All in the Game of Love

Hellox! Mysterio000 back in action and with you with the 18th chappie! I rushed all the way back home just to write this chapter up and I hope all of you enjoy it kay!

In response to some reviews:

A.Adelaide = Heyx! I'm shooooo glad that you and your friend love this story, too! In anyway, *grins sheepishly* no, I do not learn French. Is there a word I used in the previous chapter? Please enlighten me on this! =)

To Seida-310 = Yes, I know that these current chapters are more on the 'revenge' part but I promise I will get them over and done with soon! I will also get back to introducing all the stuff in the earlier chappies for all you guys out there to enjoy, eh!

So let's get on with the fic, picking up from the point where Eriol is facing a whole bunch of baddies!!! GO, ERIOL! GANBATTE!

As always

Mysterio000

p.s. the almighty one!

*

He took a step forward and braced himself.

He held no weapons and was clearly aware that he was armed with nothing but his own two hands. Yet that determination in his eyes never subsided as he placed another foot forward, and then another.

He was alone but it was ok.

Rad sneered before he lifted up the baton in his right hand and signalled the troop of men behind him to advance forward. The evil smirk never left the face of the blond-haired leader as he stood back and watched as his men thrust themselves at the blue-eyed boy. With sticks raised up high in the air, those men swung them down mercilessly at the strong built before them.

Eriol poised himself in fighting stance before moving aside quickly just as the sticks hit the floor, missing him by an inch. Moving across the ground with an agility that proved him much worthy of the title as star basketball player in Shades, he lunged himself forward and swung an uppercut into the chin of a burly man closest to him.

Recovering quickly and ready for more action, Eriol slid under the two attacking men before wheeling himself around and slamming his legs into their chests. He then spun around to face three more incoming men now dashing towards him with powerful rage.

Caught off-guard, a punch threw into his face before he was thrown off several feet away from the scene. Letting out a grunt and ignoring the pain that sliced across his skin, he willed himself from the ground.

Fists clenched tightly, he handled those three men with a single kick that flung the first man off before swinging deathly punches into the faces of the remaining two. As if it wasn't enough, two more men charged from behind with batons gripped tightly in their hands.

Eriol grimaced as one of them easily attacked his shoulder with the hard dark weapon before the other thrust a kick into his chest. Unable to take the excruciating pain that swiped at his every senses of his body, he stepped back before falling into murky dizziness onto the ground.

He winced, curling his fingers into a painful clench as he felt another kick in his abdomen and another swing of the weapon at the blade of his shoulder. Approaching footsteps of those heavy metal boots reached his ears and he knew more were beginning to approach.

There was no way he could fend them all off.

In the distance amidst the fog of blurry greyness, those blue orbs met those laughing ones of Rad. They were smirking at him, taunting him, mocking him.

Eriol let out a groan in his throat as another mighty kick landed on his back. His mind was reeling, his heart was thudding continuously.

He shouldn't give up now.

Hiiragizawa, don't fall. Get up! Get up and fight them!

He closed his fist to grab the air. Even breathing was a difficulty to him now.

I…I can't, dammit.

He was about to close his eyes and submit himself to those men before the same vivid image flitted through his mind again. This time, clear as crystal, as it floated gently in and quelled the pain coursing through his entire body.

It will be ok, he assured himself as he felt the energy revitalized within him. Despite the struggle, he could still see something out of the dark. There was a light shining from the end of this 'tunnel'.

It was so close, it was almost as if he could feel it.

I won't give up. Not now.

Now it came to him. That voice. That sweet, sweet voice of hers that reminded him of why he was here in the first place.

[ You are my only hope… ]

My only hope…

He pulled himself from the ground, his mind clearing as the voice continued to sing in his mind. Those men were sneering at him as they began to back step into pace with Rad.

"No." He whispered to no one in particular as his legs finally found the energy needed to fight back against the men.

