KYTE!!!! Miss yah, girl! Mwah! Send my hi to the rest of the E+T ML. ^^
Tomoyo idly traced the picture of the young, smiling boy in her dog-eared elementary school yearbook. The photos were done in sepia, but it didn't prevent her from admiring the boyishly cute grin on his face. His eyes twinkled playfully, but at the same time, the eyes commanded authority and wisdom not familiarly seen on an eleven-year-old lad.
Even back when he was young, Hiiragizawa Eriol was something out of the ordinary.
She smiled sadly. The eighteen years though changed him; hardened him. The delightful twinkle of mischief was no more, replaced by the cold, blank void in his deep blue eyes. It nearly made her cry; he must have undergone a tragedy for him to become like this. After all, he was not a mere mortal; he was a reincarnation of the wisest mage in the world. He wouldn't be moved easily, like a steady rock.
She silently wondered what could have happened to turn someone like him into a bitter, cynical man.
He is not that hopeless, she reminded herself. Remember, he mentioned something about wanting a child. He is not a nihilist after all. He still wanted something after all.
She winced when she remembered his harsh words again.
Excess baggage.
She closed the annual and lied back down on her bed. She would never have imagined that someone could treat her, Daidouji Tomoyo, that way. It was a new experience, one she was torn between feeling hurt and feeling intrigued.
Why was he so interested with a child, but not with a wife?
Is he gay?
She snickered. Women would surely gnash their teeth for the waste of good XY genes then.
And why don't he just adopt if he want a kid?
These and hundred more questions left unanswered buzzed in her head as she closed her eyelids wearily.
The grand cathedral was dressed in immaculate white silk and roses, with the petals strewn on the carpeted aisle. She began to walk towards the altar, where her man was standing, waiting for her. She watched in slow motion as he reached out his hand to her.
She swallowed air nervously, then dropped her bouquet and hurried towards him.
However, every step that she took was widening the gap between them. She was near to tears; where the heck was he going? Her heart panicked as she heard something ticking. Her face paled worse than Captain Hook's did when he heard the ticking of the crocodile—she was hearing ticking too, but she knew what it was. Her biological clock!
Just then, church doors appeared before her. Before she could get in, the heavy wooden doors shut close in front of her, its sound reverberating in finality.
She slammed on the doors repeatedly, frantically. "Wait! Let me in! I want to get married! I still want to make my dreams come true!" A tear rolled down her cheek. "LET ME IN!!!"
Behind her, she heard someone speak.
"You still don't get it, do you?" Eriol Hiiragizawa, dressed in groom clothes, crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I do not want you." Disgust was evident in his face. "You can never be good enough for a wife. The least you can do is give me a child."
Her eyes flapped open.
Even in her dreams, her problems kept on rearing its ugly face to her.
She tried to cheer herself up. "He's not the only man in the world! I can get other men to marry me without me having to work out compromises."
Now, had she only been sensible and practical, she would have been soothed by that thought.
But the thing was, she was an incurable romantic. And she believed that her dream was telling her something.
Something spelled E-R-I-O-L H-I-I-R-A-G-I-Z-A-W-A.
She buried her head underneath her pillow, groaning. She knew it; she had a crush on that damn man. But her heart insisted that what she was feeling was something much, much, deeper—something totally out of her control.
The next morning, Tomoyo was on her way to the park when she passed by the Tsukimine shrine. She immediately recognized the figure by the stairs, sweeping. She felt herself smile instinctively as she jogged up to greet him. "Eriol-kun!"
He looked up briefly, displeased to be interrupted in his chore, as if he was stopped just as he was about to sign a pact proclaiming world peace finally.
"Ohayou!" She sat down the swept part of the stairs. "I didn't know you work here."
"Now you do," he said tonelessly. "And I hope you also surmise that you are disturbing me."
"Aw, now don't be grouchy." She tilted her face towards him
inquiringly. "I came here about the proposal—"
"My answer is still 'no'," he said impatiently. "I just want a child in my
life. I'm not yet ready for a wife."
"Why not? How can you want an angel without its mother?" she asked curiously.
"I'm already married," he said simply.
"Oh!" She felt her heart fall in disappointment. Of course, someone as lethally handsome as him would not be without a wife. It would be a disgrace to Adam's clan. "T-To whom?" she managed to choke out.
