That afternoon, Yukito and Nakuru fetched Eriol Jr. in Tomoeda Elementary School.
"What are you two doing here?" he asked, puzzled. The two would only fetch him when his father wanted to talk with him about important matters.
"We dropped by to tell you to go home straight after your classes. Your mother will call you then," informed Nakuru. "I think she will be home in two days and she is planning something for your father."
The boy rolled his eyes. "Mom and Dad act so silly. Haven't they grown tired of falling in love with each other yet? It's been more than a decade that they've been together!"
Yukito chuckled. "Other people can only wish they have that kind of love."
"Well, I'm not other people!" sighed JR, rolling his eyeballs again. "Mom is great and all and I love her, but she's so weird when she's with Dad, and vice-versa. Love makes people crazy."
Yukito shrugged. "When you reach the age of fourteen, I doubt if you will still remember what you said."
"Hey, don't talk to me as if I'm like a kid! And I'm telling you, when I turn 14, I do not need to act like them. I'll be cool and calm, and so will Kaho-sensei…just like that spy couple I see on TV!"
The two guardians sweatdropped.
JR looked at his watch. "We were dismissed early today, so I still have an hour before Mom calls. Maybe I should go and play with Nadeshiko." He scratched his head. "Where is that girl? One minute she was here and now she's gone."
"I think I see her," said Nakuru, pointing to the field. "Is that Nadeshiko playing soccer with those boys?"
Eriol-chan's forehead creased, and before the two servants could say anything, he marched towards his cousin, scowling.
"Nadeshiko!!!"
She froze, and so did her playmates. Who wouldn't, when the son of the president of the biggest toy company in Japan was heading towards them, looking surly?
He grabbed her hand and tried to pull her with him. "Let's go home."
"But I'm still playing!" she protested.
"You'll play with me," he said, looking at her playmates snobbishly. "Mom sent me the newest set of Gundam model kit, and we can build it together." He smiled in satisfaction when he saw how their eyes widened in envy.
Nadeshiko looked at her playmates, then grinned. "OK, come on guys, let's build JR's gundam."
Eriol Jr.'s forehead creased. "Nadeshiko, it was only you I'm inviting!"
"What?!" She felt her jaw drop. "JR!"
"The model kit is still new!" he said. "What if they lose a part of it?"
"Of course they won't!"
"It's my model kit, and I want only you to play with it," he said firmly.
She paused.
"It's ok, Na-chan," said one boy, wiping a sweat from his brow. "We can get another goalie…not as good as you though."
She turned her back on JR and picked up the soccer ball. "No, you guys. I think I would rather have fun with you than tinker with mecha parts. Besides, I might lose a screw, and his very new and expensive model kit might never be built anymore."
"Nadeshiko!" Eriol-chan couldn't believe that she chose those boys over him. He ignored the snickers from the other boys and grabbed his cousin's hand. "You're going with me!"
"Let me go!" she cried.
"Hey, let Na-chan go!" protested the boy beside her.
"Make me!" said JR, frowning.
Nakuru sweatdropped. "Yuki-chan, I think trouble is brewing over there."
Yukito sighed. "I have a feeling that if we interfere, it will be our heads on Eriol-chan's guillotine."
"What should we do?"
"We'll wait and see. If it gets physical…" Yukito grinned. "I'll go get Yue."
"Look, Hiiragizawa, Na-chan doesn't want to go with you," said the boy. "Can't you at least respect your cousin's wish?"
"It's Nadeshiko to you!" barked JR. "Don't call her those ridiculous tomboyish names. It's your fault that's why she's starting to learn these unlady-like things!"
Nadeshiko glared at him. "JR, I do those unlady-like things because I want to. It's not their fault!"
"Great! So you're standing up for those people. Fine, go and play soccer with them. I don't care! Just don't come near me!" Eriol-chan was about to march away when he noticed that the boy who stood up for his cousin was holding her hand. His blood boiled. "Get your hands away from her!" He pushed the boy roughly away from Nadeshiko.
"That's it!" The boy retaliated by punching him straight on the face.
Eriol-chan staggered backwards, but quickly regained his balance and was about to lunge fiercely on the boy when Nadeshiko stepped in between, face hard. This made him stop uncertainly.
She turned to her playmates and bowed. "I'm sorry, Aki-kun. I apologize for my cousin."
The boy's eyes widened, then sighed. "Na-chan, I'm sorry for doing that to your cousin…it was reflex."
"I know." She smiled apologetically at them once more. "I'll still be your goalie next game, right?"
"There's no goalie better than you are, Na-chan." He tried to smile at JR, but received a glare instead.
Nadeshiko grabbed JR's hand and dragged him away with her, just as Yukito and Nakuru approached them, looking astounded.
"What happened back there?" asked Nakuru worriedly.
No one replied.
Yukito shook his head at Nakuru, then led them to the car.
"Ouch!!!" Eriol-chan cried as Nakuru healed the bruise he received awhile ago.
Spinel rolled its eyes. "Maybe that will teach you next time not to go into unnecessary battles."
The boy was about to retort when he remembered that Nadeshiko was still in the room, quietly fuming. He was supposed to protest that he was just defending his cousin, but the way she was looking at the circumstance, he was very sure that he was cast in a very bad light in her eyes.
