A/N: This is a fic about Tomoyo and Eriol. At first, they don't like each other but in the end, they'll hang out well. Hope you like it. Whatever you think of this, please review and I'm willing to accept all your comments. Enjoy.
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A Project ProposalSummary: Tomoyo is just an ordinary girl, Eriol is the school's most popular boy. She wanted to be alone; he wanted to stay with his friends. She felt alone, he doesn't. She's a girl; he's a boy.
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Chapter 1:
SORRY
In a small town somewhere in Japan, rich people lived no one had ever bothered to socialize with. These people were the owners of beach resorts, companies and other well-known establishments all over Japan. They were putting their kids into the town's only school from kindergarten to highschool. In college, their kids went off to the city to continue their studies.
Why here? Most outsiders often asked themselves realizing that every family living here had a good name to took care of but why here? Being in a small town was these people ever dreamed of. No reporters. No busy streets. No horns of vehicles. In short, peaceful.
All families almost knew each other, for they were all kind and humble. Nobody was boasting about their social life. They left their kids in highschool at the town's boarding school.
Now here goes our story. It was mid-school year in this certain boarding school, where all teenagers knew each other, when a raven-haired girl in ponytail bumped the school's most popular boy, Eriol Hiiragizawa.
Tomoyo Daidouji hurriedly picked up Eriol's things on the ground ignoring hers, "I'm sorry..."
"Oh Daidouji, look where you're going." Eriol snatched his books.
"Sorry again." Tomoyo hurriedly left and went straight into the Girls' Dormitory.
Eriol shook his head and looked behind his bestfriends, Rui and Akira. They sat beneath a tree to rest.
"How good of that Daidouji." Akira remarked, "She's quite strange because since kindergarted, or I should say, in my entire life, I've never seen her hanging around with her friends, if ever she had one."
"You're too cruel." Rui laughed,"She's just shy. She can never be angry to anyone. All she do is smile and sing - "
"Sing?" Eriol piped in. "Daidouji can sing? Really? Unbelievable."
Eriol wore glasses with those blue eyes and pale skin. Rui, his best friend has brown hair and talks about girls all the time. Akira, on the other hand, loves pulling jokes to everybody.
"Oh yeah, she does." Rui replied. "She's too kind and I often saw her staring at the stars up the sky at night alone." He said dreamily. "She once returned my lost wallet, which she found on our Chemistry class. Sometimes I wanted to talk to her and be our friend. What do you think?"
"Sounds boring, Rui." Akira said. "I can't stand to hang around with her. We, three, might end up helping her pull weeds on our school garden or nurse a hurt kitten back to health."
"And since when you've known those stuffs?" Eriol asked Rui and Akira. "I haven't been interested with Daidouji's habits before and no one wants to hang around with her often."
"I've known those things ever since I stepped into school." Akira rolled his eyes. "She always do that, you know."
"Don't speak like that please." Rui opened a book, "You should never insult girls, Akira, they should be respected. Eriol was just too lazy to hang around with girls. He's only interested with the school's most prettiest girl, Megumi, since thirteen years of age."
"Every boy wants to go out with her." Eriol defended himself. "You're lucky to have girlfriends unlike me, so please don't pick on me."
"This is trouble when I hear Eriol say those things." Akira said, "Why don't ask Daidouji out? She won't refuse to anyone even into the school's ugliest guy. She'll definitely say yes."
"I surrender, Akira." Rui stood, "I would rather be with my girlfriend than to quarrel with you. Poor Daidouji, no friends, only Akira to tease her often. Bye, got to go."
Rui left. Eriol was listening to the conversation and thinking about what they've said. Honestly, Tomoyo Daidouji wasn't ugly at all. She was kindhearted and intelligent but – plain. Girls often go shopping to buy new dressed but she doesn't seem to care. Worst, people made fun of her in her back. Eriol looked up the sky when the bell rang.
Akira stood, "My class will start now, Eriol. See you around!"
