It was Day 2 of the Nakoudo spell, and also, the day of his mother's arrival. Eriol Hiiragizawa Jr., smartly dressed in light blue long-sleeved shirt and a necktie in a darker shade was standing in the airport, twisting his body restlessly. His coat, the same shade as his necktie, had given up to his restiveness and had crumpled well beyond relief.
"Quit it!" snapped Nadeshiko, who was dressed in a lily-white dress that barely reached her knees. Her cardigan sweater was buttoned primly, her clothes divinely uncreased. The mage junior silently wondered how his cousin, someone more hyperactive than him, could stay so annoyingly perfect, so smooth and pretty, even if they had already been waiting for half an hour. He decided that his cousin was one crazy illusion, and that she was a Martian, and that she was a freak. That made him grin in a way that sparked another round of infuriation with the girl.
"What are you grinning for, buster?" she snapped.
"That's for me to know and for you to find out!" He stuck a tongue out at her.
"Hmp! Well I demand that you quit knowing, Junior," she said. "I know I'm pretty and you like looking at me, but please don't be obvious about it."
He rolled his eyes. "Gah! You are not pretty, and you are a tomboy! Get it?"
She smiled back sweetly. "Somebody is in denial…"
"You two, enough bickering already," sighed Nakuru. She looked at her watch. "Mistress Tomoyo will not like it when she sees you two fighting yet again."
Yukito smiled. "Personally, I don't find it so bad. It only means that they care for each other's presence."
Nakuru paused, then grinned. "Try telling Yue that," she said referring to Yue's animosity at her.
Yukito shrugged. "I don't…I don't even have an idea who he is," he said, almost sadly. "I don't know him at all."
"Oh." Nakuru sighed. "Gomen, Yuki-chan."
The man smiled and messed her hair fondly. "It's nothing." His eyes went to the opening of the gates. "I think the plane has arrived."
"Yay! Aunt Tomoyo!" Nadeshiko broke into a sprint and joined the steady stream of the crowd heading for the arrival area too.
"Nadeshiko, come back here!" JR ran after his cousin, and as if sparking a chain reaction, Yukito and Nakuru hurried after the two too.
Tomoyo was walking gracefully through the crowd when she heard someone call her name. Her lilac eyes lit up, and she prepared herself for that person.
"Aunt Tomoyo!!!" Nadeshiko jumped towards her and flung her arms around the woman's tiny waist. "Wow, it's good to see you again!"
"Likewise, darling." Her eyes scanned the crowd. "Where is JR?"
She shrugged, then tugged on her hand. "Where's your baggage? I want to see those clothes you bought!"
"Wait till we get home, darling," said Tomoyo, laughing. "Yukito! Nakuru! Over here!" The two servants immediately joined her side.
"So where is JR?" she asked.
"Gah! He tried to follow you awhile ago, Nadeshiko!" said Nakuru, looking around for the familiar black hair of the boy.
"Let's go and page him," said Yukito.
Nadeshiko rolled her eyes. "You're overreacting," she said. "Look, I'll go call him." She suddenly cupped her hands on her mouth and whistled twice, then clapped her hands. This earned the girl stunned and even amused looks from the crowd.
And as if it was a biological process orchestrated by unbreakable laws, JR dashed towards them, grinning.
"I was about to page you guys in the counter. Where have you guys been?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips. He looked at them as if they were the ones who got lost and not him. "And you, Nadeshiko! Why did you suddenly run off?"
Tomoyo cleared her throat as if to remind him of her presence.
This made the boy pause, and slowly, he looked up at his mother. He laughed uneasily, then waved. "H-Hi Mom…"
"Is that the way to greet your mother whom you haven't seen for quite a while?" she asked sternly.
"But Mom, you've just been gone for three weeks!" he complained.
"You know, Eriol Hiiragizawa Jr., you should try being your own mother and you'll know why I was so restless for the past three weeks," sighed Tomoyo.
"You think I would create trouble?" he asked.