"I won't…" He uttered softly, but the voice now held something more. It was lethally fierce, like the blowing of the wind against the crashing shore. "I won't give up." He finished as he picked himself up from the ground easily, advancing ahead with a speed he had never known he could possess before. This agility - it was unlike those he had shown during his infamous basketball matches that blessed his team as a champion winner. This was much more powerful and incredible.

Caught off-guard, those men were thrown to the floor as the blue-eyed man shattered his fist into their faces with a handful of punches before lowering his stance to swipe them off their feet with a single kick.

Eriol wiped the sweat on his brow before turning to face the final man that was standing solidly still.

Yet his eyes no longer beheld the trademark glint.

There was fear - and envy.

Rad was about to open his mouth to speak when footsteps rustling behind those bushes broke off his words. He turned around to look for the source of the noise when his eyes suddenly turned afraid. With assumptions that the police were here, he hastily called for his men.

"Get up and hurry! It may be the police!"

And they were gone in a flash, most of them limping all the way out of the winding isolated path.

Eriol released a heavy sigh before sinking to his knees.

He was too tired to think of anything now. Darkness now surrounded him, tendrils of pain that laced his mind with drowsiness.

When he heard that angelic voice calling for his name, he thought he must have surely been dreaming.

*

When he awoke in the night, he realized he was back in his bedroom. Confused, his fingers reached for his head before he felt it throbbed. With a wince, he wondered if everything that had just happened was a dream. If it wasn't, how was it that he was capable of landing back in here, asleep? Had a fairy godmother picked him up from that murky misery and placed him back into bed?

Cut that out, Hiiragizawa. You're getting mentally disorientated. He thought dryly before he looked down at his body. True to the previous events, his fingers were swelling with crimson red and bruises were scattered all over his body.

Water. He needed water now.

He was about to lift off the blankets when he felt a light weight tugging at the corner of it. His eyes searched to see what, or who was it.

And then he realized he wasn't alone.

His throat ran dry as his eyes first caught a glimpse of that familiar dark velvety hair spilling across his bed sheets. Making sure it wasn't another hallucination of his, he leant forward to feel the touch of those tresses in his fingers.

She was real.

A thousand thoughts streamed into his mind.

What happened? Why was she here? When did this happened? How did she ended up falling asleep by his bed?

His eyes drifted into the distance to find his table lamp lit and a few scraps of lined papers spread across the table messily. Other than that, everything was in place. A frown found its way to his lips. Had she been here long?

"You're finally awake." Her voice chased all thoughts out of him as he turned his attention to her. She was fully awake now and her eyes now pierced into his thoughtfully.

"What?" He finally broke the silence when she spoke nothing more. He wasn't used to the way she was looking at him, like how he was practically naked under her scrutiny.

"I…" Her head dipped as she began to struggle to find the right words to express herself. After what seemed like a moment of eternity, her eyes raised again to meet those questioning blue ones.

"What happened to you?" She asked, eyes rounded in concern.

"N-Nothing." He spoke softly, praying she wouldn't spot the obvious lie he was hiding beneath.

Surprisingly, she grew into silence again.

"Tomoyo?" He placed his fingers under her chin to tip her head up, willing her to look at him. He wasn't used to seeing her like that. "What's wrong?"

"You…You can't lie to me." She took in a deep breath before speaking again, "If it's nothing, why are you injured like that? You're wounded all over."

"I'm fine, really." Eriol said, trying to reassure her. His heart was racing as she continued to contemplate him. What if she knew everything? It couldn't be possible, could it?

"No." This time, she spoke firmly yet her eyes were still as soft. She suddenly lifted a delicate hand to his face before letting her fingers trail down that masculine skin. He shivered at the closeness of her feel and felt his gut tightened into a knot once more.

What was she trying to torment him with again?

Almost as quickly, she let her hand fall back to her side and Eriol looked away in hope to disguise the disappointment he felt.

What? He wasn't supposed to feel this way.

Their eyes met once more before silence danced its way around them, settling peacefully like a soft blanket upon the bed sheets.

"I'm sorry."

Eriol's eyes widened as he heard those words flowing from her lips in a timid whisper. Had he heard what she had spoken, or what is, again, a dream? He continued to lock his gaze on her and realized it was for real again.

