Chapter 14-Eriol
" That's right."
" I feel tired." He mumbled.
" I know." I answered. " Don't worry. You're doing fine. You can actually get up
that's a good thing."
" Hey!" Sakura called brightly. " You're up!"
" Un." He gave me a queer look. " With the help of my kawaii little ascendent."
" Hey!" I cried. " That was not funny!"
Too late. The others were laughing.
" That's what you get for teasing Syaoran too much, Eriol!" Yukito laughed. He
laughs so scarcely now. " My little Jingxi is full of surprises."
" Hai, and his little Jingxi just got out of bed, so stop tossing me around, Eriol."
Syaoran smiled.
" Since when did you grow as tall as me?" I asked. " You use to be so small."
" You use to be so small too! Ow, I need a little help here. Onegai?"
" Oh, sure. Hungry?"
" Starving."
" Now's the chance for you to let him taste the shrimp." Touya nudged Yukito.
" Shrimp?" Syaoran blinked. " Oh, alright! But-" Too late, I couldn't catch him. He
tripped and fell, sliding down the stairs, stopping in the middle.
" Oh!" Yukito hurried over. I hurried down. " Daijoubu?"
" H-hai," Syaoran nodded. " I'm f-fine."
He looked fine, but he was visibly shakened. Yukito and I helped him towards
the kitchen.
" I'll go back to the pork." Touya offered.
" It was pork?" Tomoyo asked.
" I thought it was chicken." Sakura blinked.
" It was pork." Touya growled. He stomped back.
" Looks like you rubbed something off him, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo joked. Sakura
slapped her on the arm playfully.
" Water." Syaoran blinked. He suddenly looked a little dazed.
I poured a glass for him. He drank it thirstily and then sat back.
" Feeling alright?" I asked. A shock for him is as deadly as a heart attack.
" Hai." He nodded, ever so slowly. We waited as Yukito and Touya cooked. I could
have helped, if Sakura, Tomoyo and I weren't chatting with Syaoran. He relaxed
after a while.
" All of that?"
" I dare you."
" I can't. My stomach will burst."
" No it won't."
Syaoran grimaced at the huge bowl of rice. It was actually not that big. Even
Tomoyo would have been able to finish it.
" Come along now. Dig in." Touya smiled. Sakura sat next to Syaoran and tossed
onto his bowl of rice random vegatables and meats.
" We cooked Chinese style just for you."
" Oh please." Syaoran smiled. " I love ribs." He bit in slowly.
" Oh, we could tell." I shoved him dully. " You are the slowest eater in the world."
" I am very discouraged."
I snorted. " By the rice?"
" Hai."
" Come on, Syaoran." Kero smiled. " Don't go doing that."
" Hai, eat up." Touya laughed.
" Of course, oni-chan."
" Hey, by the way, did he ever mention he likes that?" I asked Syaoran.
" Nani? He does? Alright. I'll stop."
" Did you have to say that?" Touya threatened to wack me with the chopsticks.
" Next thing you know," Sakura had a queer glint in her eye, " We're going to have
Syaoran renamed ' Kaijuu'."
" No way am I going to let him do that. You know how I am with chopsticks."
Syaoran grumbled.
We all laughed.
" Hai, you and Xuyan perfected the art of catching flies and mosquitoes with
chopsticks. You guys really know how to turn anything into a weapon." Sakura
laughed.
" Hwa." Syaoran responded. We laughed.
" Not Slam." Syaoran protested as I dealed the cards. " I can't move fast enough."
" Alright. Go fish is boring. Biez is also. How about Chinese Poker?"
" Alright." Syaoran nodded. We all took our cards. I grinned at my deck. A royal
flush of spades and the two of spades. Perfect. There was another six, a three of
hearts, and a joker.
This one's a killer.
" Who has the three of diamonds?" Sakura asked. A common question at this game.
" I do." Syaoran called. " Two threes."
" Two fives." Sakura put them down.
" Two eights." Touya thrusted them out.
" Two jacks." Tomoyo put them down.
" Two kings." Nakuru smirked.
" Pass." I said. I didn't want to give up my two of spades.
" Two king of spades and hearts." Syaoran smirked back.
" Pass." We all said dully, so dully it was almost funny.
" One four." Syaoran handed out.
" One five."
" One seven." Touya tossed it out.
" One nine."
" One jack."
" Joker."
" Shoot. Pass."
I smirked. " One three."
" You've got to be kidding me." Syaoran looked at me. " One eight."
" One queen."
" One ace."
" Pass."
" Everyone passes?"
" Wait!" I was annoyed. " I am not passing! Two of spades!"
" Darn, the real one."
" Royal flush."
" Oh no."
" Six."
" Eriol wins the first round." Touya laughed. " Go Syaoran."
