Warning:
1. Characters may be OOC.
2. Place setting may not really be found in Japan.
3. Grammatical and typographical errors be aware.
***
A Cup of Coffee
(one-shot ExT)
Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of Tomoeda School. On that night, the school had a celebration which for some was an unforgettable one, for others a delicious treat, and still others amazing, due to the presentations by some of the students.
But for Tomoyo it was a regretful one because today she will have to fulfill the dare her friends had given her last night. Performing solo in the choir would have been enough and she could have went home after that. She could have at least skipped playing 'truth or dare' with her friends and wouldn't have felt left out if she did not join them.
Today could have been better. She could have spent all her time with Sakura, taking videos of the latter while going anywhere they decide to go rather than just sitting down, sipping coffee, and not having a single conversation at all! But what can she do? Destiny has decided for her.
But, what if today will turn out okay? Or maybe better? There are just a lot of possibilities. One can never judge an experience unless he or she has undergone it. 'Hiiragizawa-kun could have refused last night. Then I won't be worrying today. But why did he accept it?' Tomoyo thought as she walked along the street where the coffee shop of their rendezvous is located.
Finally, she found the coffee shop with a sign that simply says: Café. A lot of people say that it's the best coffee shop in Japan, although it's obviously not a Japanese product. She hasn't really tasted coffee there. As a matter of fact, she hasn't even drunk or tasted coffee yet. 'It's just coffee. What harm can it do anyway?'
She found him already sitting on a chair of a table for two. Before she pushed the door to enter, she took a deep breath. 'I guess I'll just have to find it out myself.'
When Eriol saw Tomoyo, he stood up, smiled subtly and greeted her, "Daidouji-san. It's good to see you today. So, shall we?" As a sign of respect, he took her hand and gently kissed the back of it, then he pulled the chair away from the table so that Tomoyo could sit down. When Tomoyo was finally seated, he went back to his own and called for the waiter to order.
Tomoyo somehow felt uneasy of the way Eriol treated her a while ago that she felt the urge to ask him why he did 'that'. And so she did.
"We'll have two cups of coffee please. With cream. That's all." Eriol said to the waiter who has a really wide smile on his face. For Tomoyo, he looked rather stupid.
"Oui, monsieur. Two cups of coffee with cream coming right up!" The waiter said in a singsong manner with an obvious French accent. It just goes to show that he is obviously from France. He then went to the counter while humming a strange tune.
Tomoyo finally asked, "Uh... Hiiragizawa-kun, why are you trying to be... nice to me? I mean a while ago..." She trailed off.
"It's an English tradition." Eriol simply answered with one brow rising and a slight movement of his head.
"Really?" Tomoyo looked at him suspiciously. She never heard their teacher in World History class saying that when they discussed about the history of England.
Eriol paused for a while, still looking at her, then he finally said, "Yes. I mean, even if it's not, it's still an etiquette that should be observed by men to show respect when they meet a woman." Eriol grinned at her. That sort of irritated her and made her stop asking questions further. She didn't get a straight-to-the-point answer. All she wanted was just that. So, she just looked away as if she's alone there, just waiting for only her coffee to arrive.
"So, Daidouji-san, what have you been up to lately?" Eriol interrupted her with another topic, which he hoped Tomoyo will be enthusiastic to converse with him.
"Lately? Isn't it obvious?" Tomoyo answered sarcastically.
Eriol gasped, "Trying to displease me, eh?"
"Who said so?"
"According to how you answer, you are."
And that started their argument. They could have started well to end well. In fact, they did start well, but how will they end it later? The fact is, one could never really conclude beforehand how something ends. It doesn't really mean that if you will start right you will end right. It doesn't also mean that if you start bad you will end up bad.
According to the famous saying of the coffee shop: "A cup of coffee soothes the soul; two cups of coffee weaves both souls into one; more cups of coffee strengthens the bond."
-
"So, you mean to say you set this whole thing up? Even the dare last night?!" Tomoyo was already fuming mad. But she was able to control her voice so that the people in the coffee shop won't be looking at them. Everything was just a set up. Starting from the dare. Eriol's plan could have been perfect if only they just didn't argue. He could have gotten what he wanted, said what he wanted. But now, he is almost losing grip on it.
But...
It's not the end yet.
"Why Hiiragizawa-kun? WHY?!"
"You still don't get it?! Is THIS still not obvious to you?"
"OH please! Don't tell me you're--"
"What? Did I say something?"
Just before Tomoyo could answer, the waiter, still with that silly wide smile on his face arrived with their coffee. But when he saw the two who seemed to have argued over something, his expression suddenly turned to worry. "Excuse me, monsieur, mademoiselle... are you two alright?"
Both chorused, "NO!"
The waiter almost dropped the tray he was carrying when both yelled at him. The sound waves seemed to have life on their own and shocked him. But still, he served their coffee. "Okay... here you go, monsieur, mademoiselle. Enjoy!" He hurriedly went away, not wanting any more yelling.
As soon as the waiter left, both took their cups of coffee respectively and slowly sipped from it. They seemed to like it that it changed their bad mood into a good one. They put down their cups in synchrony, looked at each other and smiled.