She had said she was sorry.

"But why?" He was utterly confused.

"I…" She began meekly, almost afraid to meet him in the eye. "I know what you did…I know what happened…I--"

"Who told you?" He caught her chin to steady her gaze once more.

"No, no!" She shook her head vehemently, "I…I came after Rad and the rest left. I saw them running and I…" She broke off when she noticed he had looked away.

So she knows… She was the one who brought me back here…

"Are you angry?" She asked out of the blue, shocking him as his attention returned to her. He stared at her, dumbfounded before she spoke again. "I didn't mean for them to come after you. If it wasn't for me, they wouldn't be so…" She paused to find the correct word before continuing, "So cruel to you…"

She stopped before sighing, "It's all my fault. This has nothing to do with you."

Her words echoed in his head before registering after a moment.

"No." He shook his head. "Look, Tomoyo, those girls did those things to you because of me. They were jealous. I was the one who brought all that trouble to you, don't you realize? It is only right for them to have their payback on me."

"But--"

"No. Be quiet." The firm gaze in his eyes silenced her. "It doesn't matter anymore, Tomoyo."

She lowered her gaze to eye his bruises before sighing, "They are sooo cruel. How can they do this to you?"

His eyes grew again as she spoke those words, sending little chills up his spine. It didn't help as she began to touch those scars on his skin with such gentleness.

Her touch - it was all too brutally gentle for his nerves to take.

Confused with what he was feeling, he pulled his arm back, all the more frantically flustered at the disappointment that was obviously washing over his soul.

"I'm sorry," She quickly pulled away, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's fine." He hastened to look somewhere else as a distraction, only to have his gaze settled upon his desk again. This time, he noticed that there were words on those scraps of papers but at this distance, they merely appeared as a mist of words to him.

"What are those papers?" He asked, curious.

"Oh, those," She quickly stood up to pack the desk and gather the papers together. "They are just some paperwork."

"Right." He replied, not knowing whether to believe her or not.

"Anyway," She said, returning to his side with a cup in her hands as she offered it to him, "I'm sure you're thirsty."

He was grateful for that but kept it silent as he drank it all down.

"You hold on for a moment." She stood up and left the room but returned almost immediately with a first-aid kit in her hands. She wore a smile as she sat on the edge of the bed before him. "Ok, Eriol, take off your shirt."

His mind turned numb. What!?!?

Her soft laughter shattered his thoughts. "You heard me."

"Why?" He asked dumbly, "What for?"

She sighed before leaning forward to help undo his top few buttons, "I need to nurse your wounds, silly!"

His cheeks burnt as he felt her fingers brush against the bare feel of his skin. God, what was she making him feel? He couldn't think right now! Everything was chaos in his mind…and heart.

"I-I can do this on my own." He caught her arm to stop her movements, only to receive a smile that acted as a sucker punch in his stomach in return.

"You are behaving like a child right now, you know?" She teased as she watched him undo those buttons on his own.

"Am not." He retorted back before pulling his shirt over his head to allow her to nurse his wounds, exposing those well-trained muscles that seemed so untouchable and steely. Under those light yellow rays of the table lamp, his stomach appeared flat, his chest broad and powerful and his shoulders strong and steady.

"Wow," Tomoyo teased as she poked a playful finger at his ribs, "No wonder those girls in Shades claim that you are hot."

"Oh shut up." He chided although trying hard to calm the heat that was rushing to his cheeks at a ridiculous pace. "Just start nursing me, would you?"

"Oh alright," She giggled heartily before motioning him to move forward so that she could get a better look at his wounds. Her face scrunched up as her eyes settled upon those red bruises on his back.

"It will hurt but bear with it, alright, Eriol?" She said, dipping the cotton wool into the medication oil before leaning forward to press it onto his wounds.

"Yeah…After all that I went through, I can handle anything." He replied before feeling the burning pain of the liquid licking at his skin.

"I already said I am sorry." She looked at him with remorseful eyes which made him cringed immediately.

