After a week, Syaoran was still confused. This was nothing like what he had expected, and the chaos around the house was driving him insane. The jokes and laughter were distracting, and Eriol only encouraged it. Syaoran didn't know what to do about it though, so he just--didn't. He watched it all through puzzled eyes, but he didn't say a word.
Then, as if out of the blue, Eriol would ask a question or make a statement having to do with magic, and Syaoran would find himself remembering suddenly why he was actually there. The rest of the time was a simple matter of trying to keep up. Every moment, it seemed, there was something new to drag their attention from matters of magic.
He didn't take notes or have any assigned books to read. He never knew when something significant would be said or when a question would be asked. There were never any hints that one moment would be chaos as usual and the next might be a comparison of geometric symbols and what they represented in different magical systems.
"But, a square is just a square. There's only so much that any culture could make out of that, right?"
Eriol shook his head. "To a point, maybe. It's the difference between security and stagnation sometimes. A square is a rigid shape. In some systems this is desirable, in others it is not."
"A square is stable and secure! I don't see how that's undesirable."
"Well, that's what you're here to learn. I could lecture you all day or give you books that give you straight information, but you wouldn't be able to do anything with it unless I can make you understand."
Syaoran still didn't get it. He remembered it, he tried to remember each point Eriol made, but the methods were so different from the way he had been taught that he had a hard time believing that anything was being accomplished. Monday morning finally rolled around and he woke up in a bad mood, certain that he was being toyed with.
He stormed downstairs and sat at the table, scowling at his breakfast. He didn't like the idea of being played with, least of all by this deranged group of lunatics. It was Kaho who said something, leaning close with concern written on her face. "Li-kun, daijobu?"
"I'm fine," he answered curtly, stabbing viciously at his eggs.
"You look angry about something." She cocked her head to the side, smiling slightly. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"I doubt it." He took a bite of his food, clearly hoping that this would signal the end of the conversation. A deep silence ensued with only the soft ticking of a grandfather clock down the hall and the occasional clink of silverware on the dishes breaking the hush. They were half way through eating when footfalls were heard from the direction of the stairs.
Syaoran looked around at the table for the first time and realized that half of his sulking and scowling had been wasted. Eriol hadn't been there to feel the brunt of it--no wonder the meal had passed in silence. He redoubled his efforts at frowning around the delicious breakfast he was eating. It was difficult because the food was so good, but he concentrated on the fact that he would rather be having a more traditional meal...or, something more familiar to himself than what was obviously typical here.
It didn't work. Eriol was all smiles despite Syaoran's persistent scowl. He took it a step further, taking this as a personal challenge. In his day he'd out grumped and glared even Touya. He'd cowed all four of his older sisters with a well-placed scowl. He was not about to let this one go ignored.
He banged his silverware into the table in the course of his eating, loud enough that he should draw attention, but done in the course of what would otherwise pass as normal eating. He set his drinking glass down in a similar fashion, though careful not to break it. He kept his eyes down mostly, sulking toward the food to make it seem like nothing else mattered, but when he did look up nothing seemed different. Too soon he ran out of food and therefore ran out of excuses to be loud in his silent grouching.
Nakuru was immediately at his side, a smirk on her face as she snatched his dishes away. "Tomorrow, you get a plastic cup," she teased, and scurried off before he could think of a good retort.
Syaoran stood, storming from the room before anyone could notice how the shame burned at his face. He was in a grouchy mood, and the last thing he wanted was to be teased for it. He hadn't escaped entirely though, because as he reached the doorway he heard Eriol raise his voice suddenly.
"Wait just a moment, Syaoran."
His shoulders stiffened as he turned around. With the recent reprimand from Nakuru of all people, Syaoran was determined not to make a fool of himself again. Instead he kept his expression as blank as he could and turned to see what Eriol wanted. "Yes?"
"Today is our day off. Go ahead and do whatever you want, have fun, write home, or anything else you can think of."
"Day off?" Syaoran was flabbergasted. "What do you mean, 'Day off'? How the hell is today going to be any different from any other day since I got here? It's not like we've done anything!" He couldn't stop himself. This was exactly the opening he needed to vent his frustration, and he wasn't about to pass it up.
From his chair at the head of the table, Eriol nodded. He looked a bit sad for a fraction of a second, but when he looked at Syaoran the usual smile was back in place. "Is something wrong?"
"YES!!!" he exploded. "Of course there's something wrong! I don't know how you expect me to learn anything in this madhouse, and you're not even trying to teach me anything. We just talk, and then something happens, then we talk some more. There's no training, there's no studying, no tests, no--"
"Syaoran." Eriol's voice was soft, but the utterance was enough to stop the boy's ranting cold. "It's my day off as well. I wish you had brought this up yesterday, so I could have done something about it then."
It was too much for Syaoran. His hands were balled in fists at his side, and his face was turning a fascinating shade of purple, but he didn't say a word. Instead, he nodded, bowed, and returned to his room. Once there he slumped on his bed, overcome by his frustration.
