It was already the next day when Tomoyo woke up. She sat up, recollecting her thoughts. Then she remembered.
The pitiful sleep she had last night didn't erase her awful memories of yesterday – the day she received the heartbreaking news of Sakura's marriage fast approaching and when she met her fiancé, no other than her former elementary classmate, Hiiragizawa Eriol.
The image of the eleven-year-old good-natured and enigmatic London exchange student who played the perfect masquerade back when Sakura was still into her card capturing affairs invaded her mind unmercifully. He, who looked every inch as normal as her other classmates like Yamazaki, still stood out among the other boys his age. He was simply too elegant, too refined. His words, as carefree as they may seem to sound, were ringing with maturity too much for his age. Yes, he would certainly smile at times, but they were the kind that were cautious, even humorless. He may be as perfect as the devil himself, if it wasn't him already. Back then, she didn't fully comprehend this. Now, after seeing him again at a worldly age of eighteen, she finally understood that Eriol was beyond human comprehension.
And now, he is my fiancé?! she thought in despair. What was my mother thinking? Even when we were in elementary, we were never close. How does she think would I cope up with him, a stranger in every way? And a brute…I was so wrong when I thought he was a gentleman. I mean, he was so nice to Sakura!
She smacked her head. Oh yes, she nearly forgot. Everyone was nice to Sakura. No one but no one couldn't fall in love with the genki cherryblossom. Such is her charm.
She sighed deeply. No, she was doing it again. She was feeling bitterly jealous of her cousin once again. "Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry," she whispered, as if her best friend could hear her. "I'm so bad…why can't I be happy for you? You are too kind for me."
She heard a polite knock outside her door. She beckoned the guest to come in.
A nervous maid entered the room. "A-Ah, Ms. Tomoyo, Master Hiiragizawa is asking you to get dressed within ten minutes…or…or he would dress you for school himself."
She felt her temple ache. "Who died and made him my god? The hell I'll do what he says! Tell him that I'm not in the mood to go to classes."
The maid nodded and left.
Soon, she heard the knocking on the door again. She didn't bother to cover herself with the dressing robe- her maids always see her like this anyway. She opened the door and found herself staring at the uneven rise and fall of a white polo-clad chest, then slowly looked up to meet the person's gaze.
"You again?!" she exclaimed, not hiding her shock.
Eriol surveyed her coolly, then turned his back on her. "A lady knows better than to face her guests wearing only her silk night gown."
"I-I thought you were one of my maids…"she stammered.
"Get dressed," he ordered, cutting her off thoughtlessly.
"I am not going to school, and you can not make me," she said, finding her composure again.
He still refused to turn her way. "You do not know me very well, Daidouji-san. Do not try my patience."
"Then don't try mine either!" she snapped.
Deathly silence.
"You weren't so difficult back then," he said pensively.
"Things change," she shrugged carelessly, although she was puzzled by what he said.
"Nothing remains constant but change, indeed."
She paused. There was a bitter ring in his voice. She suddenly wondered whether her former classmate was going through something too.
Her thoughts were cut off when he suddenly turned to her, grim with determination. He suddenly lifted her up with his arms.
"Hiiragizawa-kun! What do you think are you doing?!!" she screamed, scandalized.
He didn't look down at her as he carried her into the bathroom. "I will give you a bath."
"What?! Put me down!!!"
"Not a chance, Daidouji-san. I warned you already awhile ago. I'm not the type of man you should be headstrong with." He kicked her bathroom door open and laid her onto the bathtub.
"Hiiragizawa-kun!" she screamed in despair when she saw that he was going to fill the tub with water.
"Yes?" he asked calmly.
She clenched her fists and looked away. "I…I'll get dressed…by myself…You can wait outside for me."
"And your bath?"
She looked at him incredulously. "I'll do that on my own too!" What the hell is he thinking?
He smirked. "Just checking." He tapped his watch. "Fifteen minutes, or I'll barge into your room."
"I'll lock it!" she said.
He held the glittering room keys up before leaving her.
True enough, Hiiragizawa Eriol was waiting outside her bedroom door some fifteen minutes later. She refused to look at him.