"No, Tomoyo, I didn't mean it that way." He cursed himself for the slip of his tongue.

"It's ok." She continued to apply the medication at his wounds before covering the cap of the liquid bottle and picking up another small glass bottle from the kit.

"What's that?" Eriol wasn't sure if he wanted to sit through another round of physical torture with that medicinal oil.

"Don't worry." She said with a reassuring smile as she signalled him to move even forward so that there was room for her behind to sit. "You merely tore your shoulder muscles. They'll be ok in a week, though."

"Oh…" He broke off just as he felt her fingers rubbing against his shoulders, gently massaging them so that the muscles contracted and stretched with a relaxing sensation. He held his breath. How could such softness be curbed into such delightful greatness?

Disgusted with his own thoughts, he groaned low in his throat, though soft enough not to be heard. If this continued, surely he would turn into a mentally insane person soon.

He felt her touch slowly making its way down and he shivered involuntarily. Why, oh, why was he feeling like a total retard beside her? And why was it that it was only beside her that he felt like this? He wasn't making any sense out of this.

He inhaled sharply as her fingers began to press at the lower part of his back before making its way up again, then coming to a stop.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked, leaning back to look at him. His eyes refused hers as he nodded, hastily grabbing his shirt to put it on.

"Why? Are you that cold?" She stared at him strangely. He shook his head, "No."

She stood up as she glanced at the clock that stood at the high wall of his room. By all the Holy! It was already past 3 in the morning and he hadn't realized that! He looked at her with disbelief. How long had she been here?

"I used your key to enter your house since you had it. The taxi driver helped carry you into the house for me." She turned around to answer his thoughts, reading his surprise. "If you're feeling better then I'd better be going."

"You're going home at this time of the hour?" His eyes widened. "Does your parents know about this?"

She shook her head, a twinkle in her eyes, "I rang up my father and said I will be sleeping at Sakura's house. He gave the 'ok'…but I think I'd better be heading back. You need to rest and I don't want to disturb you."

There was a round of silence before the blue-eyed boy nodded, though with reluctance whirling in his heart. He understood that she was beginning to tire out, too.

"Don't go to school tomorrow, ok? Stay home and rest." Tomoyo said as she headed for the table to gather her papers.

"…I guess." He knew full well that he was in no condition to survive the hours in school the next day.

"Now that's a good boy." She turned around with a smiling face. "I will bring back all your homework for you and your lunch."

"That won't be necess--"

She cut him off, taking a step forward, "You brought me lunch over to my house the other time, too, remember?"

"That doesn't matter."

"It's ok." She said, sitting upon the edge of his bed once more. "And take care of yourself, alright? Don't make me worry for you again."

Worry for you…

"I really have to go now." She smiled warmly. "I'm sorry for everything and--"

"No. Be quiet. I don't want you to say sorry." He looked at her with those soft blue eyes before he noticed her breaking into a sweet smile.

"Thank you so much, too."

"I haven't done anything."

She shook her head, firm on correcting him, "You did a lot for me. Thank you, Eriol. I still don't know how to repay you."

He slanted his head to a side to avoid her gaze, "I don't want anything."

Actually, I have a good idea of what you want…

"Hmm…I will think about it. But as for now," A sparkle glowed in her amethyst eyes, blending with her smile that resembled an angel's, "I hope this will do for you."

This will do for me…? His heart jumped as his eyes rose to lock with hers. His heart missed a beat as those thoughts in his mind distinguished with every second that passed by.

Time froze to eternity before she finally broke into a lovely smile.

And then she simply bent to kiss him on the cheek.

**

END!!!!

Of chappie I mean.

In anyway, I could swear this chapter was going a little too slowly but I promise I will make it up on the next chapter! To all who are curious to what those scraps of papers are, I will let it on to you bit by bit as the story goes along before finally revealing it to you what it is all about.

As for now, I hoped you enjoy it like I did and that you will keep the reviews incoming! Arigatou gozaimasu!

As always

Mysterio000

p.s. the almighty one!