Tomoyo finally apologized, "Sorry for being rude to you Hiiragizawa-kun. Seriously, I didn't want to go here and meet with you because I..." Tomoyo stopped and blushed a little. 'Tomoyo, what are you doing? Stop it. It's just Hiiragizawa-kun. He's just a friend. Come on!' She scolded herself just in her mind. She usually does not blush when they talk, nor when they share secrets with each other. She's only apologizing. She shouldn't be ashamed of what she's saying. It's really weird.
"Daidouji-san, what's wrong? I should be the one who should apologize since everything was my mistake." Eriol placed his hand over hers. She felt something like an electric current pass through her veins, which made her even blush more. On the other hand, Eriol still kept his cool.
Tomoyo couldn't say a thing. She tried to open her mouth but no words came out of it. She didn't know what caused it. Maybe it's the effect of coffee. Impossible. It didn't have the same effect on Eriol. Or maybe Eriol is already used to drinking coffee. And it's her first time. But, coffee doesn't seem to be problem. Maybe it's just her.
"Daidouji-san, I'm sorry already. Could you please talk? Because I sound like I'm talking to a cold wall."
Upon hearing his statement, she realized that he sounded like he's insulting her so she suddenly burst up saying, "WHAT?! After all that apology I did, as well as you did, you still insulted me? That's it, Hiiragizawa-kun. I'm leaving."
She stood up and was about to leave when Eriol grabbed her hand, pulled her close to him and gave her a passionate kiss. She was surprised, of course. But then, she liked it that she gave in to it.
People in the coffee shop now looked at them. Some felt awkward, some enjoyed the sight, and some didn't mind. Even the French waiter was watching them. He then smiled and uttered to himself, "Ah… this coffee shop really works for lovers." Another waiter beside him heard what he said, just looked at him and went on with his work. For him, it's nothing but an ordinary sight.
Eriol and Tomoyo could have done it longer but then both realized that they're in a public place. They pulled away from each other and saw people staring at them. Tomoyo then looked at Eriol with a 'you-better-apologize-fast-or-I'll-not-talk-to-you-anymore' expression on her face. Eriol grinned at her telling her that he can handle it.
Eriol apologized to the people, "Sorry folks. We're just having a shooting here. See out there?" He pointed at Sakura, who was taping the whole thing, along with Chiharu, who just took a picture of the two, Yamazaki beside her, Naoko, Nakuru pretending to be the director, and Spinel on her shoulder outside of the coffee shop.
Tomoyo was about to explode again but this time Eriol was just in time to place his finger on her lips and whispered to her ear, "Don't destroy our cover. Let's just go and deal with it later." Tomoyo, with no other choice, just agreed with him. She said to Eriol, "I guess we're done here. We should be going already." She then pulled him with her. Before they were able to go out of the coffee shop, Eriol thanked the people, "Thank you everyone for your cooperation!"
-
When they are finally at a place in the park where there aren't so many people staying...
Sakura and the others decided to leave them both alone to let them deal with unfinished matters. So, in behalf of the group, Sakura made an excuse, "Uh... We'll just be waiting for you at the nearest hotdog stand. We'll just take our snacks. Take care, okay?" She winked at Tomoyo, who wondered why Sakura did that.
The rest of the group nodded.
Before leaving, Yamazaki whispered to Eriol, "Just do what I told you, okay?" Eriol raised his brow. Yamazaki just winked and bade them goodbye. "You two better hurry up!" Finally, they left.
After their friends left, Tomoyo immediately said to Eriol, "Okay Hiiragizawa-kun, start explaining." She demanded. She crossed her arms, one brow raised and waited for Eriol's explanation.
"Well, wasn't that enough for you back at the coffee shop?"
"What? That's not an explanation."
"Oh, so you want more, eh?" Eriol tried to pull her close to him again and kiss her. But this time, she was able to control herself from giving in and pushed Eriol away.
"Enough of it already!"
"Okay, okay. I planned everything, from the dare to the date. Why? Because..." Eriol hesitated to continue.
"Because what?" Tomoyo felt uneasy again. She sort of knew that what he was about to say would also be the same thing that she would want to say if only she had that much courage to do so. She was so engrossed with what she was thinking that she didn't realize something already happening.
He kissed her again passionately, trying to show her every bit of his love for her. Without hesitation, she gave in to show him that she had accepted him in her heart ever since he became her shock absorber.
Both finally got what they wanted. And they proved that there will always be something good in the end even if everything now isn't working out right.
-
Just behind the bushes, Sakura and the others were watching them. They didn't really go to the nearest hotdog stand to take their snacks. Who would be stupid enough to miss such a exciting event that's about to happen? Not them. So, Sakura taped everything of it as a remembrance of the first romance of her best friend.
"Mission accomplish guys!" She winked at her friends who smiled back at her in agreement.
-
"True love will never fade..."
_End_
Well, since it'll be Christmas soon, this will be one of my gifts to my beloveds, Michan and Refe-chan, who are also good writers here in fanfiction.net. But, this is mainly for all the people who like to read Card Captor Sakura especially with the Eriol/Tomoyo pairing.
So for the rest of you, enjoy!