"It's nice to be a little crazy every once in a while. Look at your young master Clow Reed sequel."
Chapter 4
Dedicated to Omi and Meggy. Wala man tayong communication through email, titigan ko lang ang toilet bowl namin, naaalala ko na kayo. Aishiteiru yo!
"Ah, Tomoyo, this is such a feast!" Yukito said, eyes wide. Before him were hundreds of plates filled with all the specialty dishes of the different restaurants all over Japan.
Daidouji Tomoyo batted her eyelashes. "I figured that this would help you put in a agreeable mood, my friend."
Yukito paused from eating. "Oh no, don't tell me you haven't forgotten about that ridiculous idea of putting me and Na…Akizuki-san together?"
"It never left my mind for a second." Tomoyo then blinked. "How did you know?"
"He told me," he said simply, referring casually to his other persona.
"Eh?" How did that happen?
Yukito read her mind and commented wryly, "I believe, it's an outstanding example of intrapersonal communication."
"Oh." She flipped her hair over her shoulders. " No matter. You know that I'll do anything for Sakura-chan, and when she asked me to make you happy, I couldn't say no."
"But I am happy!" protested Yukito.
"Then I'll make you happier!"
"Gah!" The man didn't know whether to roll his eyes or to chuckle in amusement. Now he understood why Daidouji Tomoyo was called the 'Great Nakoudo'. He chose the former, hoping to discourage her. "Tomoyo, look. You don't force love; it comes naturally. If I am destined to fall for Akizuki-san, then it shall happen."
Tomoyo sighed. "Iie. I am not forcing love, I'm just giving it a little suggestive push."
The snow rabbit laughed. He had to admire her perseverance, and he mused that she would make a wonderful nagging wife to some stubborn and pompous man someday.
"Besides," she continued, "Cupid is worse than me. If he would do this job, chances are, he would shoot you down with arrows. As for me, I'm even treating you to a sumptuous banquet."
"Imagine that," smiled Yukito, forking a piece of vegetable.
"I therefore conclude that you give my idea a try," she finished. "It wouldn't hurt, would it? You'll gain a new friend, and you'll have something extraordinary to break your routine."
Yukito suddenly shut his eyes, and wings enveloped him. Yue appeared before her, face dark. "Ruby Moon…my friend? No, thank you, I would rather be a friendless loner. At least my sanity is intact."
Tomoyo laughed. "It's nice to be a little crazy every once in a while. Look at your young master Clow Reed sequel."
"Master Hiiragizawa?" frowned Yue.
"Hai. He challenged me to make him fall in love with me." She shrugged. "Now between asking someone like you to ask someone like Nakuru out on a date-"
"What do you mean someone like me?" interrupted Yue, outraged.
"-or asking someone like me to make someone like Eriol Hiiragizawa fall in love with me, which is the crazier situation?" she asked.
"The latter."
"Exactly."
He crossed his arms stubbornly. "I still won't do it. It's…absurd."
Tomoyo sighed. She had anticipated that he would be difficult; after all, he was Yue. But the bottom line was, she was Daidouji Tomoyo.
She gave him the most wounded look she could muster. "All I wanted to do is to make Sakura-chan happy. I just wanted to do what she wishes, and here you are, being selfish. Meanie!"
Yue sweatdropped. "Selfish? I just wanted to ensure that Ruby Moon's stupidity doesn't rub on me-"
"Just one little date…and you're not the one I'm pairing, you know. I'm pairing Yukito with Nakuru. The only role you had to play is to ask Nakuru out officially in your form. You're not the one who will date Naku-chan."
The moon guardian rubbed his aching temples. "It's against my reputation."
"But it will make Sakura-chan happy."
She watched the guardian's hard profile mellow. Ah, Kinomoto Sakura was the ultimate blackmail- no one could just say no to her sweet, sweet name.
"But what will Master Hiiragizawa think when he learns that I…I asked that creature out?"
"I'll take care of Eriol Hiiragizawa- just do what I say," she said confidently.
"I don't know…"
"You don't have to, because I'll do the knowing, thinking and scheming here."
He still looked reluctant, so Tomoyo quickly placed the tickets on his hands. "Good luck, Yue."
Warning knocks disturbed their conversation. "Miss Tomoyo, someone sent you a bouquet," the maid announced from the other side of the closed door.
"You know what to do," said Tomoyo to the voice. "Give the flowers to the spinsters you know."
Yue looked at her quizzically. "Why are you giving away your flowers?"
"That's because we already have enough flowers in my garden," she replied. "So I give the flowers to those who need cheering up." She smiled at him. "I could have sent you flowers too, but I'm sure Nakuru could cheer you up."
