Chocolate:

Chapter 5

By: Shattered Chaos (nat_rumi@hotmail.com)

Disclaimer: Not ours. If it was we would be rolling in dough…unfortunately we're not, so...

It was unbearable. Under normal circumstances, Syaoran would've been wary, suspicious, anxious, and so forth as a result of Eriol being so quiet around him. Silence didn't fit Eriol at all. Breakfast for the past few days had been something that had nearly driven Syaoran mad. Eriol chattering away while he either cooked or fixed their lunches, inane chatter that he surprisingly missed this morning. Sure, Eriol was cooking, but the silence in the apartment was irritating him to no end.

Syaoran had the sudden urge to hurl the saltshaker at the quiet boy's back and demand what the hell was wrong. But something prevented him from doing that. Maybe it was the feeling he was getting that this was somehow his fault... So he stayed silent as Eriol placed breakfast on the table. They ate in silence and rinsed the dishes in the sink in silence. Syaoran nearly sighed in relief when Eriol murmured a quiet "Arigatou" to him for the lunch that he had packed.

But the silence continued as they walked to school. People stared as soon as they stepped on campus, but Syaoran did not notice. He was too busy trying to figure out what had caused this sudden attitude in Eriol. But he couldn't figure it out. When the homeroom bell rang, Eriol surprisingly did not attach himself like a leech to Syaoran's arm. It got to the point where they reached the door to their class and they still weren't making any bodily contact. Syaoran couldn't stand it anymore. Before they could step in, he reached over and grabbed Eriol's hand, ignoring the other boy's surprised look.

Yukito looked up to see Li-kun's surprisingly determined look and Eriol's faint blush as they stepped into homeroom.

* * * * * *

"What is it?"

Eriol looked up from his study of the cherry blossoms on the ground and frowned in confusion at Syaoran. "What are you talking about?"

"Something's been making you act all weird since yesterday. What's wrong,

Eriol?" Syaoran was so busy trying to act interested in the people going home from school that he didn't notice the surprise on Eriol's face.

"W-What did you just say?"

Syaoran glanced at him and frowned a little. "I told you, something's obviously gotten you like this. What is it? What's bothering you, Eriol?"

Eriol didn't respond to the question. He just smiled. A smile that made Syaoran's face heat up if for no other reason than it was a sincere smile full of pleasure instead of the usual mystery and scheming.

"Li-kun! Hiragizawa-kun!"

They both turned startled when they heard Yukito approaching. Syaoran frowned a bit; feeling like something had been interrupted. But the sight of Yukito approaching them from the quad made him smile nervously.

"Tsukishiro-san," Eriol greeted rather stiffly. Syaoran noticed the way Eriol did not display his usual smile. But he didn't question it. Not yet, anyway.

Yukito smiled at them both, nearly making Syaoran blush furiously. But he was able to restrain it somehow.

"Maybe we should go sit down," Yukito suggested, adjusting his school bag over his shoulder.

"H-hai," Syaoran agreed, nodding hurriedly. He grabbed Eriol's hand and began pulling him in the direction of the quad, ignoring the other boy's growl of protest. They sat under the shade of one of the Sakura trees and Eriol snatched his hand free as soon as they did, turning away and frowning a bit.

Syaoran filed the reaction away for later, but in the meantime stared at Yukito openly, a smile tugging at his lips. "What is it Tsukishiro-san?" Syaoran asked, the curiosity eating at him.

"Um…well," Yukito began, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "You… you know, I wanted to talk to you guys about…about your relationship…"

"What about it?" Eriol asked, his face still turned in the other direction.

"Well, I… I wanted to warn you guys."

Eriol glanced at him, lifting a dark brow coolly. "Warn us?"

Yukito was surprised by Eriol's attitude, but continued anyway. "I wanted to warn you about people who are not so tolerate of relationships like the one you two are in."

Both shared identical looks of confusion before looking at Yukito stupidly. "Huh?"

Yukito smiled. "I know how it is at the beginning of the relationship. You're so involved with each other; you have no time for the outside world. I know how it is, because that's exactly how it was for Toya-koi and me."

Eriol noticed out of the corner of his eye the way Syaoran visibly crumpled.

Tsukishiro-san continued, unaware. "I'm not trying to tell you that anything is wrong with your relationship or anything, but you should tone down the publicity of it," Yukito said smiling. By the time Yukito finished Syaoran had his head bowed, his bangs covering his eyes. Eriol was studying him with barely visible worry. "Well, I have to go now, but I wish you guys the best."