He just had to be grateful that his father still wasn't home from the university where he teaches Music and Literature, or else he would have another hour-long sermon from him.
Just then, Yukito came into the room. "Eriol-chan, your mother is on the videophone."
He hated the meaningful smile on his mother's face. It was the smile she uses whenever she knows something he doesn't, like when she knew he was lying already and she was still pretending to go along with his masquerade.
"Yukito told me that you just came from a fight an hour ago," she began. "What was that all about, young man?"
"He was lying."
"So the bruise on your face is lying too?"
"It was an accident!"
"Be honest, young man," she said sternly.
He sighed. When his mother uses that tone of voice, he knew that it was period already. He ended up narrating what happened to her. After he finished the narration, he could see that his mother's mouth was twitching, as if she was just trying her hardest not to laugh. She wasn't wildly successful with her attempt though.
"Darling, Nadeshiko is having fun with other people. It was selfish of you to do that, you know," she said gently.
"I don't trust them."
"But Nadeshiko does," said Tomoyo, smiling. "Son, you must learn to accept that Nadeshiko is growing up, and she needs to meet other people."
"B-But she's forgetting me already," he said sadly. "She chose those boys over me…why does she have to grow up? Doesn't Dad have a card that can stop her from growing up? Will the Time Card help?"
His mother laughed. "No one, not even all the Clow Reeds in the world can stop the passage of time. The ticking of seconds may stop, but it will also mean the world will stop turning and we will all stop living."
"They're taking Nadeshiko away from me," he said, sighing.
"No one can take her away from you, darling. She has always been yours, remember? You are her best friend. Not even time can change that fact."
"OK," he said glumly. He wasn't convinced, but he believed his mother's omnipotence. Mothers know best and mothers are always right.
"Now don't look so down. I'll talk to you again when I get home. Now pass the phone to Nadeshiko."
He suddenly panicked. "You won't tell her about what we've talked about, would you, Mom?"
She laughed and shook her head. "I don't need to tell her because she knows that already. Now go and get Nadeshiko."
He dashed out to get his cousin. "Nadeshiko, Mom wants to talk to you." He watched as his cousin gracefully got up and walked past him wordlessly. He sighed; she was still mad.
He wasn't used to not be in speaking terms with her. He decided to do something about it.
Nadeshiko went out of the room, smiling. It always makes her feel good to talk with her aunt. She silently wished that she had an older sister talk to, the way she could talk to her aunt about fashion, boys, and songs. Her mother was there, but she was a bit uncomfortable talking to her about those things, because her mother thinks that she cares more about athletic things, like sports. Both her Okaasan and Otoosan think so.
Ah, but she likes sports too. She had learned to love it when she picked that hobby up to make up for the fact that her father used to hope for a son as a firstborn child, but got a daughter instead. She wanted to be as strong as her dad so he wouldn't regret that he didn't get what he was originally bargaining for.
Having another sibling is out of the question too, perhaps because her parents always say that if she would have a brother or a sister would depend on God's will. Since then, she had never stopped praying that God would give her a sibling already.
But she wasn't so lonely; her cousin, JR, makes up for her longing. He was a perfect brother and sister, older and younger, all rolled into one. He could be immature and stubborn, just like a kid, but he could cheer her up and she was sure he would always be ready to yield to whatever she wishes, just like an elder brother.
Remembering this, she decided to talk to JR again. She was sure that he didn't mean to fight with her playmates; maybe he was just lonely today and needed her company.
She looked around the living room. Nakuru was in the kitchen, making snacks with Yukito. She would have opted to ask them, but decided that she could find her cousin on her own.
She peeked out at the front door and saw JR fixing a net, a soccer ball beside him.
"JR?" she asked.
He turned to her, cheeks a bit flushed. "Invite your friends. We'll have a match."
She sat down the steps of the entrance, smiling. "You don't know how to play soccer."
"I'm going to be the nurse," he said. "I'm in charge whenever someone gets hurt. Next time, I can play already, after I watch you guys do it."
"Well, it sounds like you've planned everything." She smiled. "Thanks, JR."
"Yeah, whatever." He took the ball and tossed it to her. "Go call them."
"No, I think I would rather teach you, so you can play with us next time." She threw the ball into the air and caught it with her knee. She tossed it to him. "So you think you can keep up with me?"
"Watch me," he said, smiling confidently.
"I thought Nadeshiko's playmates will be here," said Nakuru, puzzled. "JR told me to prepare a lot of snacks." She looked at the large leftover on the table.
"Oh well, it is a shame to put your efforts into waste." Yukito took a slice of the chocolate cake and grinned.
Nakuru peered at him closely. "Yukito?"
"Hmmm?"
"Are you positive that you don't feel anything strange when you look at me?" she asked for the nth time.
"I am positive, Nakuru-san," he said, smiling. "Why, should I feel anything, huh?"
She paused, blinked, then grinned. "Never mind."
Maybe the Nakoudo card doesn't affect alter egos. She sighed. She would just have to keep guessing because when she asked her master yesterday about this, he just smiled mysteriously and shrugged.
The sun went down, and Day one of the Nakoudo Card spell was done too. Only six more days to go.
tsuzuku