"No." She paused for a moment, then smiled. "Well, yes, among other things, but mainly, because I miss you so." She bent down and opened her arms.
JR hesitated, then glanced at the people around him, watching the scene amusedly. "Mom!" he whined.
"I can give you a hug, Aunt Tomoyo!" said Nadeshiko quickly, sticking her tongue out at him.
He instantly ran and gave his mother a hug. "Welcome back, Mom."
Tomoyo winked at Nadeshiko, as if saying, Now I'm a believer of your power.
"Uncle Eriol doesn't know you're coming?" asked Nadeshiko as she inspected the emerald dress with a green silk bow for accent. They were already in the living room of the Hiiragizawa mansion, sorting through the things that Tomoyo brought home for them.
"Nope." She flipped her hair over her shoulders as she opened another box of toys exclusively for Nadeshiko and Eriol-chan. "I want to surprise him."
"You guys are so mushy!" complained JR as he examined his Vanguard Sonic model car. "You're too old to act like Yukito and Nakuru!"
Yukito smiled. "We're not doing anything mushy. We're…"
"…friends," finished Nakuru.
"But you guys never get tired of each other," said JR, with a question in his voice.
"Yes, well…" The snow bunny was at loss for words. "It's too complicated to explain. It's…" He looked at Nakuru for help.
"It's a process," said the girl out of having nothing to say too, for within her, she was hoping with all her might that JR would push the issue.
"Yeah well, now I hate Science all the more," he grumbled.
Tomoyo laughed. "Well darling, have I told you before that I have tried matchmaking those two before, but until now, their relationship remained platonic?"
"What's platonic?" he asked.
"For companionship's sake only," said Nadeshiko knowingly.
"I'm not talking to you!" he snapped, hating the fact that his cousin knows so much more about grown-up things than him.
"Well, I'm talking to you," she said haughtily. She held up the peach turtleneck and placed it against her skin. "Wai! It's so pretty!"
"And where will you wear it, in your soccer match with your Aki-kun?" he asked, rolling his eyes.
"Maybe I will!"
"Fine, I don't care!"
Tomoyo sighed. "Now I know I'm home." She smiled fondly at the bickering children before her. She then remembered something. She reached for her shoulder bag and took out a couple of boxes. "Nakuru, I bought something you asked me to buy."
Her eyes lit up when she saw a small box of small scarves and strings. "You told me to pick up some ribbons for Yue's hair, right?" asked Tomoyo, smiling at the moon guardian. She gestured to the other box. "And some yards of cloth for Yukito's towel."
Through the years, Nakuru had developed sewing as her hobby, to the Clow Reed reincarnation's surprise.
Yukito looked pleasantly surprised. "You asked for those things for me? Y-You shouldn't have bothered, Nakuru-san."
"Since when had you been a bother, Yuki-chan?" she smiled. She pulled him up. "Come on, let's try the ribbons."
"You want me to summon Yue?" he asked, for some reason, his smile weakening.
"No, silly. We'll try the ribbons on you, then on your alter-ego." Nakuru grabbed his hand and smiled at Tomoyo. "Excuse us, Mistress Tomoyo."
Mrs. Hiiragizawa laughed, then turned her attention on the children. Nadeshiko was already dismantling the mini 4wd racer car of Eriol-chan, inspecting its parts. Her son hovered beside his cousin, watching her with grudging admiration.
"If you wish to make your car go faster, lighten the load," she explained as she started putting back the parts. "The problem is its stability after it runs several laps already. The car might lose its balance when the air starts to get into the main body of the car."
Tomoyo looked astounded. "How come you know those things?"
Nadeshiko shrugged. "I watch my playmates."
JR rolled his eyes, but decided not to comment.
"Not bad." The woman sat down in between them and messed her hair fondly.
"It's not like she's the only girl who can tinker with race cars," said her son.
"No, I mean that she has many playmates, and boy playmates even." Tomoyo's eyes twinkled. "Most girls your age would prefer dress-up and role-playing, you know."
