A/N: Thanks for my first four reviewers. I know this story is quite sad. Eriol got to do something to find more time to get rid of Tomoyo but he couldn't. I love everything in this fic. I hope you read my SS fic too, which is absolutely full of romance! If you're not contented with that, I'm willing to accept flames. I assure you. You'll love it and it's entitled: TOGETHER AGAIN.
Thanks:
B0nB0nCaTz - really?! You think it's cool?! Wow, thank you!
MangaAnimeLover – yeah. I know my story is sad but I appreciate that you like it.
melaniemelmelgirl – wow! I'm so touched. Does my writing appear better? I thank you a whole lot.
lilaznange – yeah. Tomoyo is emotional and that will happen not only once.
Chapter 2:
ORPHANS
Tomoyo and Eriol always met in between classes for almost a month. But one day, Eriol got tired of meeting her and decided to hang with his best friends again. In a corner of the soccer field, Eriol, Rui and Akira talked about the way they used to be.
"What is it like to be Daidouji's partner?" Akira bit on an apple.
"Good." Eriol lied.
"Really?" Rui frowned at him. "She's strange, isn't she? I can read your mind, Eriol. And you don't like her that much. You're a great pretender Eriol Hiiragizawa."
"Don't judge me." Eriol said cruelly, "She's really strange and I don't want to hang with her more often, you know. I'm only using her to get Megumi Maso's attention and it's working. Megumi was talking to me lately. She asked me why do I hang with Tomoyo often, so I told her the reason. She sighed then asked me to be her friend. Isn't that great?"
"Poor Daidouji, what are you talking about every time you meet?" Akira asked. "Bet it's all about orphans."
"Exactly." Eriol laughed, "Sometimes it's funny to listen to her stories but I have to. She's pretty boring guys. But she's so kind and polite. I can't say no in everything she asks me to do."
"The question is, are you sincere doing those things?" Rui raised his eyebrow.
"Sort of." Eriol laughed, "I'm interested with her lifestyle. Doing church services, going to the orphanage and being nice to people here in school and the needy in the streets every weekend. But you see, I don't want to be with her often. Imagine, Eriol Hiiragizawa and Tomoyo Daidouji."
Akira pulled a grass and burst into laugh, "Oh, Daidouji. Wonder what she'll say if she heard you talking and laughing with all these stuffs."
"Be kind to a kind girl like her." Rui said, "How come you can say these things, Eriol? The more you hang with her, the more you'll discover her thoughts and feelings."
That weekend, Tomoyo and Eriol met again near the exit of the school. Students were allowed to go out every weekend. Tomoyo was dressed in a yellow balloon skirt reaching beyond her knees and a closed-neck white shirt. Eriol was wearing denim pants and a black shirt.
"Eriol!" Tomoyo called out.
Eriol stopped walking and greeted her. "Ohayou, Tomoyo."
"Ohayou too." Tomoyo smiled, "I just got a little favor to ask."
"What is it?"
Tomoyo exhaled, "Can you go with me in the orphanage today? I think you got a golden heart – oh I've added that on my project – and you'll enjoy being with the orphans."
Eriol forced a smile and thought, 'Golden heart? With orphans?' He has no choice, so he nodded.
"You can say no..." Tomoyo said softly.
"I'll come." Eriol replied. This is a better way to get higher grades to get to know each other. "Let's go."
The two walked towards the city. It was just a few meters from their school. As they walked, Tomoyo tied her hair on a ponytail and rested it on her shoulder. Eriol can't help noticing this. Tomoyo can look good if she wanted to. As I've said, she was not ugly but plain.
"Can we stop by that bakery first?" Tomoyo asked. Eriol nodded then bought a dozen different kinds of breads.
"Let me carry that for you." Eriol held the plastic from Tomoyo. "For orphans?"
"Yeah." Tomoyo replied as they walked. "They'll love it. Oh look!"
Tomoyo pointed an old woman trying to cross the road and ran towards her. She helped the woman cross then went back to Eriol. Open-mouthed, Eriol stared at her.
"What's that look on your face?" Tomoyo laughed. "Are you fine?"
Eriol blinked, "Why do you bother to help people in need?" They continued to walk down the street.
Tomoyo wiped her face by her handkerchief. "I don't know. I wanted to see people smile on me voluntarily not like those fake smiles our schoolmates was giving me. I just want to help."
An invisible lightning struck Eriol. "I see."
"The orphans are my friends." Tomoyo smiled. "And I want to see them happy. I've been saving my own allowance every year for presents because Christmas is near. I don't care about myself. I'm lucky enough to be rich but I wanted to fill the emptiness inside of me."
'So that's the reason why she's not buying much clothes like other girls do. She's really kind and I regret the things I've said to Rui and Akira. I wish I were as kind as she was.' Eriol thought to himself.
"Here's the orphanage." Tomoyo pointed a high wall and a black gate. "Let's come in."
They entered the huge gate. As they entered, Eriol took a look around him. The bushes were all dried, leaves were scattered everywhere, and the building looked creaky and old, the doors and windows weren't in good condition. Eriol shook his head feeling sorry for orphans. There was a big difference between this world and his.
They entered the main door when suddenly a woman came up to them. She has a short blonde hair and dressed in an old torn dress. She looked at the age of thirty.
"Miss Daidouji, nice to see you around." She greeted and looked curiously at Eriol, "Ohayou, sir."
Eriol smiled and wanted to shake hands but he was carrying the plastic full of breads.
"He's Eriol Hiiragizawa, Cecil." Tomoyo tapped Eriol's shoulder. "Eriol this is Cecil."
