Disclaimer : I don't own CCS
The Unchained Melody"…The young and talented pianist from England, Eriol Hiiragizawa, said that he would stop his career as a pianist. Seems that his concert in Dublin yesterday was his last public perfomance. In his press conference, Hiiragizawa didn't speak much. According to his manager, Hiiragizawa had his own personal reason why he wouldn't continue his raising career. His fans from all around the world regret his decision. We can only hope that…,"
PIP.
The dark haired boy turned off the flat TV.
"You're still watching that tape?" asked his bestfriend, Syaoran Li.
Eriol Hiiragizawa just raised his shoulder.
Syaoran sat on the couch near Eriol. He sighed. "It's been 3 years,ne? I am actually impressed that you can hold your urge to play piano for 3 years long,"
"I don't hold the urge to play piano or anything," Eriol replied coldly. He got up from his leather sofa and headed to his room.
|| :: Hospital, later that night :: ||
"Thank you for coming here, Syao-kun, Eriol-kun," the warm smile of Kinomoto Sakura greeted Syaoran and Eriol when the two guys came to see her.
Eriol smiled tenderly. He cared for his bestfriend's fiancee more than he thought. Not as big as Syaoran's love for Sakura of course. Once they heard the news that Sakura got into hospital, Syaoran went 'wild' and quickly dragged Eriol to the hospital.
Sakura's injury wasn't that bad actually. She just fell from the stairs and hurt her ankles. But that was enough to make Syaoran anxious –until that time.
"Syao-kun, go home! I'm alright. I just have to wait the doctor to open this bandages and then I can go home,"
"Fine, then. I'll stay here and wait for you."
"No,you shouldn't!"
"Don't be stubborn. I'll wait for you and I won't accept any 'no' for answer,"
Eriol cleared his throat. "Sakura-san. Glad that you're alright. But since my existence is just being an interfere, I'll just go and leave you two alone,"
"Hoe? Eriol-kun, you can stay here! I'm not bothered at all!" said Sakura.
"Well, you may be not. But I don't think your fiancee would think the same," Eriol smirked at Syaoran. Sakura frowned at Syaoran and still insisted Eriol to stay. But the dark blue haired boy shook his head politely and bid farewell to them
Eriol went out of the room and realized that the hospital's corridor out of Sakura's room was dark. The lamps were off and there wasn't any other people there. Poor Sakura-san. Her room was placed on the spookiest part.
He was about to take a turn on his right, when a strong wind blew from the opposite direction. Turning around, he now could see a big, white-framed window, at the end of the corridor on his left. How could this hospital let the windows opened? He thought as he dragged his feet walking to the direction.
The clouds on the night sky moved slowly, letting the moon peek through the gap and giving its light to shine the window.
And that was when he noticed there was someone –a woman– sitting on the windows.
Her gown swiftly flew by the wind
In shadowHer pale face preffered to look outside
Enigma
Raven hair with some curls elegantly flew
Untouchable
Amethyst which held secrets
Unrevealed
"Who are you?" Eriol found himself speaking.
The girl turned her head. She observed the asker for a while with her violet eyes. A small smile formed on her lips. She got off of the window and walked to the blue haired gentleman.
Eriol tensed his back when the girl looked straight to his eyes.
"You're Eriol Hiiragizawa, right?" she suddenly asked.
He frowned his forehead. "H,how could you know my name?"
"Eriol Hiiragizawa, a young, talented pianist and composer from England. Started to play piano since the age of 6. Winner of many music competitions! How can I not knowing you?"
The sapphires eyed boy sighed. "Er… I actually have stopped being a musician since a long time ago. Thanks for still remembering me, but… I think I prefer you to just forget me,"
"Forget you?" she confusely asked. "Is that related with your reason to stop your music career?"
"More or less… yes,"
"Oh… too bad."
Quickly, Eriol changed the subject –before the girl could ask him further question. "Are you a patient here? What's your name?"
"Yes I am. My name is Tomoyo Daidouji. Nice to meet you, Hiiragizawa-kun!"
Eriol nodded and add a faint smile. "So… where's your room? Why are you opening the window? Sick people like you shouldn't do that,"
"I'm not sick. It's just what the doctors think. I'm feeling very very healthy," she said it seriously.
"But you still shouldn't open the window," he said as he shut the window closed. "My friend is staying on this same corridor, and I really hope you won't invite the chill breeze to come in,"
"Oh I didn't know! I'm sorry! I thought I was the only one who stayed in this corridor part!"
Silence. But Eriol then broke it by asking,"Where's your room?"
Tomoyo pointed a room beside her. That room was seperated from the other rooms. Weird, he thought.
Eriol walked to the room and tried to look inside from the small window on the door. He couldn't see anything since the room was too dark, so he grabbed the door's knob. Eriol was about to turn it open, when Tomoyo's warm hand suddenly held his hand.
"Please… don't get in," she said.
Eriol couldn't help asking. "Why?"
