Caged Hearts

By like a falling star



"Good morning to one and all!" The principal of Seiju High boomed. It was eight o'clock in the morning, and, in Eriol's opinion, way to early to be that chirpy.

The principal excitedly waved the piece of paper that he held in his hand. "Next month, the National Education Council is holding the annual Young Talents Competition. Our school has been given the honour of-- aah… being invited to participate." He said.

Rubbing his eyebrows, he continued. "However, each school can only send one item. Taking into account the recent Talentime, either Hiiragizawa Eriol, with his piano masterpiece--" he paused while the hall exploded in little sighs of admiration-- "or Daidouji Tomoyo, for her singing skills--" again he paused while the students applauded appreciatively-- "will be sent to compete. It has been decided, therefore, that… a vote shall be held."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I don't believe this!" Tomoyo fumed.

"Neither do I." Eriol muttered, frowning.

"How can our votes be absolutely equal?" Tomoyo said incredulously, more to herself than Eriol. "This is totally ridiculous."

"For once, Daidouji, we agree." Eriol said. "I mean, how can it be that you managed to get the same number of votes as me? Thought I'd win hands down." He grinned at her.

Tomoyo glared at him. "You wish, Hiiragizawa."

The both of them quietened as the principal strode into the room, wearing a huge grin. "Good afternoon, stars of Seiju High." He greeted.

Tomoyo wanted to roll her eyes but instead forced a polite smile onto her face. "Good afternoon, Nakata-sensei."

Nakata pressed his hands together, watching the two students. Two of the most perfect, talented students in the school, Daidouji and Hiiragizawa were two in a million, the school's best chance at winning the competition. "The board has discussed the matter, and it seems that a second vote will be redundant as the both of you seem equally popular. Therefore, we have decided that…"

Eriol looked at him, unblinking earnestly.

"… that you two shall compete as one item… together."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Hiiragizawa has upstaged me again!" Tomoyo whined, pressing her face into her pillow. She usually wasn't this whiney, but she'd had enough.

"You got equal votes!" Chiharu said, trying to console her. "He so did not upstage you."

"Yeah." Rika added. "You probably got a couple more votes than him, anyway. But you know how these votes work-- you have to attain more votes by a huge margin just to win."

Tomoyo kept quiet.

Sakura pulled the pillow off Tomoyo's face and made a silly face in a attempt to get her friend to laugh. "C'mon, Tomoyo! It isn't all that bad!"

Tomoyo glanced at her. "Yeah. Right. And getting caught in a freak storm isn't all that bad either."

Sakura giggled. "You're being cynical and sarcastic." She stated.

"It's not that." Tomoyo said. "I don't mind getting an equal number of votes-- well, I don't mind that much. The thing is, I can't imagine working with him 24/7 for the next whole month!"

"At least you don't have to travel back and forth just to practise… imagine having to do that." Naoko said logically.

Tomoyo shrugged. "Not that it's any consolation…"

Sakura sighed. "Well, look on the bright side! He's right across the hall."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Right across the hall, Eriol sat cross-legged on his bed, wondering at the mess he was in, while Syaoran played games on his Playstation.

"Will you cut that out?" Syaoran asked, distrated by the game.

Eriol looked up, and dropped into a lying position on the bed. "Cut what out?"

"That." Syaoran winced as an enemy ship hit his spacecraft with missiles, and soon the big yellow words 'GAME OVER' showed up on the screen. "That brooding."

Eriol sat up and frowned. "I'm not brooding," he said. Then he dropped back onto the bed.

"Tomoyo isn't that bad, you know." Syaoran told him. "You should give her a chance. Then maybe you'll get to like her, you know?"

Eriol got up and walked towards the bookshelf. "I'll never like her. It's just my luck." He said, absent-mindedly pulling books off the shelf and replacing them. "It's bad enough that she's living with me. You know what it's like, having dinner with her and her alone every single day!?!"

"Er-- no." Syaoran said truthfully. "Though I'm sure many guys would be glad to share that burden."

Eriol frowned. "Speaking of dinner--" he stuck his nose out of the door and sniffed. "I don't smell food." He commented to Syaoran. "It's Tomoyo's turn to cook tonight."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow quizzically at him. "What happened to your cook?"

Eriol waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, he's still around. It's part of my uncle's plan to help us get to know each other-- Tomoyo cooks every Tuesday and Thursday, I get Monday and Wednesday, and the rest of the week it's up to the cook to whip something up."

Syaoran stood around as Eriol knocked politely on Tomoyo's door. "Come in!" Tomoyo called.

Eriol opened the door to see Tomoyo sitting on the bed, surrounded by her group of gal pals, namely Chiharu, Sakura, Naoko and Rika.

Tomoyo looked up. "Yeah?"

"It's your turn to cook dinner. Just a reminder." Eriol told her.

"Oh, we're ordering pizza." Tomoyo said. "Be down at around 7 if you want dinner, okay? That's when the pizza's arriving." She peered around Eriol. "Syaoran? Are you staying for dinner?" she asked, inciting a nudge from Sakura.

Syaoran looked put on the spot. "Uh…"

Tomoyo smiled at him. "We're all gonna be here." She nodded, indicating her four friends.

That was all Syaoran needed to hear. "Thanks, but no thanks." He wanted to be around Sakura, but he wasn't about to stick around with her bunch of giggly girlfriends.

"Oh, that's all right." Tomoyo said. She turned to Eriol. "Then it's just you and us."

Smiling weakly, Eriol closed the door. He turned to Syaoran, a get-me-outta- here look on his face. "Five girls and a guy. Uh-uh. Not good. Is it going to be like that all the time?"

Syaoran looked at the closed door. "From the looks of it, I think so." He shook his head sadly at Eriol. "For once, buddy, I sympathize with you."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*