I just realized, that, there was a big mistake in the first chapter, where she couldn't fit his name on the cardboard, but Eriol read, 'Hiiragizawa.' -- sorry about that…
Thanks to everyone for all the reviews! They made my writing move a little faster too...
And on that note... here's chapter 4 of Roadside Juliet.
Chapter 4: Haunting…
She was crying again. She glanced at the date, August 12th. It was the first time she wasn't home with her mother. She decided to try and cope alone this time, and it was working so well until… until she came across the diary.
She was leaning again, falling into the pit of emotions that she tried so hard to climb out of. A soft breeze blew by as the back door opened, and she went to it to close it up and lock it. She stood there, frozen, looking back at herself.
Her mother wouldn't want her to be like this, her friends would be sad, Eriol included; but what about him? She shook her head… a week and a half was too little a time to develop even a friendship…
It was abnormally cold that day, and her breath fanned the window as the rain fell steadily. She finally opened the door, and went outside, hoping to wash something away with the rain. But before long she looked at the dark cloudy sky and her eyes darkened with tears again. It was still hard to fight the feeling of being helpless, when she still felt that she had no one to look to when the time came.
She shivered and her eyelids drooped severely. She began to walk back to the door, but began to feel dizzy and subsequently fell to the ground, tired and cold. The rain crashed against her and around her body. Luckily, it did not go unnoticed as a man yelled her name in fright and ran to get her out of the rain. The last thing she saw, was the gray sky, as she slipped away…
'Blasted rain,' Eriol thought miserably. He was going to pick up his mother at the airport. It was almost funny that the rainy weather that suddenly disappeared in England with her leaving, arrived in Japan with her. It took him twenty minutes to find parking, and after nearing missing an accident with a large grocery truck, he found himself soggy and wet from running through the rain to get to the entrance.
He was very upset.
As he waited for some news of his mother's arrival, he looked at the TV and saw that her plane was late by an hour. He found himself looking at some magazines at an overly pricey but small shop to pass the time.
He took off his glass attempting to wipe them on his wet shirt even though he knew the result of his actions. Maybe if he were a dog, or one who wasn't surrounded by paper, he could have shaken it all off…
"Hello Hiiragizawa-san."
He looked behind him, startled, only to find Penny smiling at him mysteriously. She asked, "What are you doing at the airport?"
She was enigmatic.
Sometimes even more than that…
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair saying, "I'm waiting for my mother to arrive."
She nodded and said, "Yes, the weather is horrible isn't it? And at this time of the year too…" her eyes glazed, and he shifted uncomfortably.
He could probably add 'a little creepy' to his list of observations about her. He replied, "Well if we could control Mother Nature I'm sure we'd all be dead by now."
She smiled, "Well, if you're not too interested, I'd like to take the last copy of that magazine you're holding, I have to wait for my brother for a couple more hours…"
He nodded and handed her the magazine for which she paid for; she turned around before leaving and stated, "It would do you well to not stay around longer than you need to Mr. Hiiragizawa, the winds at night are treacherous if you don't know your way around well…"
His mother was looking as well as she did when she left him and in fact she approached him with love and longing. She hugged him warmly and said, "How are you son?" He stared at her roguishly and replied, "Not as well as you I see. Are you and dad happy without me home?"
She shook her head smiling and they were off, to pick up the luggage. His mother suddenly asked, "I wonder if we can stay for a while, I have a friend whom I was hoping to meet." For some reason, Eriol trusted Penny. As strange as she was, she hadn't been wrong, yet.
He shook his head and said, "I'd like to get home soon in this weather mother." She nodded not the least bit disappointed.
Once they were on the road, she brought up the topic of him chasing girls away. He shrugged and said, "They weren't that great mother. Just of Uncle Gary's status restrictions."
The woman shook her head and then smirked saying, "And what's this I hear of your matchmaker being a worthy opponent?"
He frowned and she prodded, "Well you've talked about her enough in the last couple weeks."
He simply said, "Well there's nothing to really say. She's just a friend, who is very tricky...cunning... like a matchmaker," he smiled lightly as he finished. His mother hadn't seemed to notice. Good.
He drove into the driveway of his Uncle's house and stopped. Just as he got out, he heard his uncle shouting at someone. He saw a disgruntled and very weak Tomoyo head to the door. Unconsciously, he ran to her, catching her before she fainted. Gary sighed in relief as he saw Tomoyo in Eriol's arms, and looked around to see his confused sister standing at the doorstep.
He walked up to his sister hugging her and welcoming her. Eriol looked down at the drenched Tomoyo and the sad state of his shirt. She was burning up he could feel it. He interrupted their reunion by asking, "What's wrong with Tomoyo?"