Tomoyo gently removed his hand from the door's knob. "You don't need to know."
That statement just made him even more curious. "… Are you hiding something?"
The girl shook her head. But Eriol –who had more expererience in dealing with people – could easily tell that she was lying.
Dragged by curiousity, he decided to ask her some questions –which he supposed not to ask. "Daidouji-san… what are you doing here at this night?"
She wrinkled her forehead. "I'm a patient here. Of course I have rights to be in this hospital,"
"Yea… but sick girl like you suppose to stay in bed , not wandering alone and bringing… suspicion."
"… Are you interogating me, Hiiragizawa-kun?"
"Not interogating. Just asking some simple questions that you should be able to answer."
She paused for some seconds before saying, "I'll answer your question after you answer mine,"
He playfully nodded. "Okay, so what do you want to ask?"
"Why did you stop your raising music career?"
He stared at her coldly. "I will answer your other question,"
"Okay then… why do you pretend to hate music?"
Eriol looked at Tomoyo with piercing stare. "I'd rather questions out of the music subject, please,"
"But you said you would answer my questions,"
"Young lady," he spoke in the same steady tone, but his eyes glinted dangerously. "Please… I hate that kind of questions."
Tomoyo transparantly showed her dislike to the guy whom she previously admired. "Well then Hiiragizawa-kun, so you must have understood that people don't like their privacy being disturbed?" she sarcastically asked.
He raised his chin up a bit. He knew that he was the one who started being annoying first, but his pride just wouldn't let him admit it. In the other hand, he couldn't stand with people who always asking him about his least favourite subject.
"I thought that we would make just a great friend, Daidouji-san. But I think I was just expecting too much," And with that he turned his back and leaved the raven haired girl.
- - - The Next Day - - -
Eriol was walking through the empty street, heading to his apartment. He and Syaoran had just picked Sakura up from the hospital. Luckily for him, he didn't meet Tomoyo during his visit to the hospital. After Sakura signed some hospital-leaving documents, the three of them went home. Syaoran and Sakura of course just got drowned into their love world. Eriol sometimes wondered if he should pity Sakura for that or not.
Eriol was about to get inside to the apartment's building entrance, when a soft voice called for him.
"Hiiragizawa-kun?"
He turned around and found himself facing the same violet eyed girl he just met last night. "D,Daidouji-san? What are you doing here? You should be in the hospital!"
Tomoyo took a step forward and said, "I want to say sorry for last night,"
His eyes softened. "Er…I'm the one who suppose to apologize you know. But you really should be in a hospital right now!" he quickly grabbed her hand.
The pale girl insisted to stay in her place. Her shoulders shook slightly and her short breaths were clearly heard. "Wait… there's something I want to tell you."
Seeing her awkward condition, he asked, "Daidouji-san, are you alright?"
Tomoyo rested her hand on the outside wall of the apartment. She breathed heavily before replying, "I,I'm fine… I have to tell you something… if not now, th,there won't be any o,other… time…,"
His heart skipped a beat when he saw her body falling down. Quickly,he caught her collapsed body. Tapping her cheeks gently, he tried to wake her up. "D,Daidouji! Hey! Wake up!"
He realized that even in that empty street, he would soon drag people's attention. "Damn it," he muttered as he lifted her body and carried her into his apartment in such a wedding-style. Inside actually wasn't any better. He still could feel the stare from the apartment's owner and the other guests. They didn't see mistaken 'groom and bride' got into the apartment everyday.
With Tomoyo in his arms, he needed more seconds to press the elevator's button. And when the elevator's door scrolled opened, Eriol rushed inside. Lucky that there was no other people in it.
He looked down to see the Plum Blossom who slept peacefully in his arm. Her skin felt very smooth againts his. Plus that lovely scent of Vert from her body…even his calm mind couldn't stop the blood rushing fast inside his body.
- - - Later - - -
Tomoyo woke up and found herself on Eriol's bed. The owner himself was sitting next to her. Eriol gave her a glass of water and told her what had happened.
"I am really sorry for being such a trouble, Hiiragizawa-kun. And thank you for your kindness." she paused before continuing, "It's just that…,"
"What?"
"You don't do anything bad to me while I was asleep, right?"
He blushed. "O,of course not!!"
She giggled. "I'm just keeding. I believe that you're a nice guy, Hiiragizawa-kun. Though in some emotional condition you could be very very annoying,"
Eriol smiled bitterly. "Don't call me a nice guy. You don't know who I really am." He spoke at Tomoyo, but his gaze wandered to the other place.
"Do you want to… say something perhaps? I'll litsen," she said.
He didn't reply.
"Sharing what you feel perhaps is not much, but it means more than it…,"
"Don't talk as if you understand!!" he yelled. Seeing Tomoyo widened her eyes in sudden surprise, he tried to calm himself down. "Sorry. But really, you don't understand anything."
She waited him to speak again. And he finally gave up to her invisible stubborness.