"Are you suggesting that she…that I…" His face soured. "Impossible!"
"That's what Bill Gates thought too regarding the commercial viability of the Internet back in 1996," she said sweetly.
Her reply drew a blank face.
She sighed. "Never mind."
Yue and Tomoyo were seated in the car that the latter was driving herself. They were parked in front of the Hiiragizawa mansion, doing a last-minute gameplan.
"I go into the house and talk Eriol-kun out of the house. You then go in and do what you are suppose to do. You have one hour," she said.
"But what if Master sees me in the car?"
"He won't; you'll be hiding behind those bushes." She pointed to the bushes by the front door.
"You didn't say anything about hiding there like some kind of a thief!" he protested, looking at his immaculate white outfit.
"I'll pay for the laundry services," she said, groaning. She then gave him a push. "Now go!"
Eriol was humming to himself as he pretended to be engrossed in reading. Actually, he had been anticipating Tomoyo's arrival- he sent her a bouquet an hour ago, and he was expecting that she would come here and say thank you, or perhaps something more.
The last time he sent Kaho a bouquet, he remembered that she immediately came to him, all flushed. She was trying to look composed, he knew that, for she was supposed to be mature and all. The minute he reached for her though, he instantly felt her throw all her poise into the wind. He remembered how she kissed him with abandon, and releasing the passionate woman in her was a complete delight for him.
At the back of his mind, he wondered whether kissing Daidouji Tomoyo was the same too. He hurriedly suppressed the thought- it was just his hormones again, that was why he was lusting even after someone like her.
The front door opened.
"Daidouji Tomoyo-san, what a surprise," he said in an even tone, eyeing her for those discreet signs Kaho always shows. When he found none, he decided that she must be very good at hiding it.
"Hi Hiiragizawa-kun! What are you doing?" she asked, looking at the book he was reading.
Playing casual, huh? Fine by me. Eriol smiled languidly. "Reading." He pretended to be too busy in reading to even glance up at her.
"What a gifted child you are!" Tomoyo pointed to the book. "Do you always read your books upside-down?"
He blinked, then realized that it was, indeed, the wrong way up. He kicked himself mentally, then smiled at her unaffectedly. "I was just curious as to how the letters will appear if it will be read this way."
"So did you discover something when you did that?" she asked in impeccable seriousness. "You know, like that episode in Exposed, when they were decoding the Bible and found the death of Princess Diana prophesized in there."
It took him great efforts not to tear her apart. "No," he said through gritted teeth. She was toying with him! He placed the accursed book on his lap and maintained his cheerful mask. "So what brought you here?"
"I did say I was courting so I decided to ask you out on a date," she said casually, as if she was just asking him to walk to school with her.
Eriol felt his mood improving. Now they were talking. "Sure, no problem."
"Your treat, of course."
His mood darkened again. "What?!" he spat out. "You're the one taking me out on a date! Why should I pay?"
She nudged him playfully. "Hey, I'm the one doing you a favor here. I reckon that if I won't invite you out, no one else would. It would have been another boring day for you then."
She was right, but she didn't need to know that. "Then I don't need your kindness. I'm staying here."
"What a miser," she teased. "And all along I thought you were a gentleman."
"I'm just an economizer," he said defensively.
"Right," she said, grinning meaningfully.
"Don't smile that way!" he barked.
"Why? Because I'm so pretty when I smile like this?" She beamed flirtatiously even more.
"Yes!" he paused. "I mean, hell no! Because it's irritating!"
"Okie-dokie." She suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "Come, Hiiragizawa-kun. Get that lazy rear out of your chair!"
"Where are you taking me?" he asked, wincing when he felt his sleeping feet experience the pins-and-needles sensation.
"Out of here." Tomoyo glanced at him. "Let's go to the park and pretend we're lovers."
"We aren't!" One more smartass comment from her and he didn't know if he could still hold off the colors threatening to rush to his face.
"OK, let's pretend that I'm Julia Roberts and I'm taking you out for a walk." She smiled at him. "Coo, come here, doggie."
He suddenly wished he had not locked the Clow key anymore in his drawers. It would certainly come in handy right now- he wanted to use the Sleep Card, the Maze Card…anything that could stop Daidouji Tomoyo!
"Gah! No, let go of me!" he said in his last-ditch effort to protest. They were in the front door already.
She laughed delightedly. "Oh, you are so Victorian! Come with me and loosen up a bit! You'll find strolling a better option than reading books upside-down."
"Damn you, woman!"
Yue watched as Tomoyo dragged a screaming Eriol out of the house. He sweatdropped when the two reached the car, and Eriol suddenly yelled at Tomoyo.
