"Complicated Life"
By: Na-chan

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN CCS IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER!
Chapter 4: Ups and Downs

Author's Notes: To all those who reviewed I love ya guys! So here's the next chapter...and so the
plot thickens...^^;

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"This is it. Thanks for the ride," Tomoyo said, smiling at Eriol. She opened the car door of the
black Toyota with ease. They were currently parked in front of a small yet classy condominium.

"No problem," He replied grinning at the girl. It really wasn't a problem-it was more of a
present for him. Driving home the most attractive, sagacious girl he had ever known was FAR from
being a nuisance.

"See you around campus." She waved and entered the two-story building. When she was out of sight,
Eriol breathed out a sigh of relief. Now to head on home...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The minute the black Toyota pulled out of the curb, the amethyst eyed teenager burst out of the
condominium. She was smiling profusely-she had just outsmarted Hiiragizawa Eriol, her
arch-nemesis.

'Let's see...should I take the shortcut? Yeah, shortcut!' she tied her hair into a ponytail and
ran toward the back alley which was hidden conveniently from the street's view. The apartment
building wasn't far-only a block away.

Upon reaching the ten-story building, she hurried past the receptionist's desk and into the half
open elevator. "Wait!" she called to the man inside. The man in turn, pressed the open button to
stop the closing doors long enough for Tomoyo to get in.

"Thanks," she said, catching her breath. It wasn't such a good idea to run all the way home but
she needed the exercise...and besides, it was dangerous at night.

"Nice to see you again, Daidouji-san." The man greeted her, making her look up.

She gasped.

"H-Hiiragizawa! What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

She quickly made up an excuse. There was no way she was going to tell him she lied to him about
living in the condominium a block away. She didn't say she LIVED there, she only told him to drop
her off at that certain place...

"I live here. Just had to give something to my cousin..." she went with a white lie. She didn't
feel like giving him one of her full-fledged lies-not today at least.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could've waited for you..." he could almost sense her uneasiness.

"I didn't want to be rude."

He smiled. "You're intelligent, beautiful and polite. What do you don't have?"

"You didn't answer my question Hiiragizawa-san."

"Straight to the point. I like that. I live here too."

The girl froze. "How long have you staying here?" she managed to ask.

"Since the middle of the first semester. Which floor?" Eriol gestured toward the buttons in front
of him.

"Seven." She covered her mouth suddenly. She was so used to saying seven that she did it
unconsciously.

"Me too." The words seemed to come out of his mouth in slow motion to Tomoyo.

"R-Really? What a coincidence."

"Yeah. Oh, here we are." The metallic doors slid open and he stepped out, followed by a reluctant
Tomoyo. He walked toward his apartment door and pulled out his keys from his jeans pocket.

She stopped. Apartment number 206...so he was that guy from England who rudely interrupted her
beauty sleep a few months back. So what? Her inner voice asked. So nothing, her conscience
replied nonchalantly. She was snapped out of her reverie when Eriol looked back at her, a small
smile playing on his lips.

"Good night, Daidouji-san." He entered the wooden oak door and disappeared, shutting the door
behind him.

"Good riddance." Tomoyo muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks passed and Tomoyo learned to tolerate the presence of Eriol without letting her emotions
take the upper hand. It was very hard to avoid seeing him since he went to every party hosted by
her friends, lived next door to her and had some classes with her due to her taking extra
subjects.

"Ohayo, Daidouji-san." This was one of those times.

"Ohayo Hiiragizawa-san," Tomoyo greeted. They were both on the same elevator going down.

Silence enveloped the two. It wasn't unusual-it had happened almost every single time they met.
She had gotten used to it. Truth be told, she liked it better than talking to Eriol. He, of
course, found it amusing that two people who were alike had nothing to talk about.

This time he wanted something different. "Here we go again. Seriously, Daidouji-san why can't we
have a decent conversation sometime?"

She was taken aback but she recovered quickly and smiled. "I don't know. Why don't you tell me,
Hiiragizawa-san?"

He narrowed his eyes. He had never met anyone who could be as difficult as Daidouji. "Forget it."

"Well, that's a start..."

"Yeah."

She laughed. "I had no idea you were such an agreeable person." Suddenly, she wasn't so annoyed
with him.

"You and everyone say that."

"Really? What do you say?"

"I don't say anything."

"Hmm." She wrinkled her brow. "I'm not like you."

"Why is that?"

"I'm sort of belligerent."

Eriol grinned. "Finally! A confession from the Queen of Perfection." He bowed comically.

Tomoyo managed a fake smile. Inside, she wanted to slap herself for revealing confidential
information to the "enemy". But he was being so persistent! her heart argued. You could've
ignored him, her ever so logical mind said. Shut up, she screamed silently.

He sensed her insincerity but shrugged it off. Daidouji Tomoyo. There was more to her than what
met the eye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the 3rd of September when Tomoyo first graced the planet. She had been born healthy and
there were no complications during her birth. However, eighteen years later there were
complications.

"Happy Birthday too you!" Everyone at the formal gathering chorused. Relatives, friends and
acquaintances filled the gigantic ballroom where Tomoyo Daidouji celebrated her 18th birthday.

"Thank you, minna." The birthday girl replied courteously. She smiled brightly. "Now everything's
been said and done lets get on with this party shall we?"