"Your schedule," he said emotionlessly, handing her a piece of paper.
She frowned. "Shouldn't the Dean give me this?"
He let out a humorless laugh. "As his assistant, I have privileges."
She looked at her subjects. "Trigonometry sucks," she whispered under her breath. "What does it have to do with music anyway?"
Eriol eyed her sideways. "Don't worry. You won't fail that class."
She glanced at him, but he was already looking at his car. "We have to move double time," he said, opening the car door.
She looked at him, aghast. He didn't even open the door car for her!
"Brute," she muttered before opening the door of the backseat.
"You'll sit in front with me," he ordered.
"No."
"You either sit here, or you take the bus." He glanced at his watch. "It will be here in two hours."
Fuming, she opened the passenger seat door. "I don't understand why you have to make such a deal with seats."
"Speak for yourself," he said calmly. "I don't want you to sit at the back because I don't want the students to think that I am your driver."
"Damn you! I'm taking driving lessons after this day!"
"Go ahead. Don't use profanities though. It is improper for such a fine lady like you," he said the last statement with obvious sarcasm.
Her face was pale with shock, then she was silenced.
His grip on the steering wheel tightened, but he said nothing anymore.
Tense silence hung in the air the rest of the way to the university.
"Every morning, I will take you to school at eight in the morning and I will fetch you at three in the afternoon," he said as they went out of the car. "But we'll take lunch together too at exactly noon."
"Oh great, just what I need. My movements clocked down to the very last second!" she sighed, massaging her aching temples.
"You are my fiancée," he said coldly. "I should know all your schedules."
"Why the hell did you agree to be one anyway?" she asked.
His face darkened. "I have my own reasons. I am not entitled to tell them anymore."
"You are impossible!" she cried. "Both you and my mother are! If she thinks that I'll just be lonely because of Sakura-chan's wedding, then she could have given me a paid escort instead. Someone to amuse me and divert my attention. But…" She clenched her fists. "…he_gave_me_you." A sarcastic smirk dawned on her face. "Wait, you're a paid escort too, only you were given a nicer term…fiancé. But guess what? Sodom and Gomorrah will crumble to flames the second time first before I accept you as my fiancé."
She took a step back when she realized that she had set his cool blue eyes on fire. She recognized a homicidal look in them. She kicked herself mentally for going a bit too far.
But instead, he turned his back on her. "Follow me. I will take you to your first class."
The rest of the day became a whirlwind of activities for her. She met some of her old classmates, and befriended new ones. Of course, a lot of guys were eager to acquaint themselves with her too.
"Paris must be a really beautiful place," said one of her boy classmates, eyeing her with frank admiration.
"Really beautiful," she agreed. "Lots of lovers there too."
"So do you go to the Eiffel Tower too?" another boy asked.
"Alone," she said.
The men's eyes lit up collectively.
Another girl hushed them suddenly. "The Eagle is coming this way!"
"It's time for our Trigo class," said Chiharu Mihara, her seatmate.
"H-Huh?" She recalled Eriol telling her that she would never fail the class. Now she knew why.
"Don't expect him to be as nice as he was before," warned Chiharu. "I don't think he even remembers us anymore."
She smiled wanly. She didn't dare tell anyone else that their teacher was her fiancé.
Eriol Hiiragizawa entered the room quietly, making his presence known with his cool aura of authority surrounding the classroom. His azure eyes immediately searched for a person. He found her, lingered for a second, then he continued walking to his seat.
For the rest of the class, Eriol acted as if she didn't exist. He was concentrating merely on his teaching…and giving his students a killer board work. One time, she thought he was going to hand her the marker, but he handed it to her seatmate. Chiharu told her later that Eriol's rule was, when you are given a marker, you immediately go to the board and solve the problem. Should you dare to complain, he would immediately send you out of his class.
"That's strange," said the braided girl later after Eriol left the classroom. "Didn't he even know that he has a new student in class? His welcome to new students is always three rounds of board work."
She shrugged. "Then I guess I should just be thankful."