"To Kaho," he replied curtly.
She looked down, hoping the ground would swallow her whole already. There she was, pestering him to marry her when all this time, he was already committed sacredly to another woman. She felt her heart ache peculiarly.
"You say you're not yet ready for a wife, and yet you married Mizuki-sensei?" she asked.
"I'm a widower," he explained simply. He began to sweep the part where she was resting, a little pointedly perhaps.
That was rather unexpected. He was married then suddenly, he was widowed.
"You know, I don't have the time to do lazy chitchats today," he said, not bothering to sound apologetic. "I'm in a hurry."
"Oh, then let me help you!" She got up, but he shot her a look.
"Stay there and don't come near me," he hissed.
She groaned. "I don't have any contagious disease!"
But her reassurance didn't even help him. He was still looking at her dismally.
She felt her face burn. It was her first time to have someone display such repugnance for her. First, she was an excess baggage. Now she was a victim of some kind of communicable illness!
Common sense told her to leave him alone and never attempt to see him again, but she could hear the ticking sound once again.
She got up. "Mister, I'm coming back, and I'll never stop until you say yes. This is my last chance for a trip to the aisle, and no one can ever stop me, not even a stubborn, pig-headed reluctant groom like you! Mark my words!"
"I will never marry you, even if you were the last bride on Earth!" he yelled, emotion finally seeping into his toneless voice.
And that made her heart jump. Looking at him, she suddenly imagined him all passionate and fiery, a man of Vulcan fire. It sent electricity running up and down her spine.
"Good day, Daidouji-san," he said quietly, turning his back on her. "I expect not to see you again."
"You have poor conviction!"
He didn't even turn to her. He kept walking back towards the temple.
She hurried after him. "Eriol-kun, wait up!" She needed another strategy. He was too conservative for her strong approach, so she decided to try another one--- a stronger approach. A shock treatment. "I know why you don't want a wife. You're gay?"
He froze, and he slowly faced her. His smile was mocking. "Really?"
She stopped, smiling triumphantly. Now she had his attention! "I mean, you could never have a happy family without a wife, right? And the child…it wouldn't grow up completely without motherly guidance and affection…unless you could provide it—"
He roughly grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him. "You know how to try a man's patience, Daidouji-san," he said in harsh tone. "Now I'll let you decide whether I am gay."
Her eyes widened when she realized the quickly diminishing distance between his mouth and hers. She knew he was going to do this, and yet she went on with this.
But I only wanted to get his attention! I was hoping that he would hang on to his legendary tolerance.
His senses filled her; his overwhelming masculinity melted her knees, and she knew it was all too much for her.
When suddenly, he spoke coldly. "I see no problem why you should be fretting about a husband." He lifted his head, a scornful smirk on his face. "You easily melt to advantages, and I know that if I do invite you to bed right now, no doubt, you will not protest."
Her face turned white. Her knuckles trembled, and she lifted her hand to slap him. He stopped it in mid-air.
"Once is enough, Daidouji-san," he said, a glacial tone in his voice. "I do not want to sound bloody frank, but you do not interest me. Find some other man to seduce." He laughed sarcastically. "Do you think that the old 'you're gay' scheme will work on me? I'm not gay. It's just that you are not an object of desire."
She controlled the tears forming in her eyes. "Perhaps you're right." She fought back valiantly her turmoil of emotions. "You're worse. You're a dead man walking."
"I knew you would understand." He let go of her brusquely. "We had been friends years ago. I do not want to ruin it."
"Too late." And her voice cracked. But she would not give him the victory of him seeing her cry. No, never! She still had her pride! She turned her heels and dashed away.
Eriol sat down the stairs of the temple, groaning. His crotch was still tight; fortunately, Daidouji Tomoyo was none the wiser. The minute he touched her, he felt uncontrollable heat surge through him. The passion he thought he had long buried burst into flames once again, and it took him all his self-control to maintain his calm, his distance, and his restraint when he stopped himself from kissing her.
Guilt washed all over him as he realized that this early in his life, he was already being unfaithful to the memory of his deceased wife!
Defeated, he buried his face on his hands.
Damn you, Daidouji Tomoyo. I hate you!
tsuzuku