Disclaimer: I don't own any ccs characters. :( They all belong to CLAMP.
So, here's the next chapter...It really didn't take too long, I had a little writers block on how to end, but I got over it....*quickly posts and runs away from the Great One*...thanx to the people who reviewed...
Touya-mou - I'm not sure how to beat someone with chopsticks either...I know they make really long ones though...I should go find a pair...hehehe
After leaving the bar, Eriol wandered the streets of the Underground. He was intrigued by this Phoenix character. He started asking around for information about her, information that the people were reluctant to give. Discouraged, he decided that he would just have to come back another time when the Phoenix was there.
He got home at nine that night. His mother was frantic with worry. "Eriol, Eriol. Where were you?? We were supposed to go somewhere tonight, but that's all right. We can stay at home and have a nice family dinner instead. Ok? Does that sound good to you?"
"Mother, I'm not dying. What ever you want to do sounds good to me," he said, shrugging her off.
The next morning at breakfast, reading the news reels, his father laughed. His mother, Edith, frowned. "What's so funny Harold?"
"Tomoyo Daidouji."
"Sonomi's daughter?"
"Yep, she's a looker too."
"Harold, she's eighteen." His mother called up the article on her vidcom and read it with a look of amusement on her face. "Excuse me. I need to make a phone call." She went to the phone in the hallway and dialed the number of the Daidouji residence. "Sonomi! This is Edith....Yes, yes....well, Eriol didn't get home until late last night, so we decided not to show. I read about your daughter this morning....Doesn't she remind you of they way you were?....Purposely?...*laughter* Then, Sonomi, she truly is your daughter....Sonomi," Edith paused to look around and make sure no one was listening. "Do you think she'll settle down in time?...You know what I'm talking about....well, we'd better hope she does....anything remotely scandalous would ruin all of us after that...yes...yes, I'll see soon." She hung up.
Eriol had been listening to his mother's conversation. What was she talking about with Mrs. Daidouji?? he thought. That conversation he had just heard was one of the oddest. He knew that Sonomi Daidouji and his mother had been friends since they were children, so they had a language that was all their own; they could say about fifty different thing using the word "you" by putting different emphasis' on the word. Insanity. He had meet Sonomi, but he had never meet her daughter and he never paid very much attention to gossip and newsreels to know what Tomoyo Daidouji looked like.
His father left for the office soon after breakfast. His mother would probably go to some ladies club. It was just him, the house, and the servants....again. He thought about how to occupy his day and immediately "Jester" popped into his mind. He could go there, but that would get boring after a while. He decided to do a little snooping on the nets to find references to a certain "Phoenix" of the Underground. He turned to his vidcom and searched.
Hours later, he sat, frustrated. This Phoenix woman covered her tracks well, not even the sited devoted to the Underground had anything on anyone named Phoenix. She obviously was experienced. His only other option was to look in the Underground, but that was dangerous. Eriol smiled to himself. He like danger.
Before he knew it, he was in the Underground district, wandering around with no apparent destination in mind.
Tomoyo was also wandering the Underground. She was on the job, but for herself this time; she had reason to believe that someone wanted her out of the picture and she had to get to him before he got to her. She transformed into a cat, keeping her ears alert for anything that might have to do with her. From on top of a building, she looked down at the people. There was one right below her that she could easily scare if she was in the mood. The person turned around. It was the guy from the Jester yesterday. My, my, won't he be fun to scare.
She jumped down and waited until his back was facing her before she shifted back into a human. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the fathead from the bar yesterday."
Eriol turned around, startled. "Hello Phoenix." He followed her with his eyes as she walked around him once.
"You're a cutie aren't you? And I'll bet you come with all the confidence of someone who knows he's a looker." She smiled slightly.
"So what if I am?" Eriol said. Tomoyo raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest. Eriol gave Tomoyo the elevator look. "You're not half bad yourself."
"I know," said Tomoyo, preening.
"So I guess we're in the same boat."
"It's a shame that I have to be classified with scum like you."
"How can you be so sure I'm scum?"
Tomoyo sniffed. "I just do." She started walking away. Eriol ran to catch up with her.
"I have a name you know," he said jogging at her side. "Eli."
