By SibylSofiana
Chapter 2Lost in a Daze
"Daidouji-san?!?"
He sounded very British – and he looked so very handsome that Tomoyo's heart pounded. Hiiragizawa had kissed her!
Tongue-tied and lost for words, she only looked at him.
He was obviously in the same dilemma, judging by the shocked expression on his face.
She finally found her voice.
"Hello, Hiiragizawa-san." She said in English. Her voice was husky, and an embarrassed smile was on her face.
Eriol was absolutely blown away.
The last time he had seen her was at the "revelation" tea party at his home before he left for London. Back then he had been too busy in secretly forcing Sakura to transform the Clow Cards to Sakura Cards to pay much attention to her friend. All he remembered about Tomoyo Daidouji was her videocamera and her absolute loyalty to Sakura.
But now, the Cards out of his mind, he realized that even back then, she had been quite pretty. Now she was beautiful. Her hair fell down on her back in waves, and her skin shone in the bright lights. She was also very poised and looked every inch the sophisticated socialite.
But even if she looked somewhat different, there was the same sparkle of mischief in her violet eyes, hidden behind a very demure facade that he was sure only he could see through.
"Happy New Year, Daidouji-san!" he replied in Japanese when he found his voice. "What are you doing here in New York?" he asked her.
She turned into an even more embarrassed shade of pink.
"Um, this was my fashion show..."
"Nani?!?" He looked at her incredulously. "You're the fashion designer? You own the label?"
"Guilty..." Tomoyo replied sheepishly.
"Sugoi! Congratulations, Daidouji-san! I had no idea!" He gave her a big smile, he was so proud of her. "Wait, have you seen Nakuru yet?"
"Nakuru-chan? She's here?"
"She's only one of your models."
"What?!?"
At that particular moment, a very tall and statuesque brunette joined their party, dragging a man from behind. It was Nakuru. And Tomoyo was amused to see her own escort being dragged unceremoniously forward.
"Eriol-sama, look who I found!" Nakuru squealed and presented Touya Kinomoto, who was trying his best to disentangle himself from Nakuru's firm grip.
"Isn't he gorgeous?!? And he kissed me!"
Touya growled. "It was dark, and you're the one who grabbed me, Akizuki!"
"Stop being so formal, Touya-kun! It's NA-KU-RU," she said, enunciating each syllable clearly.
"And where's yummy Yukito-san?" Nakuru glanced around.
"Safe where you can't find him."
"Mu-o, you're so funny, Touya-kun! Hello, Tomoyo-chan!" Nakuru finally caught sight of her. "I wanted to talk to you earlier, but there were tons of people around you. Imagine that, me modeling your clothes!"
"Gomen ne, Nakuru-chan, I didn't notice you ---" Tomoyo, embarassed, tried to explain but Nakuru waved her off.
"Iie, iie you were obviously distracted, and besides, I was wearing a blonde wig," she said with a large smile. "I was so happy to find out it was you having the show! I really liked the dress I wore, the sheer blue one with the ribbons!" She added excitedly, still holding on to Touya's arm, which had long since become numb.
Tomoyo grinned. "You can have it, it's yours!"
"If you don't mind, I'd rather have your escort," Nakuru grinned back.
"Over my dead body." This from Touya, who was still trying to extricate himself from Nakuru's death grip. Nakuru only laughed and hugged him tighter.
"Ooh, you're still so funny, Touya-kun! I've really missed you!"
Tomoyo was so busy laughing that she didn't notice a man heading purposefully in their direction. They were all startled when this man zoomed in on Tomoyo, and she was hauled to the man's side without warning.
"Tomoyo! Happy New Year!"
~o~o~o~o~
Touya frowned at Thaddeus Whitaker's audacity. Would this guy ever stop?
Correction – would all the guys stop making passes at Tomoyo? It was ridiculous. He had his hands full all night trying to block all the males attempting to proposition her. But Ted Whitaker was proving persistent.
Even now, Ted made as if to kiss Tomoyo then and there. But Touya stepped in between, taking Ted Whitaker's hand and shook it, generally halting his intent.
Eriol, on the other hand, had imperceptibly pulled Tomoyo behind him.
"Happy New Year, Mr. Whitaker!" Touya gave Ted a fake and hearty grin. "Have you met Ms. Nakuru Akizuki?", he said, dragging Nakuru forward, who simpered and smiled.
"Ah, nice to meet you, Ms. Akizuki." Ted tried unsuccessfully to look over Touya's shoulder and move past him and Nakuru. "Tomoyo, I'd like to invite you tomorrow to lunch, I could take you on a tour of New York. I won't take no for an answer."
"Oh, but Mr. Whitaker –"
"Ted."
"Um, I ---" Tomoyo looked around desperately for an excuse.
