water. Kiyoshi winced in pain.
"Guys" I heard a sweet voice call over, we turned to see Sakura standing there. I went up to her and hugged her. "What happened?" She asked
"Carla and Clow paid us a visit" I said. Elisabeth, Eriol and Sakura stared at me "What?"
"Long Story" I waved them off "Look, we need to get out of here. I'll explain it when we get home, now where's Tomoyo?" I asked
"She's talking to her mother, I think" Sakura said, you may think that it's too much of a coincidence, but at that exactly moment we heard Tomoyo's familiar voice exclaiming
"Dad, what are you doing here?" We exchanged a surprised look. Tomoyo never talked about her father, I honestly thought he was dead. Apparently, I'm wrong as we heard a voice saying
"Can't a man visit his daughter?" The man laughed "C'mon, Tomoyo! I haven't seen you in four years"
"And how is that my fault?" Tomoyo asked "You're the one who got married to your work" She snapped. Oh, is this 'the I have an issue with my father' day? I sighed out loud as I followed the others to a bush near by so we could see the scene more clearly. Tomoyo really looked angry, angrier than I've ever seem her. I could faintly make out the face of the man. He was wearing black pants and a blue button-up shirt. He wearing glasses and had the same unique hair color as Tomoyo. His eyes had the same sparkle we see in Tomoyo everyday. Now I can understand where Tomoyo gets her looks from, she's like the younger, female version of her father.
"Tomoyo…" Her father started
""Don't Tomoyo me, father" Tomoyo hissed lowly "You haven't answered my question: What are you doing here?" She repeated.
"I came to see you concert" He said "Your mother told me you've put a lot of yourself in it"
"Yes" Tomoyo agreed "As I've put a lot of myself in all of my performances, yet this never seemed to be enough for you to give yourself the trouble of coming here and spending more than three hours with me. So let's quit the peep talk and get on with it" She paused for a second, as if she had just realized what she had just said and had to analyze what she was about to say. I could the shocked face of her parents and wondered what would happen if I were to confront my mother like that. The prospect of that scene made me smile.
"I think we all know what you're here for" Tomoyo continued "So spill it, actually, I don't even think you need to. You think that your little visit will sort everything out. Well, I've got some news for you, father, it won't fix anything"
"Tomoyo, honey" Her father said softly "Why are you acting this way? We've always given you everything you could possibly want…"
"Not everything" Tomoyo said "You gave me everything you thought necessary, but in the middle of it all, you failed to see what I really wanted all along. The only thing I really needed"
Sonomi-san who had stayed quiet until then, protested
"It's not too late, darling. If we…"
"If we what, mother?" Tomoyo yelled "Do you know how old I am? Fourteen, soon to be fifteen. After more than ten years of suffering… Do you really think I'll get over this so soon? Do you really think I'll bee able to trust you when I know it's all empty promises? You'll do this for three months, maybe four and then forget all about it. Like it has always been." Tomoyo took a deep breath and sighed as she turned to look at her parents, obviously trying not to cry
"Look, I love you guys, I really do. How can I possibly not? You're my parents. But your money, your gifts don't really make me feel loved. It just makes me think that you're trying to buy me, because in reality, you know that there's something missing. You just pretend you don't"
We exchanged a look, knowing we had to do something to get her out of this mess, but what?
"Nevertheless, I have some news for you two. I moved on. I spent most of my childhood pretending that I had everything, but now I got tired of it. As much as I'd love to give it a try and see if there's a way to recover the time lost, I know that it's an impossibility." Tomoyo told them, I could see that Sonomi-san was about to burst into tears "That's why I'm glad I found some friends that are more like a family to me than you've ever been"
"You're talking about Sakura-san, and your other friends. Arroz-san, both Li-sans and Hiiragizawa-san, right?"
"Just because you know their names, it doesn't mean you really know them" Tomoyo rolled her eyes at her mother, as her face suggested she was proud of knowing our names "If we wanted we could become a gang of EMO punk thieves and you wouldn't even notice"
"What? You're not, are you?" Her father asked worriedly
"No" Tomoyo half-sighed, half-groaned in frustration "But what my friends and I do is none of your business since you know nothing about my life anyway"
This sentence gave me the perfect idea. I looked at Kiyoshi and Eriol, they too were grinning.
"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking?" Kiyoshi grinned, now free of the blood on his face.
"I think so" Eriol and I chorused.
"And I like what you're thinking" Elisabeth smirked
"Why is this giving me a bad feeling?" Sakura asked, she paused for a moment before saying "Count me in"
We stared at her, as she asked confused "What?"
"Humm… Sakura, I hate to break it up to you, but usually you don't seem to like, er, our crazy plans" Elisabeth said "You usually say that they're cruel and that they hurt people's feeling needlessly.
"Well, yes" Sakura admitted "But I agree that Tommy's parents should have shown her more love. It is the most important thing after all. If they couldn't see that it hurt her, we should show them, so that they can make things right. They do love her very much after all"
"Alright, then" I said "Let's get going" I grinned as I put my hands around Sakura's waist and lead her out of the bushes as she protested she didn't know the plan and we told her to go along with it.
"Hey Tommy!" I screamed as we got closer to them, walking side by side. The three of them turned to look at us, Sonomi-san looked frustrated, her father looked confused and Tomoyo relived.
