*sigh. I do admit, I am very, very, very guilty of putting of writing until now*

This is an ExT fic, in Tomoyo's POV. Oh yeah, 'most forgot. This takes place when they're all fifteen. Eriol moved back to Japan…. And gomen nasai for the really really corny title. *slaps her head*

Disclaimer: All the usual. Ain't belong to me, belongs to CLAMP…



Chapter 1: It's All Their Fault



I don't know how I got myself into this, well, mess! It isn't really a "mess" as one would put it, but at the moment, I really preferred not to be walking towards Hiiragizwa-kun's house. Maybe it was (with the urging of Sakura-chan and Li-kun) my fault that I had gotten myself into this situation. I volunteered to find a play for the school drama production. Not that I minded.

You, see the only catch was I didn't know Hiiragiziwa-kun was also helping out.

I swear, Li-kun and Sakura-chan must have been trying to set me up, again. When I confronted them, they acted all innocent, pretending they knew no such thing.

Flashback

"YOU SET ME UP WITH HIIRAGIZAWA-KUN! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!

"Now, Tomoyo-chan, be reasonable. Why would we do such a thing?" Sakura tried to cover up her grin as she talked to Tomoyo.

"Yeah, Daidouji-san. Why would we do such a thing?" Sakura shot Syaoran a dirty look and Syaoran shut up, sulking.

"I don't know why, and how you managed, but no way am I working at Hiiragizawa-kun's house!"

"It won't be that bad, Tomoyo-chan…"

End Flashback

'It won't be too bad, Tomoyo-chan." Yeah, right. If *anything* happens, it's Li-kun and Sakura-chan's fault.

Now I was heading over to Hiiragizawa's house to find a play.

"Daidouji-san?" His voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Hai?"

"We're here." Hiiragizawa-kun stopped in front of a splendid house. It had an enormous garden that weaved through the courtyard of the house. He unlocked the gate separating the house from the rest of the world, and he and I stepped in.

Hiiragizawa-kun opened his front door, and I entered his home for the first time. It was truly magnificent. A large foyer was covered in tiles.

Marble tiles. I mused. How extravagant.

"Actually, it was Nakuru's idea to have marble tiles," Eriol said, as if reading my mind.

"TOMOYO-CHAN!" A body was flung against me, knocking me slightly off balance. My eyes squeezed shut as I waited for the impact against the floor, but that never came. I cracked open one eye and saw Nakuru staring at me in delight.

"Tomoyo! It's been a long time since I saw you. Since my master never brings home anybody." Nakuru gave Eriol a sidelong glance. Eriol tried to act nonchalant.

"How have you been Nakuru?" I asked.

"Wonderful! I really like it here back in Japan. It's much better here than in England!" She threw Eriol another look, before turning back to me. She studied me with her large, mischief-filled eyes. "You're so thin," she said with slight distaste. "I'm going to bake a cake for you, 'kay?"

"Nakuru, could you make some tea?" Eriol's voice was calm, waking me out of my dazed stuor.

"Sure!" And Nakuru bounced off, still chattering to herself.

"Here, Daidouji-san, let me take your coat."

"Oh, arigato." I gave Hiiragizawa-kun my coat and slipped my shoes off. Unfortunately, I was still in my school uniform.

Eriol hung my coat in the large mirror closet that was in the foyer.

"Daidouji-san, the library's this way." Eriol turned to his left and proceeded to walk down this long length of hallway. I followed him, admiring the many paintings that hung on the walls. At last we reached the end of the hall. Eriol opened the large set of French doors that graced the wall. We stepped in and I gasped slightly at what I saw. Vast amounts of literature lay in Eriol's library. Books were everywhere, strewn on the floor, in stacks.

"Gomen nasai," Eriol said in an apologetic tone. "It's very messy in here. I took the liberty to start searching for plays without you."

"That's okay."

I gazed around. How could someone have so many books? I wandered over to one of the piles of books. I picked a book with gold binding and a rich red colored cover. I blew the fine layer of dust off. The book's title was in a foreign language: English. I traced my fingers on the title.

"I see you have found Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,'" Eriol said, coming up from behind me.

"A Midsummer Night's Dream..." I pronounced these words slowly.

Eriol took the book from my hand. He gazed at the book fondly.

"What is it about?" I asked.

"It is a humorous story. It's about a young girl whose father is forcing her to marry a man she doesn't love. The man she loves is a poet. The fairy king sees this and decides to "help" out, but things don't turn out the way he had planned." Eriol flipped the pages in the book. Then he gave the book to me. "Would you like to borrow it, Daidouji-san?"

"I would love to," I replied. "I really would. But I can't read English well." I handed the book back to Eriol.

"That's all right." Eriol frowned, slightly. Then as if he just had a sudden inspiration, his eyes sparkled and he smiled.

"Why don't you come over and I'll teach you to read English," Eriol paused, "that is if you don't mind."

I stared at Eriol as my mind registered what he had just offered me. About a million questions were going through my head right there and then. He looked at me, a bit, well,

Hopeful? I thought.

I opened my mouth to speak, "I-







AN: WHAHAHHAHA! What a bad place to end, but I have to go study now. Got two major exams, and I'm writing a fanfic 'stead of studying. Bad me. Ja!

Disclaimer2: I also don't own Shakespeare and his Midsummer's Night Dream. Sue me if you like, but I'm broke.