"Hello Madam Cecil." Eriol bowed his head.
The thin woman laughed. "Call me Cecil. I'm not that old."
"So where are the kids?" Tomoyo asked.
"They're on the backyard playing." Cecil replied.
Eriol and Tomoyo passed many rooms with open doors before they reached the backyard. Eriol kept looking around. Scattered newspapers with colors, old toys, broken tables and things that came from the donations. "What are those newspapers for?" He wondered.
"They don't have coloring books." Tomoyo smiled. "How lonely this place is, Eriol, that's why I want to bring happiness as they make me happy too.
Tomoyo opened the door at the end of the corridor. Orphans with age ranging from 3-12 ran to meet her both boys and girls dressed in old clothes.
"Tomoyo" A girl about five hugged her. "We miss you!"
"Look. I've made you a card to thank you for the food you brought last time." A boy of ten held out a card with drawing.
"Thank you." Tomoyo accepted it. Eriol can tell how happy she was.
"Who is he, Tomoyo?" The kids asked.
"He's Eriol and you should be kind to him, okay?" Tomoyo smiled.
"Sure." A girl of twelve years exclaimed. "We should be kind to her boyfriend."
"He's just a friend." Tomoyo gave the plastic full of breads to the girl who said that joke, "Distribute this to your friends."
All the kids ran and picked out their choice then they continued playing again. Tomoyo and Eriol sat in a chair below a tree. Eriol noticed Tomoyo smiled as they watched the orphans.
"I love this place." Tomoyo sighed. "I feel sorry for them before I knew them but now, I feel more sorry for myself."
Eriol frowned. "You want to be an orphan?"
Small tears peeked from the corner of Tomoyo's eyes. "Sometimes I want to. Isn't it nice to be an orphan than to be a rich girl like me without my mother on my side every time I need her? They're really lucky. They got friends."
Eriol pushed his glasses; "Do you enjoy what you're doing with them? I mean, you're not like any girls at school."
Tomoyo wiped the small tears then shrugged. "I do. I know I'm weird. Um... Eriol, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"What do you want in life?"
Eriol fought back the laughter. What do he want in life? He himself doesn't have any idea. Was Tomoyo trying to make him laugh or not?
"I think, I'll take Law at college and I hope I'll pass the entrance test this year." Eriol smiled.
"No." Tomoyo shook her head, "I mean after college..."
Eriol stared at her for a moment then laughed. Tomoyo frowned. Now, he thought that Tomoyo was really joking.
"What's funny?" Tomoyo asked.
Eriol stopped. "I don't know it yet. You?"
There was a long pause. Tomoyo stared at the blue sky dreamily before she spoke. "If ever I had the opportunity, I want to have my own family with husband and kids. That's my dream."
Eriol's mouth formed an 'O'. 'Dream? Getting married? Silly."
Tomoyo sighed. "I know I will someday, and the man I would marry will learn to love me. But my mother kept insisting that I should never love any man because she had the right to be the one to pick my husband."
Eriol shook his head with a smirk while Tomoyo kept looking at the endless sky.
"She once introduce me into a boy of my age." Tomoyo continued, "But that boy finally gave up after a week of dating. He said that he couldn't stand a girl like me to be his wife someday. At first, I like his looks, mother is great with that. The only thing I hate is the day he shouted in my front, saying I was the most boring girl he ever met and he wouldn't marry me. Mother got angry with me. She said I've made her lost the other company, which was in the top ten achievers this year. If I should have been interesting, that boy could have been my husband after college." She sighed again.
"How sad." Eriol said. It's really true, the more he hung with Tomoyo, the more he learned to be kind.
"Now, I think that childhood dream of mine is gone." Tomoyo turned her head to Eriol then smiled. "I wouldn't marry any boy because no one is interested with me."
Eriol asked curiously. "Don't tell me you haven't been in love, have you?"
"I haven't." Tomoyo smiled.
Eriol felt a big invisible boulder dropped into his stomach. "Well forgive me for saying this: your life is boring." He expected her to shout but she didn't.
"I'll ask you, have you?" Tomoyo asked softly. "I always wondered what's the feeling?"
"I have three ex-girlfriends." Eriol replied. "And I like them all in their own ways."
"Like is different from love."
"But if you like someone, you learn to love."
"Who's the current one?"
Eriol laughed. "I wished Megumi Maso is mine. She's lovely. And it's easy to love her, I can feel it."
"You don't love her yet, how can you say so?" Tomoyo frowned.
Eriol shook his head feeling impatient. "You know what? If Rui will break from his girlfriend, you should hang out with him more. You're both similar the way you asked me."
"Funny." Tomoyo said flatly.
"Really!" Eriol laughed. "You fit together! Anyway, you'll feel the love someday but I bet a hundred that I'll fall in love first than you, Tomoyo. And that will happen with Megumi."
"Heartless." Tomoyo said. "I'll bet a hundred that Megumi won't ever love you."
"Oh!" Eriol stood. "You'll see. So, you're challenging me? I'll make you feel sad if I won and that will happen."
"You want me to be sad?"
"Why not?" Eriol laughed again.
"Then I'll make you dry if I won the bet." Tomoyo stood too.
Eriol encircled his arms into Tomoyo's shoulder, "I'm just kidding. Of course, I won't make you cry. But I'll surely make Megumi fall head over heals. And I know you'll find yours someday. Believe me, I'm good at predicting."
Tomoyo blushed as she felt the warm presence of Eriol's hand in her shoulder. "I hope so."
----------------------------------------------------oOo-------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Remember the bet and all Eriol had said here on the few last paragraphs. Mark his words and... PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know what you think about this.