"Ah, I've already invited Tomoyo for an early lunch," Eriol intervened smoothly. "Say I pick you up around ten am at the lobby, Tomoyo?" looking intently at her.
"Yes, Hii—Eriol! I'm free tomorrow, right Anne?" she quickly replied, glancing at Anne, who finally joined their party after conducting the countdown.
But Anne was a little bit distracted. She was busy gaping at Eriol, to Nakuru's amusement. "Ah, what was that? Oh, tomorrow!" She turned her gaze from Eriol to Tomoyo. "Yes, tomorrow morning is free. You won't have a photo shoot until the next day."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Whitaker," Tomoyo apologized to the obviously annoyed man. "Maybe next time?" Maybe never, she thought fervently.
Obviously seeing that he didn't stand a chance of getting her alone for the night, Ted finally decided to back down for now.
"I'll hold you to that. I'll give you a ring, if that's all right..." Masking his earlier irritation, Ted Whitaker suddenly turned suave and charming as he took his leave. "Good evening, to you all."
But Tomoyo wasn't paying attention, nor were the others. Tomoyo quickly introduced Eriol and Nakuru to Anne, who soon regained her professional equilibrium and shook hands with them.
"So, how about it guys? Why don't we all have lunch together?" Tomoyo offered.
"Mu-o, I can't join you, Tomoyo-chan! I promised my friends we'd go out shopping."
Disappointed, Tomoyo began -- "Oh, it's alright, Nakuru. Eriol might have some other plans, I..."
Eriol was shaking his head. "I don't have any plans, and I keep my appointments."
"Oh, but Touya..."
But Touya shook his head.
"I can't join you, either, I have some files I'd like to take a look at in the office tomorrow..."
At this declaration, Tomoyo protested.
"Touya, one day off from work won't kill you. Besides, Mother won't mind if you don't show up on a holiday!"
Touya gave a small smile. "It's alright, I just need to check up on a few things. You go out and have some fun." Without changing expression, he looked at Eriol and his eyes seemed to convey a message destined only for males to decipher . "I'm sure I can count on Hiiragizawa-san to make sure you'll be safe."
Eriol only gave him a wide-eyed innocent look.
"Oh, she'll be safe with me, Kinomoto-san." Before Touya could reply with a good comeback, Eriol turned and politely addressed Anne.
"Ms. Croft, would you like to join us?" he asked invitingly. But Anne shook her head.
"No, go ahead. It seems you have to catch up on old times. I'll take a break before the schedule becomes hectic again."
"Well, that's settled. See you tomorrow...oops!" Eriol glanced at his watch. "Gomen, it is tomorrow. See you later in the morning, then!" He dragged a faintly protesting Nakuru out the door ("can't I even kiss Touya-kun good night?") and said his farewells.
~o~o~o~o~
Anne looked at Eriol's departing back. She had it bad. She always had a thing for preppy good-looking guys with glasses. Maybe she could ask Tomoyo about him...
She just wasn't sure if he might be interested in going out with her. Other than the politely worded invitation, he had been too busy staring at Tomoyo to pay much attention to her.
~o~o~o~o~
Touya looked at the departing duo with a sudden headache. Trouble's coming. I can feel it. He sighed. Even without his powers, he still had the feeling that he was in for another battle. And he had just given up the Kaijuu! First the Brat, and now the Weasel-faced half-reincarnation.
Why me?
~o~o~o~o~
Tomoyo was still in a daze as Touya escorted her to her hotel room. So many things had happened tonight – the show, the countdown, the sudden reunion. But there was only one thing she could think of at this particular moment –
The once charming, secretive, and mysterious Eriol Hiiragizawa had kissed her!
* + * + *
Author's chitchat/scribbles:
Really sorry about the late postings. Things just get so busy 'round here, so thanks for being patient.
Okie dokie June6, we hope this chapter answered your question as to who Tomoyo's escort is. As for Sakura, well Kyte-Aura, Eriol just happened to be thinking about her as he was looking at the star, that's all. No surprise OOC substories (we're not really partial to a Sakura-Eriol pairing ;p) As to your other questions, they will all be answered in due time.
Thank you for your very nice reviews. We love reading them and they keep us going. It would also help us a lot if you point out any inconsistencies we might have missed (if any) or comment on which part you liked best (or not) or ask to clarify something in the chapters.
On with the acknowledgements! Thank you to the following people for their reviews (in no particular order):
Darkness in Heart, Mistress Mei, Chibi Yuet, IrisLove, princess cythera, Intuition, dragontamer101, wallpaper, carmela-chan, flitter bug & KyteAura, (well, hello again!), Dana Daidouji (yup, more to come!), June6, not applicable (you're absolutely right. Gosh, the good ones are few and far between!)
So, tell us what you think!