Eriol walked alone towards his class for Values Education then opened the classroom door. The room was very airy then he sat in his chair. Tomoyo was also in his class at the corner of the room.
The male teacher entered the room, "Good morning class."
The class nodded.
"Before we start our lesson, I have some projects for you. You'll be grouped by two. I'll tell you first who'll your partners will be then I'll tell you what you'll do."
The teacher called out names of boys and girls for three minutes. Eriol was wondering who'll be his partner when...
"...Hiiragizawa and Daidouji..." His teacher stated.
Eriol, open-mouthed, threw Tomoyo a frown. Tomoyo simply smiled at him.
"Ok." His teacher sighed, "Since this was a Values Education, you have to get to know your partners and write then pages of essay about his of her attitudes. The best way to discover that is to hang around with your partner more often than you do or talk about this project after school hours. Any options will do as long as you pass your essay project – ten pages... The more attitudes you discover and write, the higher grades I'll give you, no matter how good or bad your essay will turn out."
Tomoyo sighed, 'Oh... how can I do that? I'll fail this subject and it's a shame... This is the easiest among all...'
The whole day had passed and the classes were already over. The sun will set while students loitered around their Dormitory. One of them was Eriol, who unfortunately met his two best friends along his way.
"How's life?" Akira asked.
"Bad." Eriol answered flatly.
"Why? Do you have that Values-project-thing to do?" Rui laughed. "We're lucky because out teacher allowed us to pick partners."
"Good for you, Rui." Eriol smiled weakly while walking towards the Girls' Dormitory. "Do you know who my partner is?"
"I reckon it's Daidouji." Akira smirked, "She's heading towards us, look."
Akira was right. Tomoyo was running towards them with her hair tied in a tight bun this time. She stopped at their front to catch her breath.
"Hello." Tomoyo greeted shyly.
"Well, hello." Rui and Akira exchanged looks.
"Hello... Hiiragizawa-san." Tomoyo held her skirt tight. How was she going to ask him to hang around with her tonight? Remember, she was the type of girl no one wanted to be friends with because they have stamped a word on their minds every time they saw her – strange.
"Hello..." Eriol forced himself to smile. He was going to ask her about her attitudes and write everything down on a small notebook then leave but what do this girl wants from him right now? "I just want to ask you if you're busy tonight. You and I can talk about things... if you know what I mean..."
"Yeah things." Akira said before Tomoyo can answer. "Things that only a boy and a girl alone can talk about. Right Daidouji-san? I wonder what those things are..."
Eriol nudged him at ribs. Tomoyo was laughing in a ladylike manner.
"It's about our project." Tomoyo smiled. "Sure we can, Hiiragizawa-san. I'm going to ask you. You just asked it first."
"Ok Akira, let's leave them." Rui pulled Akira's shirt. "Don't wait for the night outside Dormitory alone under the stars. You know how gossip starts. Anyway, enjoy."
Eriol watched them leave. It took him minutes when he noticed Tomoyo looking at him. Eriol walked towards the lake and sat in the grass, throwing stones.
Tomoyo sat beside him, about a yard away, shyly. "So... how can we start? I don't know much about you, Hiiragizawa-san. You're popular, intelligent and handsome..."
Eriol didn't notice himself smile. So, Tomoyo thought of him as handsome? A girl like her would never think of boys and care about them. So, what do this mean? Eriol shook his head, taking that thought out of his mind, "Just call me Eriol, okay. We can start by that one and is it okay if I call you Tomoyo?"
Tomoyo took out a notebook and a pen from her pocket and nodded. "I'll add the idea that you're polite too."
Eriol frowned, "Polite, why?"
Tomoyo looked at him and smiled, "Because people often shout at me or ignore me every time I'm talking to them. That's why I don't have friends."
Eriol watched her take down notes. 'This girl is too kind like what Rui said. In spite of what others think about her, she didn't take them seriously. I wish I could be like her.'
"Uhm... I think I got to go back to our Dormitory. I don't want to waste your precious time with me." Tomoyo stood, "I know you're planning to do something."