His uncle looked back, and glanced at Tomoyo before he walked back up the stairs and said, "It was really lucky that Syaoran found her when he did. Otherwise… but that doesn't matter. We need to get her changed into better clothes, I hoped Claire would arrive soon to help. The doctor's on his way"
He glanced at his younger sister. She had always had a set mind on things. Probably why she was more settled than him. But even as a child she was a mother at heart already, always treating his bruises secretly without telling their parents. Claire climbed up the stairs sighing and felt the forehead of the girl, jumping slightly and gasping.
She said in a hurried voice, "Get her to a bedroom Eriol, and find me some clothes, yours will be fine. We need to get her warmed and fast." He nodded, taking her to the closest room, his. He placed her lightly on the bed, but she squirmed. He tried to settle her down but she began to mumble, "no… don't leave… you said you loved me…" His mother came into the room, noticing the commotion.
He tried to get her down, and she reached up suddenly, clutching the collar of his shirt. He said slowly, "I'm right here Tomoyo." He placed his hand on hers. Her grip loosened a little. He continued, "I'm going to be right here for you. I'm not going anywhere. "
She slowly let go, pleading one final time, "don't leave… please…"
He held her hand warmly and whispered, "I'm not leaving. I'll be here for you…"
His mother looked at him, and he looked back, obviously worried.
"She wouldn't even stay here… she woke up and attempted to go home…"
"It was lucky Sakura asked me to ask Tomoyo home for dinner…"
"… I don't know if we should alert her mother…"
"Oh no! Aunt Sonomi would ship her out there again, and that ended so horribly last time…"
Eriol decided to make his entrance. He walked down to the study and knocked on the door. Three heads turned to him, little Lan sound asleep in Sakura's arms.
Eriol's cerulean eyes met Syaoran's amber eyes, but the man held no resentment towards him at the moment. He cleared his throat and asked, "Is there something that you would like to explain to me?"
They looked at each other, and Sakura fell privy to the gazes of the other two men. She said slowly, "Well… it's really not in our place to tell you Hiiragizawa-kun."
He said, "but I do have the right to know the gist of things I hope."
She continued, "Tomoyo… it's a hard time for her this time of the year. She's haunted by events in her past…events that hurt her more than it would some other people…"
Syaoran added in, "Which means you should keep to yourself and not bother her." Sakura glared at him lightly, and he shrunk away looking at his shoes in interest.
Eriol finally lost his patience as the doorbell rang. He said, "well, it seems I won't be getting any answers any time soon. I will relieve you of my presence."
He stormed to the door, opening it to find the doctor. He took the doctor upstairs, leaving him at the door.
He turned back down the stairs, where the three looked cautiously, and he added, "don't worry, I'm going to be going out of a while."
He grabbed his raincoat and left the house with his car keys.
He didn't know his destination as he left, but soon, he found himself in front of Tomoyo's house. He walked in, surprised at the door being left ajar. He would have to talk to Li about that… his eyes fell on the state of disarray in the house. He tried to place back some magazines, but there were papers flying around, as if someone had shifted through it all.
Maybe someone had. He waited, listening for any sound, but then he shook his head, and walked to close the door to the back porch. He was walking back out, when a paper flew up in front of him. He picked it up. There was no longer a breeze in the room… so…
He looked down at the sheet, it had music notes, and a song following along, rather a song with a piano accompaniment. He looked around the room, and picked up the sheets, suddenly intrigued. He was about to place them on the table, when he decided to pick them up, to look at.
Maybe they would give clues to Tomoyo's grief.
He left the house, locking it as Syaoran drove up. They glared at each other again, luckily Syaoran couldn't see the music he tucked into his jacket pocket. He threw the keys to the house at Syaoran and stated, "Be a little more careful next time."
He left wordlessly, off to a place where he could clear his mind.
Syaoran said softly, "Well, we'll hope for the best… Tomoyo wouldn't like him in that way anyways… at least I hope…"
She sighed and looked at the sky whispering, "Why do you torture my friend so much?"
Syaoran looked at the road as he drove home. He would ask the same question, but he was afraid of the responses that plague his dreams…
A girl miles away looked up at the same sky and whispered, "You're the only one who can set things right… please… I'm doing my part…"
This will hopefully be the most confusing chapter in the story…
As the date approaches August 22nd, there will be a transformation, a recollection, and a twist.
I wish I could name the chapters that… but there's no fun in doing that…
More to come!
I'm back on track!
Review, constructive criticism is welcome!