"She's a tomboy," said JR.
Nadeshiko stuck her tongue out at him and faced her favorite aunt. "I like those things too, but I also like model kit building and soccer. I'm not automatically a tomboy when I do that, am I, Auntie?"
Tomoyo nodded. "Of course. You are a lovely young girl, and it's good that you are interested with a lot of things. You enjoy the best of both worlds"
Eriol-chan sighed. "I would rather have a normal girl for a cousin."
"You're just annoyed because I outman you," she teased.
"Of course not!" snapped the boy. "I just don't compete with you…you're just a girl."
Tomoyo smiled. "I was once a girl."
"You're different," said the son quickly.
"Hmm…don't you call me 'just a girl'," said Nadeshiko, flipping her hair over her shoulders. "Just like what Yukito said…when you turn fourteen, you'll be dying just to be noticed by someone whom you call 'just a girl'."
"Fat chance! Love is mushy and icky!" muttered JR.
Tomoyo cleared her throat. "Ahem, break it up, you two. You can argue about that when it happens. Now settle down."
"He started it," said Nadeshiko.
"I did NOT!"
"Yes, you DID!"
Tomoyo sighed. "You know, you really are a junior of your dad…an exact replica. You can be as defensive as him…and just as stubborn."
"So how did you fall for Uncle Eriol in the first place?" asked Nadeshiko.
Her purple eyes shimmered. "Because he's defensive and stubborn."
"Huh?" The two looked dumbfounded.
"I loved Eriol-chan's father…all of him, even his negative traits," she explained.
"That's stupid," sighed Eriol Jr.
"I think it's romantic," sighed Nadeshiko, who was slightly more mature. "I wonder how my own parents met…Aunt Tomoyo, will you tell me how Okaasan and Otoosan met?"
Tomoyo paused, then smiled. It was a bit shaky, but fortunately the kids didn't notice it. "It's a long story, but first, we get dinner."
"Good, then you'll tell me how they met, and why I wasn't in their wedding picture?" asked Nadeshiko hopefully.
"I wasn't in the wedding picture too!" complained JR. "Don't Nadeshiko and I always get paired up for flower girl and ring bearer in weddings?"
"That's because you two weren't born yet." Tomoyo got up. "Let's head for the kitchen, everyone."
Nakuru clapped her hands when Yukito finished tying the ribbons on her long hair. Awhile ago, he talked her out of fixing his hair, so instead, he was the one who fixed her hair. He told her that he used to cut the hair of Sakura and Touya too.
"Wow, I'm so cute!!!" gushed Nakuru. "If I were a man, I would marry me at this moment."
Yukito chuckled. "Most probably. Well, at least you have quite a fighting spirit."
Nakuru pouted. "Don't you think I'm pretty? Not even a little?" She pressed her thumb and point finger together to emphasize.
He smiled. "No, I don't."
Her face fell.
"I find you very pretty," he said, chuckling once more.
"S-So then, why won't you court me?" she demanded. "Don't you even lust on me?"
He paused, shifting uncomfortably. "Actually…"
Nakuru got up. "I know! Mistress Tomoyo told me that she started to consider her feelings for Master Eriol more seriously after he kissed her. Remember when she made us say 'sex' in the camera?"
He groaned. "How can I ever forget?"
"Well, kisses change everything, so maybe, if I kiss you…"
"Don't start getting ideas now, Nakuru-san…"
Nakuru sighed. "Oh…alright. But one of these days, if I don't control myself, I'll rape you so you would be forced to marry me."
Yuki laughed, glad that the tension between them dissipated. "Come, Nakuru-san. We better join them downstairs before Tomoyo thinks we're doing hanky-panky here upstairs."
She batted her eyelashes at him. "Why don't we confirm their suspicions, Yuki-chan?"
Her delighted laughter echoed all through the hallway when she saw how his face became a living palette of all the possible shades of red.
tsuzuku