What? Eriol pulled her hand. "No. Stay here. I want to know more about you."
"I'm sorry, Eriol, you're my partner." Tomoyo sat again. "Sorry... It's all my fault... If you're not my partner you'll get higher grades because it's not easy to hang around with me. I know I'm strange."
Eriol asked himself curiously, 'Sorry for that? It's not her fault. Why do she blame herself? I admit it. I don't want to be her partner.'
"What do you think of me, Eriol?" Tomoyo asked.
Eriol quickly dug his memories. What do he think of her? "You're kind – intelligent – quiet – shy – beautiful."
Tomoyo sighed then embraced her knees. "You're lying. I know you can't stand a moment with me. Everyone thinks I'm annoying but what do I do with them? Nothing. They're making fun of poor Tomoyo..."
"I wasn't lying!" Eriol insisted, "That's the truth."
Small tears crept down Tomoyo's face. "You don't have to lie to me. You're my partner and we shouldn't keep secrets from each other. I'm sorry, Hiiragizawa-san... You could ask our teacher to switch partners but you know it wouldn't be possible. No one wanted to be Tomoyo Daidouji's partner. Sorry Hiiragizawa-san..."
Eriol felt ashamed of himself. He threw few stones into the lake. Tomoyo can sometimes be emotional too. All she told him this night was true and Eriol felt uneasy about that.
"Stop saying sorry and don't call me by last name." Eriol patted her back. "It's not your fault. Besides, who told you to be sorry?"
Tomoyo wiped her face by her skirt. "Everybody's showing it."
"You're too emotional." Eriol stated.
"You don't understand." Tomoyo sobbed harder. "NO one understands. Who cares for me? No one. Even my mother doesn't care for me." She stopped crying the smiled foolishly. "Anyway, I'm sued to it. I'm a nobody. I'm used to broken promises, unfulfilled Christmas wishes and forgotten birthdays."
Eriol gasped. "Don't say that. Everybody have their own reasons - "
Tomoyo cried hardly. "Reasons? Oh yeah. I'm not important anyway, so why bother? I love them but they seem not to care. They don't love me back. I don't have a friend Hii – I mean Eriol, aside from my cat but my mother got angry about taking care of a stray cat. She ordered our maid to throw it away. I objected, that cat is my ONLY friend and she wants to throw it. But what can I do? I didn't eat my meals for two days. I wanted to die. Life for me is cruel."
She paused to catch her breath. Eriol kept patting her back.
"The next morning, I fainted." Tomoyo continued, "My mother got very angry then she decided to put me here in this school. This is the only way for her to get rid of me." She wiped her face again by her skirt. "Sorry Eriol. Sorry..."
Eriol put his hand on his pocket then held out a handkerchief. "Take this. And stop saying sorry, will you?"
Tomoyo took it then nodded. "It's time for the supper. I think we should go back to our Dormitories. Thanks for listening to my troubles." She opened her notebook then wrote down something again. "I'll add the idea that you're patient..." She wiped her face to be dry.
Eriol laughed, "You can't add that. I'm impatient."
"You are." Tomoyo smiled and returned the handkerchief. "And I'm happy about that." She stood then held out her hand. "May I shake hands with you as a sign of partnership?"
Eriol stood, smiled then accepted her hand. "Sure."
Tomoyo waved him goodbye as she headed to the Girls' Dormitory. She tightened her bun while Eriol simply smiled to himself.
'She's extraordinary.' He thought to himself. 'How sad her story is. I can't believe she's feeling alone underneath those kind smiles. I want to know her better but I don't want to be seen around with Tomoyo often. She's not the type of girl who enjoys her teenage life. She almost spent her weekends with orphans in the town's orphanage and doing Church services. She's too kind and I won't be surprised fi someday she'll become the town's head social worker or mother superior...'
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A/N: That's how everything will start. I got another fic entitled: Together Again about Sakura and Syaoran and full of romance! PG-13 for that. Please read and review that also. People, I hope you'll review...