"We've been looking for you everywhere" Eriol said as he put his arms around her shoulder, I could see her father's eyes fight not to glare at him. Oh, this is going to be fun.
"Yeah, after all that work, I just want to go home and take off the backstreet boy outfit" Kiyoshi laughed, as Tomoyo rolled her eyes and hit her in the shoulder.
"C'mon, you two" Sakura giggled "Oh, Hey, Sonomi-san" She smiled at Tomoyo's mother as all of us gave her a chorus of 'hey'. She nodded looking annoyed at our presence, "Hello, kids"
"So, anyway, you got our things with you? We're off to go home" I said
"Oh, we were planning on taking Tomoyo with us this time, if you want we can give you a lift" Her father said, we looked at him as if we didn't know who he was.
"Humm… are you the limo driver?" Elisabeth asked, I fought a laugh that wanted to escape. Her father's face turned red. Tomoyo laughed out loud
"No, guys" She giggled "That's my father, Jack Daidouji"
"Oh" Elisabeth forced a blush "Sorry"
"It's ok" He said
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Daidouji" Eriol said shaking his hand "I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa, there are Elisabeth Arroz, Kiyoshi Li, Syaoran Li and Sakura Kinomoto"
"Oh, so you're Nadeshiko's daughter?" Jack smiled "You do look like your mother"
"I've been told that" Sakura smiled, and then turned to Tomoyo "So you're ready, Tommy?"
"Yup, It's all right here" She pointed at her bag "The rest will be delivered at the mansion by my bodyguards"
"Cool, we can drop our stuff of and head to Yamazaki's party" Elisabeth said
"Huh? What party?" Tomoyo asked confused
"Oh, yeah, you were talking with your parents, of course you don't know" Elisabeth laughed "Yamazaki invited us to his party to celebrate tonight"
"Cool, count me in" Tomoyo smiled
"Wait a minute" Jack exclaimed "What is this all about?"
"Oh, we're all crashing at Kiyoshi's and Syaoran's place" Tomoyo explained
"No, you're not." Jack barked angrily
"It's just a sleepover, dad" Tomoyo rolled her eyes "It's not Gossip Girl"
"But I thought you liked that series" Her father said confused. Tomoyo let out a snort
"Yeah, But that doesn't mean that I'll go around and start acting like Blair Waldorf" She explained
"Still, I'm not sure this is a good idea" Jack said
"Whatever, dad" Tomoyo waved him off "I gotta go, I have a party waiting for me"
With that she gave us a wink and we all walked away, leaving her parents angry and confused. When we got out of their sigh we started laughing.
"Thanks, guys" Tomoyo smiled
"No problem" I winked at her
"Yeah, but you'll have to talk to them sooner or later, you know that, right?" Sakura said
"Yes, and I choose later" Tomoyo said "Great idea, by the way, Liz. A party. Ha, I bet dad won't sleep tonight. He thinks the only type of party honorable is the one you dance waltz the whole night"
"I wasn't lying, Yamazaki will come to invite us for his party in like thirty seconds" Elisabeth grinned. And right on cue, we could see Yamazaki coming in our direction. We only had time to let out a few chuckles as he exclaimed
"Hey guys. I was looking for you. Party in my house in half an hour. Tonight was a big night and my parents think I should celebrate, well, I should if I don't want to lose my head" He grinned "Did you hear that a long time ago, when th…"
"TAKASHI! QUIT TELLING LIES AND COME HERE TO HELP ME CARRY THIS BAG" We heard Chiharu's voice from the background. Yamazaki winced at this and sighed.
"I'll tell you guys later. Gotta go, now. I trust you to be there" He added and walked away
"A party with Yamazaki telling lies the whole night. Sounds like it will be fun" I laughed "Too bad we won't go"
"Why?" Tomoyo asked confused
"You're not the only on who had problems with your father tonight" I said looking at Kiyoshi
"Huh?" Tomoyo raised an eyebrow
"That's why we can't go, we have many things to dis…" I started but a voice interrupted me
"I think we should go" I was surprised to see Elisabeth say that. I gave her a puzzled look
"I know that we have many issues right now but well, we barely have time to act like kids our age. We can't let this opportunity pass. Tomorrow we can take our time to talk about these problems. It's also better that way because we can call Yue, Kero, Nakuru and Spinnel Sun, so that they can help us figure this out" She said.
"I don't know…" I started
"The subject is urgent, but still nobody's gonna die in the few hours between today and tomorrow. That is something I can promise you" Elisabeth said "So what do you say?"
"I say it's ok" Eriol stated "We deserve to have fun every once in a while"
"I say we should go" Sakura giggled
"I'm with them" Kiyoshi said
"Alright then, I guess we're going" I said
"Yes, we should most definitely go, just one thing" Tomoyo gave us an annoyed look, "Could you at least fill me in and tell me what happened?" She exclaimed extremely annoyed. We laughed at her
"Don't worry, I don't know the whole story myself" Eriol said
"Then…"
"I'll explain it" I said "Let's just that it evolves Kiyoshi's father, Carla and Clow"
"B-But aren't them all dead?" She said confused and we laughed even harder. Sometimes it's good to be normal.