~~~~~@~~~~~
Eriol slumped in his seat. He wearily took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, letting the world fade to blurred obscurity while his glasses dangled loosely from his hand.
"Was I that much different when you taught me?" Kaho still sat at the table, picking at the last few items still on her plate.
"Yes and no," Eriol answered with a sigh. "It took you a month to say anything remotely critical, no matter how much I pushed. On the other hand, you were here because you wanted to be, and you're not trained in melee combat."
She looked back toward the doorway Syaoran had just departed from, and then shook her head. "Do you really think he doesn't want to be here?"
"He said as much a week ago, when he arrived. He'd rather be in Tomoeda. With Sakura. I can't blame him either. I know I'd rather be with someone I loved than stuck in some strange country with the crazy reincarnation of my ancestor, trying to learn something from someone who seemed to be doing everything but teaching me."
Kaho laughed softly, lifting the linen to her face as if to wipe away stray crumbs that might have stuck to her lips. Of course there was nothing, she was just trying to be polite and hide exactly how amused she was by his statement. "You've thought this through a lot, haven't you?"
He nodded in return. "It's my duty as his teacher. You should understand that."
She nodded slowly as she finished the last bite of her breakfast. "Yes," she said after a few minutes. "I do understand. That's why I know the difference between paying attention as a mentor, and paying attention because of something else. Remember, I know all the warning signs of a teacher falling for their student."
He choked on the tea he'd just taken a sip of. He congratulated himself on being able to not spray the entire table with it while he forced himself to swallow. Kaho laughed while he tried to cough away the tickle from the tea going down the wrong direction, but it was a few moments before he could say anything.
Eriol took an extra moment to compose himself and then turned on her with a placid expression. "I am not falling for Syaoran."
He expected taunting. He expected teasing. He readied many more protests in preparation--and was sorely disappointed when he didn't get a chance to use any of them.
"Is that so? Ah, well, you'd know better than I would who you fancy." She smiled and rose, carrying her dishes into the kitchen to help with the dishes.
Eriol opened his mouth, but no sound came out for a very long time. He finally settled for finishing his food, trying to figure out why he was so derailed by her agreeing so easily. "Of course she would agree with me," he chided himself. "I don't fancy him. He's my cute little descendent, and he's in love with my favorite person. It would be stupid and pointless to--"
He shut up, afraid of exactly where this rant might take him. Especially since some part of himself was protesting, saying that Syaoran was Clow's descendent. Sakura was Clow's favorite person. He'd given all that up with half of his power...hadn't he?
~~~~~@~~~~~
From inside the kitchen, Nakuru and Kaho giggled softly together. "I could almost hear him thinking all those excuses he wanted to use, but it's obvious, isn't it?"
Nakuru nodded almost violently. "So obvious only another guy wouldn't notice."
Kaho rolled her eyes. "Oh really? What's your excuse?"
The guardian gaped, pulling a hand from the soapy dishwater to drape it across her brow dramatically. Soap bubbles were flung everywhere with the gesture. "You're so mean to me! I think like a girl! Don't I?"
They both lapsed into giggles again, letting the volume raise a little more than two conspirators should. "Okay, okay, that's fine. What's Sakura's excuse then?"
Nakuru blinked. "Um, I don't know? Why, what's she missing out on?"
"Well, there was that entire time when Syaoran was trying to admit his feelings to her." Kaho's expression clearly said, See? You *are* a guy!
Nakuru easily dismissed that. "Oh, that. Well, she has an excuse there. We were keeping her a bit busy at the time, remember?"
Kaho shrugged. "She was a bit young then too. She's been missing out on these things for a long time though."
"Oh...you mean Tomoyo?"
Kaho put on her small mysterious smile and replied, "Among others."
"Hey! I know that grin! It means you know something I don't! Share!" Nakuru splashed Kaho with water, starting a mini water battle between them.
"No, I'm not going to tell you," she teased softly, still displaying her infuriating smile. "I'll just say that someone closer to her is mooning over her too."
"But, you can tell me, can't you?"
Kaho shook her head, turning momentarily serious. "These are things that may not come to pass if we're not careful. So, if anyone will find out, it all depends on what happens here and now."
"Still...that means that if we help Eriol find his happiness, Sakura will still get her happily ever after?"
"That's what this means."
"Good! So, what's the first thing we do?"
~~~~~@~~~~~
Author's Note:
Hello, and welcome to the insanity I like to call an author's note. I'll start out by thanking everyone who reviewed. It says there were 18 reviews for just the first chapter? How the heck did that happen? ~gasps~ I don't believe it. Can't make me! ~counts~ Well...maybe. I'd like to thank a couple of people in specific though, for making this fic possible. For encouraging me. For inspiring me. For...egging me on? (Blame them!) Six Underground, for playing Syaoran to a "T" against my Eriol...this fic would not have made it this far without you! Askani Blue, thanks for sticking with me all this time! You guys are the greatest, and you stuck with me from the start of "Solace" until now. AAAWWW! ~glomps~
I don't know when I'll update next, but I *hope* it will be sooner this time. Thank you all for reading!