"Yes, and I'm sure if you repeat it often enough I'll remember it," Tomoyo said sarcastically.
Eriol shrugged. "Eli Eli Eli Eli Eli Eli Eli."
"OK, that's enough," said Tomoyo sighing. "I didn't mean it literally." She turned to look at him. "You have no idea how annoying you are, yet I can't bring myself to hurt you."
"It's my charm. I'm chock full of it."
"Don't flatter yourself, Eli."
Eriol mockingly opened the door for her when the reached the Jester. Tomoyo ignored him and walked towards a back room. She unlocked it with a key that was around her neck and walked it. Tomoyo had been in here many times for the same reason, but she needed to make sure one last time. Her office was empty now. In actuality, there had never really been anything in it, but she had to make sure. She had debated with herself the wisdom of staying in the Underground. The people following her could not be a good thing, so reluctantly, she had gradually started to clear out of her informal headquarters.
After inspecting everything to her satisfaction, she left. Walking over to the bar, she rapped the counter with her knuckles. "Spiral!"
Spiral scurried over. "Phoenix. Two days in a row, you're here."
She ignored his comment. "My current employment requires me to obtain holdings that are more chic. I don't need that office anymore."
Spiral looked surprised. "Anymore?" but Tomoyo was already walking out of the bar. Spiral walked over to two men who were sitting in a booth. One was huge and muscled. The other was skinny and always moving. "Go, hurry up," he said quietly. "Follow her." The two men nodded and left.
They followed Tomoyo for a while before they lost her. Tomoyo knew she was being followed; she would have been surprised if she hadn't been. She let them follow her for a while before she jumped onto the roof of a building and shifted into a cat. She watched as the two men looked around to see where she went. Tomoyo looked up at the sun. It was close to noon. She would have to wait for another day to follow them, her mother would be expecting her home for afternoon tea.
She went home and changed. Her vidcom beeped at her. She turned on the screen and a message popped up. Some one was searching for her on the nets. She tried to trace the search, but who ever had conducted it was working from a secure network. That meant that this person had access to higher-level security nets, meaning this person had money. But she had never worked with any Elite, she had made sure of that. She tapped her teeth with a fingernail, thinking.
Someone she knew in the Underground was also like her, an Elite in disguise. Could it be this person who was sending people after her? She doubted it, but it was still a possibility. The Elite always searched the nets first, but she had been followed by people who were not her mother's spies for months now. Could it be that this person had finally bribed an official into giving him access to higher-level nets? An official! Only they had access to these nets and they were clannish Elite. It would have to be someone who was close to them, not a servant though. Most vidcoms belonging to officials needed bio-recognition, a thumb print, blood, a retina scan, something, to turn on.
Deceptively simple, she would just have to find pictures of Elite that had access to these hack-proof nets. She needed pictures that showed them without make up on. Tomoyo groaned. The Elite always had make up on. That was the only reason she had not been recognized. Tomoyo never was without make up unless she was in the Underground, or by herself at home.
She lay back on her bed. This person searching for her on the nets was not an immediate problem. She was careful not to accept any job that might get her any attention like that. Her current problem consisted of the Underground spies that were following her.
The problem with most Underground spies was that they were clumsy. Sure, there were a few slick ones, like herself, but they were always expensive to hire, by Underground standards. She had never meet any other spies besides herself, so she didn't know their conditions. The reason she was so good was because she was a shape-shifter. Other spies might be jealous of her business, but then, surely they would be aware of how good she was and they would come after her themselves, wouldn't they?
Tomoyo lay there on her bed, her mind racing. She didn't even hear the maid knock on the door and call her for tea. Her mother came in and shook her gently. "Tomoyo, what's the matter? Are you alright?"
"Huh? oh, Mother, I'm fine. I was just thinking."
"About?"
"Nothing really," she shrugged and smiled at her mother. "So tell me mother, what has the public's reaction been to last night?"
Sonomi smiled. "Mixed. Some good some bad. Don't worry, it'll blow over eventually."
"Oh, no, Mother, I'm not worried, in fact, I think this is quite amusing. Are you sure you want to take me to where ever we're supposed to be going tonight?"
"We aren't going anywhere tonight, I cancelled everything for the next few days. No more near scandals."
"Of course not Mother," Tomoyo said.