"Before I started my music career, I had been in a relationship with a woman. A woman that was very precious to me. And her name is…," he felt like there was a stone in his throat when he wanted to say her name. "…her name is…Kaho Mizuki,"
"At first, it was going very well. I was then engaged with her. But my piano career was also raising. I started to ignore her and… indirectly… I choosed the piano over her,"
"Kaho couldn't take it anymore. We broke up harshly. One night, still emotional, she walked alone. She was then… well… raped," he stopped for a moment. His clear blue eyes showed guilt. "And now… even that it happened 3 years ago, she still can't forget it. Her mental condition was getting worse and until now she has to stay in Tomoeda Mental Hospital,"
"The last time I went to visit her, she was just…helpless. The doctor said that her case was serious. She began to hurt herself, or then laughed and screamed hysterically. And I was the one who did it to her. I was the one…," Eriol gritted his teeth. "If only I hadn't been so uncare before, if only I could make her happier, she wouldn't have to become like that. I am the one who caused her like that…"
Eriol didn't say anything else, so she carefully decided to ask, "So… you refused to play piano because you still love her? Or because you feel guilty about her?"
He sighed. "I don't love her anymore. Even before the accident, my love for her had faded away. But the guilt… still remained in my heart." Eriol shut his eyes tightly. "It was because me! My stupid dream! My..," he gritted his teeth. His hand crumpled his bed's sheets.
"Is that why you declared that you wouldn't touch the piano again?"
"… yes,"
She let some seconds passed before asking him again. "Well, Hiiragizawa-kun… sorry if ask you this but… do you still love the piano? Do you still love music?"
He laughed bitterly. "Of course… of course. But if my music could only bring disaster, than I'd better not playing it again…,"
Tomoyo exhaled a deep breath. "Well… you're right. I couldn't say that I understood your pain. And it's up to you if you want to play piano again or not. Even that I don't quite agree that you said your music brought disaster," she smiled at him. "Well…I love your music, Hiiragizawa-kun. Just to let you know,"
His eyes widened for a moment. He bowed his head, but Tomoyo still could hear him saying 'Thank you'.
The girl could only smile. "Okay, as I promised before. You have answered my questions. Are you still interested to find out the answer of your question, Hiiragizawa-kun?"
Eriol –in fact- had forgotten that agreement. He wanted to know more about Tomoyo of course. That girl was just surrounded with mystery. But at the end, he just shook his head. "If it's your privacy, then you shouldn't tell me."
"Well… it was… and still is. But I decide to tell you. And it's not because of our agreement. I really have to tell you. That's why I came here in the first place,"
"Eh?"
Tomoyo crawled out of his bed and got closer to him. She then reluctantly offer him her hand. "Touch my hand," she softly ordered.
"Huh?"
"Touch my hand,"
Still not averting his gaze from her, he then finally touch her hand and held it.
Suddenly, a white, blinding light shone from their holding hands.
"W,what?!" he gasped and covered his eyes from that light. He tried to let go his hold, but he couldn't. Like there was a big magnet that not letting him go.
Scaredly, Eriol looked at Tomoyo. Her hair blew everywhere and her face was hard and nervous.
Tomoyo caught Eriol's stare. Even in that super extra shining light, he still could see her lips formed a soft smile at him.
The next moment, they disappeared.
- - - -
Eriol felt that somebody had been calling for him from a distance far away. He lazily opened his eyes. His head was dizzy. Still groaning, he got up. A familiar scent filled his mind. He rubbed his eyes and try to find out where he was.
To his surprise, he was in the dark corridor where he first met Tomoyo.
"You're awake?"
Abruptly, he turned back and met her purple gazing eyes. Eriol pushed himself backward. "Y,you!! What did you do?! How could you bring me here?! Wh,what…,"
"Ssh… This corridor may be seperated from the other, but if you keep yelling like that, the other patients will get disturbed. I'll answer your questions later," Tomoyo stood up and offered Eriol her hand to help him up.
Eriol refused her offer, but he still stood up though. Tomoyo was an enigma, but he knew that she wasn't a bad person.
Tomoyo looked at the her room which she forbid Eriol to get into the day before. She opened the door. "Come in," she said.
Strangely, he obidiently did. As he stepped inside the room, he realized that it was a quite big hospital room. The ceiling lamp was off. The only light source came from a dim lamp on the night table. With that, he tried to take a better look at the room. There was only a bed near the window, a small table, one visitor's chair, and the medical equipments beside the bed.
Slowly, Eriol walked forward to the bed. There was someone sleeping on it. A girl. A girl with raven hair and pale skin.
Tomoyo.
He was taken aback. Fearfully, he looked back behind him. And there… stood the other Tomoyo.
In shock, he looked continuosly at both Tomoyo. His mind swirled.
If this was only a dream, he swear he wouldn't mind to give Syaoran a full kiss on the lips.
A/n : Ho-ho… This story was supposed to be an ONE-SHOT. But due to the length, I decided to divide it into 2 parts. Second part coming later. Review, will ya?