"Maybe he doesn't know you're present," giggled Chiharu.
She seriously doubted that. She recalled how his ice blue eyes lingered on her briefly. Despite herself, a shot of electricity ran down her spine. She immediately shook her head vehemently. What is she thinking?
"Why do you call him the Eagle anyway?" she found herself asking.
"Because he is like one," said Chiharu. "So high and mighty. Really strong and untouchable. A loner. Everyone knows his nickname."
So that's why he introduced himself earlier as Eagle too.
"Don't let him catch you hearing that though, or you'll be in serious trouble. He's not the teacher you would like to anger," she warned.
I know, she thought miserably, remembering yet again how his eyes blazed in fury awhile ago. She vowed never to cross the line again.
"Daidouji Tomoyo."
Both she and Chiharu looked up to see Eriol looking at them dismally. "To the faculty office," he said curtly before turning his back on her.
She and her seatmate exchanged worried glances before she stood up and followed him.
Instead, he led her to the parking lot, where his car was waiting.
"What the-" Her mouth dropped open.
"I'm taking you out for lunch," he said simply.
"I thought…"
"Do you expect me to invite you to lunch in front of one of my students?" he asked sarcastically.
She looked down. "OK."
To her surprise, Eriol opened the car door for her this time.
"I was in a foul mood awhile ago," he said when they had both settled into the car already.
Her head hung, "I know, and it's because of me."
He glanced at her briefly, his eyes giving nothing away. "Among other things." He quickly started the car engine.
To her surprise, they ended up in front of his mansion. Nakuru Akizuki was standing there, waiting for them expectantly. Upon seeing her, Nakuru hurried to her excitedly. "Mistress Tomoyo!!! Welcome back!"
She smiled at her warmth. "Thank you very much, Nakuru." At the corner of her eye, she could see Eriol watching her. What was his problem anyway?
The woman smiled at her master. "She has blossomed into such a lovely young lady already, eh, Master?"
He shrugged. "Very."
She was irritated. Back in Europe, every man who met her wanted to ask her mother already for her hand in marriage. Her beauty dazzled the eyes of every male in her trip. Eriol Hiiragizawa was the first man to snub her like that!
Nakuru, fortunately, diverted her mind already. She was pulling her into the kitchen. "Come with me! I want you to try this special dish I made for you! I've been learning how to cook ever since Master Eriol told us that you'll be coming back soon!"
Her words entered her mind. He knew I would come back. She turned to Eriol, but he refused to meet her gaze. He was making his way into the mansion already.
"Won't Hiiragizawa-kun take his lunch yet?" she asked Nakuru as she, the woman, and Spinel ate heartily. The feline had grudgingly admitted that its partner's cooking skills had already improved.
"He must still be in his room, doing some heavy-duty intense research," shrugged Nakuru.
"Oh…" She nodded slowly. "Why don't you bring him up some food?"
"He doesn't want to be disturbed."
"Well, I have the right to do that!" She took his plate and filled it with food. She then marched up determinedly as the servants watched in amusement.
Tomoyo pushed the last door in the hallway open. She should have asked Nakuru for instructions. There were so many doors in this hallway alone!
To her surprise, it wasn't locked. She peeked inside and found Eriol hunched over his computer. He works too hard.
But she blinked when he stretched a little, enabling her to see what he was doing.
"Ragnarok?" she said, startling him.
"Next time, have the ethics to knock," he said scoldingly as she fought the urge to laugh out loud. Oh, the dear university professor was playing Ragnarok when he had no classes!
"Are you listening to me?" he snapped.
"Yes, Eagle, I am," she said, finally giving in to her giggles.
His eyes widened in surprise.
"Well, see you later. I still have classes." She saw that he was about to stand up, so she raised her hand. "No need. The bus is here. You go continue." She was about to leave the room when she turned to him. "So you're playing the acolyte, right?"
He still couldn't react.
She shut the door, shaking her head. She thought Eriol Hiiragizawa was impeccable, and that was what irritates her. But knowing that there was a human side within him…and that she alone knew that…
She felt good.
tsuzuku