"What are you trying to do, blind me?"
"How should I know you were a vampire?"
"Me, a vampire?" he asked in disbelief.
"What other logical explanation can explicate your fear of the sun?" she asked challengingly.
"It's my skin! And my eyes! I'm just not used to being out in the scorching heat of that devil!" He pointed to the sun.
"The more reason why I should take you out." She reached for his coat and unfastened its top two buttons. He flinched, making her laugh. "Hiiragizawa, easy! I won't strip you naked! You're sweating!"
"No matter. Your car has an air-conditioning, right?" he asked, looking at the limousine in relief.
"Whoever said anything about a car?" She proceeded to drag him into the park, walking.
"Daidouji-san, you…you…"
"Me...me…" she mimicked, laughing.
The moon guardian watched as the two disappeared. It was now his show. He looked at the rock concert tickets, then at the house. "For Mistress Sakura, for Mistress Sakura, for Mistress Sakura…and for the free whole-day spa in the Daidouji onsen."
"Yue?"
The moon guardian flinched, then turned around slowly.
Nakuru was looking at him curiously through the bushes. "What the hell are you doing there?"
OK, so this wasn't the way I planned things to be. Eriol glanced at the humming Tomoyo sideways. In my timetable, she's supposed to be love struck with me already. That's what happened with Kaho and those other women I had one-night stands with. Fine, she's with me now, but she doesn't show those telltale signs those women showed to prove that they're crazy about me.
Nah, I can't be doing something wrong. Maybe she's just shy, and just holding her feelings back. That must be it. I should make the first move so it would be much easier for her. He smiled at her. "Daidouji-san?"
"Hmm?" She glanced at him expectantly.
He gulped a little- it was hard to look at those lovely purple pools and not drown in them helplessly. He decided to turn his eyes to the big blue penguin slide. "Did you like the flowers I sent you awhile ago?"
"Flowers?" She frowned.
He nodded awkwardly. "You know…the white roses…"
Tomoyo's eyes lit up. "Oh! Those roses."
He nodded, relieved.
She smiled sheepishly. "To be honest with you, I gave it away."
His eyes widened. "What?!"
"Flowers are given to people who need cheering up. I'm quite happy, so instead of keeping something like that for myself, I give them to those people who I know will appreciate them even more than I could," she explained. She suddenly stepped in front of him and clasped her hands together in a prayer position in front of her face. She smiled at him apologetically. "Gomen."
He was still in a daze. So the reason Tomoyo came to him wasn't as he originally thought; she came just because she thought she genuinely thinks he needed company! He didn't know what to feel.
In the end, he decided that putting her under his spell would be much harder than he thought. But he loved challenges almost as much as he loved his Clow cards. It would be a sweet victory to conquer the amethyst-eyed nakoudo.
Tomoyo flinched when she felt his hand on hers. He smiled tenderly, then imprisoned them with his. "Let's go."
In the entire course of their stroll, he didn't let go of her hands.
"I did as you've ordered," said Yue that night. They were in the Daidouji library, where Tomoyo was making her bi-weekly article for the website.
She smiled proudly. "That's my boy, Yue! You'll make Sakura-chan happy!"
Yue nodded, but he remained standing in front of her.
She sweatdropped. "Er, anything more, Yue?"
He held his hand out. "The ticket to the onsen resort."
"Oh yeah!" She fished out one, but Yue grabbed two.
"To compensate for my pride," he said before reverting to his Yukito form.
She shook her head laughingly. Humor and humanness was starting to rub on the moon guardian, and she was glad. Love and its offspring, happiness, were for everyone, after all.
Yukito opened his eyes, adjusted them to the surroundings, then turned to Tomoyo. "So it was done." He said.
She nodded.
After a few more minutes of conversation, Yukito bade good night. She walked him to the gates.
"Are you sure you don't want to eat?" she asked.
"If I start to eat, I might never stop. And I have this tendency to fall asleep when I'm hungry. I might not be able to study for our exams." Yukito waved. "Maybe next time?"
"Definitely."
Minutes later, she was back in her room, working for her article. However, she couldn't stop thinking of someone in particular.
She shrugged- she convinced herself that she was just feeling infatuation. After all, it had happened to her countless of times before when she was matchmaking- she liked Li Syaoran a lot, for instance. Soon enough though, when she sees how perfect the guy goes with the girl she's pairing him with, she would forget about her silly crush.
Eriol Hiiragizawa was definitely not the first. Besides, whose knees wouldn't go weak when he smiles like that? Holds her hand like that?
She sighed- she better get back on her article.
tsuzuku