" Two tens."
" Two Queens."
" Pass."
" One four. By the way, Syaoran, did you go to the dead world these days?"
" Iie. I didn't dream either. I don't dream."
" You take characteristics of guardians very well, Syaoran. Go Tomoyo." Nakuru
beckoned.
" Ano...one seven."
" One nine."
" Ace. I win this round."
" Hmph. If he doesn't win first, he wins second whenever it comes to Chinese
Poker."
" I'm not that bad am I?"
" You ought to give someone else a chance!" Touya laughed, as he was the one
who spoke.
" What do you mean I take the characteristics of guardians, Nakuru?"
" Guardians don't dream, little one." Nakuru smiled. " It's the master's job."
Sakura and I glared at her.
" Oh, domo arigatou!" I groaned. " You put all the work on us."
" You're very welcome." Nakuru laughed. " But it's true, actually. Until you gave
that power to Fujitaka."
" Hai." Syaoran pulled his legs up onto the couch beside Sakura. " It's your own
fault Eriol."
" Shizuka ni."
They all laughed. I laughed as well.
" So Yukito doesn't dream."
" Iie." Nakuru nudged the boy, who was only watching.
" Now that you mention it," Syaoran added thoughtfully, " I hardly dream. I
dreamed once? Twice? The rest of the time I was in the Dead Realm."
" Two jacks!"
" Pass."
" Gomen." Syaoran laid his head on Sakura's shoulder. " If I keep it up by myself it
would fall off."
" That's alright. Don't worry about it." Sakura moved so she could balance
Syaoran's head better. " Are you feeling alright?"
" A little nauseous. Nothing much."
" Do you want to go to bed?"
" Haven't I stayed in that thing for enough already?"
" Good point, you lazybone." Nakuru put down the cards. " You sleep too much."
" Which explains the headaches and the migraines."
" Hai." I agreed. " But seriously Syao-chan, do you feel alright?"
" Don't call me Syao-chan. And hai, I should be fine."
" What's wrong with Syao-chan?" Sakura asked.
" Syao just sounds so...small."
We probably all had a vision of the little Syaoran as a toddler, running around dumping noodles into the garbage can. Since Touya couldn't keep his mouth shut...
" Alright Lan-chan, whatever you want."
" You just have to make nicknames, don't you, Eriol-san? Isn't it enough that I'm a
wolf already?"
" No worries. Soon we'll all be calling you Tenko and Yue Tenshi."
" Oh come on." Yukito was a little annoyed. " Why must everyone point that out?"
" It's the most dramatic thing about you." Nakuru sighed. " I win."
Sakura leaned back and stroked Syaoran's hair as Nakuru gathered the cards
to shuffle them. Or rather, she leaned back and attempted to straightened it-which
she wasn't very successful at.
" Play Biez."
" Hai, that way Syaoran won't be able to win so easily."
" Don't count on it." Syaoran mumbled from Sakura's shoulder.
" Come on now Syaoran, sit up and be a big boy." Sakura giggled. Syaoran sat up
and blinked his huge eyes.
" There's your deck."
" Arigatou."
" Who has the ace of spades?" I asked.
" I do."
" That's the second time!"
" Hey, it's not my fault that the first card is always in my deck." Syaoran protested.
" Ace."
" One two."
" One three."
" Four fours."
" One five."
" Is anyone going to biez already? One six."
" Two sevens."
" One eight."
" Three nines."
" One ten."
" One jack."
" Two queens."
" One king."
" Two aces."
" Biez."
It went on for a long time, the game. No one showed any signs of winning. We talked. It felt so good to talk normally, after worrying so much about death. We just talked about everyday stuff, things about Touya and Nakuru in the college, how it was with Xuyan. Just normal stuff any teenager and adolescent would do.
I wonder when this would become a daily event. Because all the other people they have no idea what gifts life gave them. To live a battle, a war, is just as painful as heartbreak. Watching Sakura and Syaoran, leaning against each other, I wondered how each of them could find the courage to give their hearts to one another, knowing that there were odds that they could part. But I looked at Syaoran and Sakura, their eyes, bright and beautiful, each with their own inner light. Love is a force not to be controlled. It only depends on if you admit it to yourself. I guess Syaoran must have really felt comforted, knowing that he is loved in life and in death he would be remembered for years to come. Our little Tenko, with eyes of amber gold, the one that made us appreciate life for what it is. Life is a beautiful thing. Pain is a beautiful thing. And only in life can you find true happiness because of that pain. Because you cannot love while you are dead.
And just watching those two, living for the moment, loving for the moment, made me feel so warm, as if their love spreaded to all of us. We chatted all through the night, in the same feeling of love and family. We are family. One big family. All ready to give our support.