The people surrounding her dispersed, each engaging themselves in their own conversations.
Several approached Tomoyo, most of whom where young men. They talked to her, boasting about their
good looks. While they vaunted on and on, Tomoyo moved away unnoticed only to bump into Eriol.

Darn. Why did I let Okaasama talk me into inviting him?

FLASHBACK

Two weeks earlier...

"Tomoyo." Sonomi surprised her daughter, coming from behind the girl.

"O-Okaasama! You surprised me. I didn't expect to see you around campus..." the girl looked
around nervously, scanning the area for the media. Phew, there was none.

"Don't worry dear. I made sure no press followed." Sonomi smiled reassuringly. Tomoyo was very
particular when it came to the media.

Tomoyo sighed. "What's the reason for your visit?"

"Your birthday's in two weeks and I've been planning..." her mother's voice trailed off. Knowing
Sonomi, it had probably taken a lot of will power to keep herself from planning her only
daughter's birthday two months ahead.

"Yes, it's on the 3rd of September."

"I've arranged it to be at a hotel. It won't be too extravagant."

"Really?" Tomoyo doubted her mother's words. Extravagant? Last year she said the exact
same thing and it turned out to be more lavish than she would have liked.

"Well..."

Tomoyo sensed her mother's wistful tone and sighed. "I'll like it any way you plan it Okaasama."

"Then that's settled. You can invite anyone you want. Tell them to wear something formal, okay?
and let's see...your cake! It must be with cute sugar flowers..." Sonomi continued to tick off
things from her list of preparations.

Her daughter smiled and pretended to listen to her mother. It wasn't an option to argue with
some of her parent's suggestions. Eyes straying from the person in front of her, she noticed a
certain dark-haired boy approaching.

"Konnichiwa Daidouji-san." that certain boy greeted courteously. This caused Tomoyo to turn her
attention to the new arrival, and Sonomi to stop babbling.

"Konnichiwa Hiiragizawa-san." The former greeted back.

Silence. Both stared intently at each other, not wanting to break the tension between them.

Sonomi coughed. "I must be on my way. I might be interrupting something."

"No, Okaasama. It's alright."

"I'm Hiiragizawa Eriol. Nice to meet you Daidouji-sama." Eriol introduced, smiling.

"My, what a respectful young man! Your parents must be real proud," Sonomi said.

He smiled brighter. "Not as proud as you about your daughter."

"Tomoyo, I didn't know you had such a charming lad as a friend! Surely I'll be seeing him again
on your birthday?"

"Err...yeah." Tomoyo shifted nervously but retained a smile on her face. NO! He can't come! I'd
rather die than invite him! she thought, clenching her fists unconsciously. Her reverie was
broken when Sonomi asked her if something was wrong.

"No, I'm fine." She had lied.

"Are you sure? Well I'd better get going. Love you dear." Sonomi pecked her daughter on the
cheek. Tomoyo mirrored the gesture.

"Nice meeting you Hiiragizawa-san." and at that the older Daidouji left.

END OF FLASHBACK

"Thanks again for inviting me to your party, Daidouji-san." Eriol smiled.

"No problem. Will you excuse me for a second? I need to get some fresh air." Tomoyo hurried away.
To her disdain, Eriol followed her.

"Can I accompany you?"

NO! her mind screamed. "If you have nothing else to do..." she said, not wanting to be rude.
Turning her back on him, she walked calmly out of the ballroom and into the hallway.

He smiled, then followed.

She walked hurriedly as to not let him follow any further. When she reached the crowded lobby, he
was barely 3 feet away from her.

Time to lose this guy.

The Daidouji heiress pushed through the bustling group of people, careful not to look back at the
pursuing Eriol. She reached the stairs and made her way up to the 3rd floor where an open
elevator magically seemed to wait.

Bingo! She thought happily and stepped inside, closing the metallic doors shut. She had lost him
and now what? She certainly couldn't go back to the party since Hiiragizawa would be there nor
could she go home without offending her mother.

A label on one of the floor buttons caught her eye. She smiled, feeling rebellious all of a
sudden. Now to have some fun. "I wonder..." She pressed the button and the elevator started to
move.

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He groaned as the doors of the elevator shut. That Daidouji's tougher than I give her credit for,
the young Hiiragizawa thought, a bit annoyed and amused. He had followed her on purpose just to
see her snap and show some emotion.

"But she's too clever." he murmured to himself. Defeated, he headed back to the ballroom,
readying himself to come face to face with the amethyst-eyed lass when he chanced upon Kazuma
and Tsubasa.

"Yo, Hiiragizawa! Did you see Daidouji?" Kazuma asked, scanning the crowd for the perfectionist
birthday girl.

Eriol frowned. "She isn't in the ballroom?"

"No. We saw her leave a few minutes ago. Didn't you follow her or something?" Tsubasa asked,
eyeing the blue-haired boy with suspicion.

He fought back the urge to smile. This was a serious matter in Kazuma and Tsubasa's eyes. "She
succeeded in losing me."

The brunette narrowed her eyes. "Where could she be? We came in late and I haven't greeted her
yet..."

Kazuma patted his girlfriend reassuringly. "Don't worry, okay? Daidouji's a big girl. She can
take care of herself. Let's split up and look for her."

"Yeah."

~~~Tsuzuku~~~

Author's notes: Another chapter finished! Questions but no answers eh? Where could Tomoyo be?
Can Eriol uncover Tomoyo's secret self? Find out next in Complicated Life, Chapter 5, "Secrets
left untold".