Eriol turned his attention back to Yukito. "Thanks for your concern, Tsukishiro-san."

With a final nod and smile, Yukito walked away.

Eriol turned his attention back to Syaoran. "Xiao Lang? Are you alright?" He was torn, which surprised him. Torn between feeling happy for Tsukishiro's lack of interest in Syaoran… and feeling bad for Syaoran and Tsukishiro's lack of interest in him.

"Ano…Xiao Lang-kun?" Eriol whispered, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Let's go home, ne?"

Syaoran didn't look up, merely nodded and stood up. "Hai, Eriol…"

Eriol paused once again surprised at the use of his first name. But he shrugged it off and followed after Syaoran and the dark gloomy cloud that was hanging over the boy's head.

* * * * * *

The silence was once again unnerving. This time, Eriol was the one feeling the tension, so as soon as they got home, Eriol tried to start up a conversation.

"What do you want for dinner, Syaoran-kun?" Eriol asked as cheerily as possible as he headed for the kitchen. It surprised Eriol that the boy actually followed him into the kitchen. His eyes were still shadowed.

"Whatever…" Eriol watched worriedly as Syaoran collapsed in a chair, slumping forward and staring down at the table's surface.

Eriol figured it would be a good to add chocolate to the meal somehow. He reached into the fridge and pulled out the carton of chocolate-chocolate chip ice cream he'd been saving, and a few of those chocolate bars Syaoran tried so hard to hide in the flour jar in the back of the cabinet.

"Eat," Eriol instructed, setting down the "food" in front of Syaoran. Syaoran glanced at the bowl of ice cream for a minute before picking up a spoon and digging in slowly. Eriol in the meantime started making some hot chocolate. Halfway through his meal, Syaoran finally looked up, his amber eyes fixed on Eriol's back.

"Ne Eriol, you never did tell me what was wrong with you," Syaoran reminded softly, stirring his melting ice cream with his spoon.

Eriol turned around from the stove, his dark brows rising. "Nani?"

"Yeah, you never told me." Syaoran looked down at his bowl. "And don't try to say nothing was wrong because the signs were all there. Like, why you were all quiet after screaming at me yesterday and how you acted around Yukito today, glaring at him and at me."

Eriol stared at Syaoran dumbfounded. "You-you remember all of that, huh?"

Cocking his head to side, his face a mask of confusion Syaoran asked, "Shouldn't

I?"

Eriol shook his head hurriedly. "N-no, no, no, it's not that…it's just that, well, I didn't think you'd be thinking about that right now. Not after what just recently happened." Eriol turned back to the stove and whispered, "You must be feeling pretty down…"

Syaoran sighed and shook his head dejectedly. "I kind of always knew. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it was haunting me that he was going to reject me. Directly or indirectly as it were."

Eriol turned to him, turning off the stove. "So what now, Xiao Lang?"

Syaoran shrugged, picking at the foil around one of the chocolate bars. "I dunno… I feel like barricading myself in my room for a while and listening to the Cure non-stop, but…" he trailed off and smiled bitterly. "Guess things didn't go quite as planned, ne?"

Eriol turned and grabbed a couple of mugs. "No…Guess it didn't."

They both stayed silent as Eriol poured the hot chocolate. He placed a mug in front of Syaoran and sat down across from him.

"You still haven't told me what was bothering you," Syaoran pointed out, blowing on his steaming mug. Eriol concentrated on tracing the rim of his mug.

"I wasn't feeling my best that day," he answered quietly. Syaoran focused on the boy's bent head for a good while, but Eriol kept himself still. Syaoran knew he was lying, but decided not to push it.

After that, they enjoyed their hot chocolate in silence until Syaoran finally stood up and walked over to Eriol. Eriol looked up at Syaoran in confusion "Ano…?"

"Domo arigatou gozaimasu," Syaoran thanked, bowing respectfully. Eriol stared openly, his eyes wide in shock. He was completely unprepared for what happened next. Syaoran leaned forward and pressed his soft lips on Eriol's parted ones, kissing him gently.

"Oyasumi nasai, Eriol-kun," Syaoran whispered as he pulled away, leaving a stupefied Eriol behind.

Eriol stared. He couldn't move. The only reaction he was capable of was a bright blush that stained his whole face from hairline to collar. He was snapped out of it when he heard the door to Syaoran's room close, but by then it was too late.

He breathed in shakily and then shook himself.

"Damnit, Syaoran-kun's habits are rubbing off on me…"

Tbc…

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